Bamburgh Castle – Summer Morning

Paintings of Northumbria

Bamburgh Castle, the ancient capital of the powerful kingdom of Northumbria. There has been some kind of defensive structure at Bamburgh since at least the 6th century.

King Oswald of Northumbria, was the ruler who invited Saint Aidan to preach nearby and so brought Christianity to the kingdom. Oswald granted land to Aidan to create the religious foundation at nearby Lindisfarne. After his death in battle, Oswald became patron saint of Northumberland, with a cult that extended far beyond the region.

en plein air

I first painted Bamburgh Castle when I was 10 years old. The previous year I had come runner up in a painting completion at infant school. With the prize money (a small gift voucher for Fenwick) I went to Newcastle with my dad and bought a set of poster paints.

I went on to use the paints to create a sunrise painting of Bamburgh Castle for another school painting competition and won first prize.

Over the years I’ve painted Bamburgh Castle many times. I love being on the beach early in the morning to paint the Castle “en plein air”. The beach is usually deserted and is a place of real wonder.

This watercolour was painted on location mid morning one summer. Earlier in the morning I had been on Holy Island with a friend who wanted to watch me paint on location. I painted Lindisfarne for him about 6am. We then went to Bamburgh and I surprised him by pulling out a second box of paints with a small watercolour block for him to join me in painting. He did really well to follow my step by step instructions which made for a very memorable morning.

In this composition I deliberately made the castle quite small to emphasise the vastness of the landscape. The darker cloud on the left helps to draw you eye towards Bamburgh Castle

See more Paintings of Northumbria at alanreed.com

Christianity

Christianity was well established in north east England by the 8th century. In 1095, the massive Norman keep at Bamburgh was constructed and the next stage of the history of Bamburgh began.

By the early 1600s, Bamburgh Castle was in ruins and in private hands, those of the local Forster family. It later became a hospital and a school, before being bought by the wealthy local industrialist, Lord Armstrong, He began the work of restoration but died before it was completed.