Rockingham Castle — Attraction in Rockingham

I was lucky enough to visit the castle with my sister and two young nieces, on the weekend of the “artisanal food” fair. We arrived excited to look around the castle and trying local delicacies. After some confusion by gate staff about our tickets, which I had won in my nieces primary school fundraising raffle, we were directed very clearly to an allocated parking space. I just want to say the car park was very well managed and the horses in the field adjoining the car park added to the atmosphere.

You can imagine our disappointment when, after following the signs to the food stalls, all we saw were a pancake stall, a risotto and crayfish stand and a gin stall. Disappointed but hungry we set about ordering a fish finger sandwich for the hungry children from the “crayfish” stand. It was made in front of us and consisted of three Birds Eye Fish Fingers, two slice of white supermarket bread and some flora spread. It cost £6 and they didn’t even use butter!!

Shortly after eating our “artisanal” sandwiches we carried on to the castle. We walked through the picturesque and beautifully maintained grounds for a while and then there in front of us we’re many a food stall! Locally made chocolate, homemade cakes, honey, sausages, pies and cheese galore but alas we had no money left because we had, like so many in front and behind us, had spent £24 on four supermarket standard sandwiches. Please please please, people of Rockingham, signpost efficiently and prevent these cray fish scammers from attending your events!

On to the castle and it was a beautiful and educational visit. Pleasant staff, particularly the lady stewarding the crowds in the kitchen, nothing was too much bother and she happily answered questions from my 6 year old niece about what people “in the olden times” ate for supper. My only complaint would be the rather obtuse man in the living quarters who was not very forthcoming with details of the embroidered ottoman which I desperately wanted to photograph but was prevented from doing so.

The gift shop was disappointing and the castle could do with offering a wider selection of local gifts.

If you are visiting the castle these are the main things to remember:

children will expect more turrets and towers so do prepare them ahead of time. It’s a beautiful house but hardly a castle from a story book. Take my advice because I did not prepare the children and there was tears.

If you like an ice cream treat when you visit a castle please take your own. The only ice cream available was made with goats milk which is an acquired taste. There is a range of cool bags available on Amazon that you can purchase ahead of time to make this easy.

Don’t take a buggie or pram into the castle, it’s is NOT accessible, you would have thought it would be...

the Event was ,” tickets essential” we brought these and enjoyed the show ,only once we had suffered Rockingham’s appalling inefficient and disorganised entrance facilities.! We could immediately see with only one way in and out ,it was going to be chaos. Why not a one way system? Having parked we joined a huge cue that moved forward at a snails pace. 45/minutes later we were next in line to watch and listen to a person buying tickets for himself and his family somewhere in the behind us! the two in the entrance shed were hopelessly slow, and disorganised trying to read numbers ect from phone apps, they must have known how many tickets had been sold! Why not the staff? Or a fast and slow Lane. ?Why not print all, the bumf when the booking was made!, No concession for those who had brought ahead?, toilets both blocked within the hour men told to peer behind a tree, ladies-cross your legs! Why no portaloos One steward said it’s always the same here ,hopeless organisation. We will not be...

How fabulous to have access to such a defining piece of Historic architecture! It really was a delight to eat in the Cafe and then walk around the public parts of this country castle home. The grounds gave my heart such joy and to be able to buy Annual membership at such a convenient price for all pockets, simply a no brainer for me. We must thank this family for keeping such a magnificent Castle in excellent condition! Looking out from the parapet onto the fields below was the making of a very lovely day and the helpful volunteers dotted around were always ready to share their love and enthusiasm for the place. As a lover of all geology I was truly smitten by this cool structure and found myself smiling often just because I was standing next to one of my favourite Castle buildings. A must see when in the area and even if you're not in the area, one simply cannot miss a visit to one of the great 🏰 of this country! Still standing and still magnificent and still a...