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Rockingham Castle
Rockingham Castle
Rockingham
Market Harborough
Leicestershire
LE16 8TH
Tel: (0)1536 770240
About Rockingham Castle
Rockingham Castle one mile from Corby, near the picturesque village of Rockingham, near Market Harborough, in Leicestershire. Once a royal fort and hunting manor, now the home of the Saunders Watsons, Rockingham Castle is a stunning award-winning family attraction that has an abundance of assets ensuring a fun family day out.
The family attraction’s origins lie in an Anglo-Saxon fortication that was superseded by a Norman motte, erected as a country redoubt for the Conqueror, who hunted wild animals in its grounds, including deer and wild boar. Rockingham Castle thrived before Henry VIII ascended to the throne in the 16th century, and it was granted by him to the Saunders Watsons in the 1550s. Retained by them for 450 years, ticket holders can view their des. res., with its sumptuous gardens and redoubtable walls, along with the Old Eastonians Cricket Club! Not something you’ll find at just any old family attraction.
A family day out in Rockingham Castle is an informative and invigorating one, ticket holders learn about its fascinating past from William the Conqueror and the Great Council of Rockingham in 1095, to Richard the Lion Heart welcoming the Scottish king a century later. King John often visited Rockingham Castle and, on his final venture north, left a treasure chest in the Great Hall, sparking a legend that his crown jewels are buried at Rockingham Castle. Any ticket holder who finds them will have their best family day out!
Henry VIII gifted Rockingham Castle to Edward Watson, who adapted it into a Tudor house, the Great Hall adorned with portraits of Jayne Seymour and Queen Elizabeth I. The family attraction was revamped following skirmishes in the British Civil Wars of 1642-51, when the loyalist outpost was taken by the Roundheads, then besieged unsuccessfully by Royalists. Rockingham Castle was the setting of the BBC TV series on the War, By The Sword Divided.
Rockingham Castle was restored during the late Victorian era, when the Watsons entertained novelist Charles Dickens, a friend of Richard and Levinia, and the family attraction inspired his Chesney Wold in Bleak House. Dickens relished visiting Rockingham Castle and often staged his plays in the Long Gallery.
The family attraction is the heart of the Welland Valley and boasts a gallery of 20th Century pictures, enjoyed by ticket holders to Rockingham Castle along with the fine Gardens, with a vista taking in five counties, 18 acres of lawns and a 400 year old ‘Elephant Hedge’. The circular Rose Garden is on the site of the old keep, and a wild garden in the ravine boasts 200+ species of trees and shrubs, including Yew hedges and pillars, Dog Wood, Tulip Tree and Handkerchief Tree.
Guides provide information on the Rockingham Castle tour, featuring the Old Kitchen, the Great Hall, the adjacent Panel Room – still used for dining and wedding receptions (see the Rockingham Castle website for details of corporate and other specialist booking), and the Long Gallery. Other tours include the Civil War tour, Garden Tour, Candlelight Supper tour and School tours with the audio-visual Castle Under Siege exhibition.