[5] Ivo de Vesci, Baron of Alnwick, a nobleman from Vassy, Calvados in Normandy, erected the first parts of the castle in about 1096.

As John was underage, King Henry III of England conferred the wardship of his estates to a foreign kinsman, which caused great offence to the de Vesci family.

King Edward responded with vigour and when the Earl of Warwick arrived in November Queen Margaret and her French advisor, Pierre de Brézé, were forced to sail to Scotland for help.

They organised a mainly Scots relief force which, under George Douglas, 4th Earl of Angus and de Brézé, set out on 22 November.

Warwick's army, commanded by the experienced Earl of Kent and the recently pardoned Lord Scales, prevented news getting through to the starving garrisons.

As a result, the nearby Bamburgh and Dunstanburgh castles soon agreed terms and surrendered but Hungerford and Whittingham held Alnwick until Warwick was forced to withdraw when de Brézé and Angus arrived on 5 January 1463.

The Lancastrians missed a chance to bring Warwick to battle, instead being content to retire, leaving behind only a token force which surrendered to the Yorkists the next day.

By May 1463 Alnwick was in Lancastrian hands for the third time since Towton, betrayed by Grey of Heton who tricked the commander, Sir John Astley.

After Montagu's triumphs at Hedgeley Moor and Hexham in 1464 Warwick arrived before Alnwick on 23 June and received its surrender next day, bringing it finally into Yorkist hands.

In the second half of the 18th century Robert Adam carried out many alterations, as did James Paine, Daniel Garrett and Capability Brown, all under the orders of the returning Percy family.

Elizabeth Seymour and Hugh Smithson were elevated to 1st Duke and Duchess of Northumberland in 1766 by George III, whose restorations at Windsor Castle were partly inspired by the couple's work at Alnwick.

The interiors were largely in a Strawberry Hill gothic style not at all typical of Adam's work, which was usually neoclassical, as seen at the Northumberlands' London home, Syon House.

[18] Some of Adam's work survives, but little of it remains in the principal rooms shown to the public, which were redecorated in an opulent Italianate style in the Victorian era by Luigi Canina.

During World War II, the Newcastle Church High School for Girls was evacuated to Alnwick Castle.

The Postern Tower, as well as featuring an exhibition on the Dukes of Northumberland and their interest in archaeology, includes frescoes from Pompeii, relics from Ancient Egypt and Romano-British objects.

[22] An increase in public interest in the castle was generated by its use as a stand-in for the exterior and interior of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films.

Unlike most shell keeps, which consist of a plain circular wall, Alnwick's is created by ten tightly-packed towers, thanks to its extensive later reconstruction.

He added the large Prudhoe Tower with a loggia at the ground level in the north-west corner of the small courtyard inside the keep.

Some of these date from around 1300; historian Matthew Johnson notes that around this time there were several castles in northern England similarly decorated, such as Bothal, Lumley and Raby.

May 2006 saw the opening of a pavilion and visitor centre designed by Sir Michael Hopkins and Buro Happold which can hold up to 1,000 people.

[28] Films shot at the castle include: Prince Valiant (1954); Becket (1964); Mary, Queen of Scots (1971); Ivanhoe (1982); Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991); Elizabeth (1998); Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001); Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002); Your Highness (2011); Transformers: The Last Knight (2017) and Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves (2023).

Television programmes shot at the castle include: The Black Adder (1983); Robin of Sherwood (1984-6); Antiques Roadshow (1995); The Virgin Queen (2005); The Hollow Crown (2012) and Downton Abbey (2015-6).