Naworth was the seat of the Barons Dacre and is now that of their cognatic descendants, the Earls of Carlisle, who belong to the prominent Howard family.

He built the castle's gateway and placed over it his coat of arms with the Dacre family motto below: Fort en Loialte (Norman-French: "Strong in Loyalty").

However after becoming involved in the Northern Rebellion against Queen Elizabeth, Leonard Dacre was forced to flee from England to Scotland and then to Flanders where he died in poverty in 1573.

Presently it has an exceptional and unusual combination of Pre-Raphaelite interiors, original medieval chambers and large, forbidding dungeons (the latter being four dark apartments, three below, and one above up a long staircase.

It formerly had free standing heraldic wooden, sculptures called the “Dacre Beasts” which stood in the hall from the early 16th century until 2000 when they were purchased by the Victoria and Albert Museum.

They were originally situated in the Great Hall, where they stood under a ceiling painted with portraits of the kings and queens of England.

Having been commissioned by Thomas Dacre circa 1520, all four figures are believed to have been carved from a single Cumbrian oak tree from the Naworth estate.

The beasts became more famous in the 19th century through the production of prints, appealing strongly to Victorian fantasies of medieval romance.

[3] Further additions were made in the early 17th century for Lord William Howard when he took up residence with his children and grandchildren at Naworth.

On Saturday, 18 May 1844, the castle caught fire, possibly as a result of the ignition of some soot in the flue of the Porter's Lodge.

The structure's lack of internal walls allowed the fire to spread rapidly, and it remained unchecked until it reached the northern wing.

In the current library there is a bas-relief over the fireplace, designed by Edward Burne-Jones and Sir Edgar Boehm, depicting the Battle of Flodden with Lord Thomas Dacre leading a valiant charge.

Pre-Raphaelites like Burne-Jones, William Morris, and Philip Webb would often visit Naworth to work with Howard as well as producing designs and buildings within the local region.

Ned & I pass our mornings in a most delightful room in one of the towers that has not been touched since William Howard of Queen Elizabeth's time lived there: the whole place is certainly the most poetical in England.

[6] "one of those extensive baronial seats which marked the splendour of our ancient nobles, before they exchanged the hospitable magnificence of a life spent among a numerous tenantry, for the uncertain honours of court attendance, and the equivocal rewards of ministerial favour.