Castle End House, Baltimore

Advantages: Free admission. Full of historical information.
Disadvantages: Scant remains. Poor visitor centre.

...family, Roger de Lacy. ~The last of the Lacys~ On Robert de Lacy's death in 1194 the castle was inherited by his aunt's great-grandson Roger Fitz-Eustace, Constable of Cheshire, on the condition that he adopted the de Lacy name. Roger de Lacy's died in 1211 leaving the castle to his son John de Lacy. On John's death in 1240 the castle was inherited by his son Edmund de Lacy who held the castle until 1258. His son Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, held the castle until his death in 1311. The de Lacy hold on the castle came to an end when Henry de Lacy died bequeathing it to his only child, Alice. Pontefract Castle formed part of Alice’s marriage settlement to Thomas, Earl of Lancaster thus transferring the castle to Lancaster. ~ A Lancashire Castle in Yorkshire! ~ Thomas’ marriage to Alice de Lacy was a disaster. Alice fled from... Read review

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Advantages: A Full Day Out. Superb Castle / Palace Interiors. Lovely Setting. Carriage Collection.
Disadvantages: The Drive There! Fantastically Complicated Price / Opening Time Structure. Guided Tour.

...a gateway between the Orangery and the Castle. Hotel Yes a small and out of site area of the Castle itself has for many years operated as a hotel. On our first visit here I was curious enough to enquire about rooms. Regrettably, in this most romantic, glamorous too by Polish standards, place, the hotel could only be described as old fashioned and very basic. The room that the receptionist showed us was dark and dingy, it had an en-suite that looked more than ready for re-furbishment. The Shop For what is a very large and well established museum complex, the shop at Lancut leaves an awful lot to be desired. It is absolutely tiny, three visitors standing at the counter and it is pretty much full. This problem is compounded by the fact that it is located adjacent to the Carriage House at the end of the guided tour. The shop... Read review

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Advantages: A look back in time, beautiful grounds, a castle,
Disadvantages: a little dark and oppressive, too much symmetry

...after all, yippee. When we got inside we told the staff about the sign and straight away they took our advice and arranged to have the sign taken down. The car park was approximately 200yrds from the castle and next to a courtyard where the tea room and gift shop could be found. My hubby popped into the gift shop to get us a guide book and we then went for a quick cuppa before starting our tour of the castle. I was quite impressed with the gift shop as they had quite a few little things; momento's which are affordable to children with their pocket money as well as the usual overpriced gimmicks that all gift shops seem to carry. The tea room was a little pricey and was set in the old Georgian Coach House which has seating inside and outside with sandwiches ranging from £2.35, baguettes from £3.35, Paninis, Jacket Potatoes... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful