The Alnwick Castle Podcast

We are delighted to welcome historian, author and broadcaster Tracy Borman back to Alnwick Castle on 24th April to speak about her new novel The House of Boleyn. Tickets are available now at alnwickcastle.com - we hope to see you there.
As a preview for the event, and in fact as a preview for the book, which is published just one day before Tracy returns to Alnwick, we spoke with her about The House of Boleyn. You will hear a little about what to expect from the talk on 24th April, as well as the process of writing and researching the book, discussion of the Boleyn household at Hever Castle, and the what ifs of Anne Boleyn's story. 
Of course, we also get into the story of Anne and Henry Percy, 6th Earl of Northumberland, as well as how the court of Henry VIII was like being in The Traitors!
You might hear a little bit of crackling when you listen to the episode, this is a result of our remote recording but we have done our best to minimise it wherever possible.
We hope this podcast with Tracy Borman whets your appetite for what is sure to be a brilliant talk in April - get your tickets now!

Anne Boleyn may be one of the best-known figures in British history. But how much do you know about her connections to Alnwick Castle and the Percy family?
In this episode of the Alnwick Castle Podcast, we explore the Boleyn-Percy connection in depth with two amazing experts: Natalie Grueninger, from the Talking Tudors podcast, and Owen Emmerson, from Hever Castle. Natalie and Owen explain the origins of the story that Anne Boleyn was engaged to the future 6th Earl of Northumberland, and the effect this would have on both their lives.
They also spend time discussing the Ecclesiasties, an amazing prayer book that survives in the Alnwick Castle archives and that once belonged to Anne Boleyn. Everything about this book, from the bindings to the images and ideas inside, is remarkable, and you will hear all about it.
You can see the Ecclesiastes in person this year at Hever Castle, where it has been loaned for the new exhibition about Anne, called Capturing A Queen. Visit their website for more details.
For more Tudors on the Alnwick Castle Podcast, please explore our back catalogue - there are several episodes to choose from! And look out for next month's episode where we will be joined once again by the brilliant Tracy Borman to discuss her latest book, The House Of Boleyn.

Welcome, and welcome back, to the first Alnwick Castle Podcast of 2026! Whether you are a brand new listener or you have been with us from the start, we hope you will enjoy what we have planned for the upcoming year, with new episodes arriving on the last Wednesday of every month.
We start 2026 with an in-depth biography of one of the most famous former owners of Alnwick Castle. Henry Percy, the 9th Earl of Northumberland, lived through the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods, and was connected to many of the key events and people of those times. He was also known as the Wizard Earl for his interest in science, alchemy, and magic.
On this podcast, hosts Daniel and Deborah take you through the life of the Wizard Earl, including:
His early years
His relationships with his mother Katherine and wife Dorothy
His library collection and other "bookish matters"
How he became known as the Wizard Earl, and his scientific (or magical) experiments
His famous friends, rivals and (nearly) opponents in duels
His trial following the Gunpowder Plot, and imprisonment in the Tower of London
His relationships with his children, Dorothy, Lucy and Algernon
His attitudes towards women
And what was happening at Alnwick Castle and in the north during his lifetime.

We reference several other episodes of the podcast during this biography. For more details, please go back into our catalohue and look for the following episodes:
10 - Syon House
22 - The Gunpowder Plot and Alnwick Castle
31 - Women of Alnwick Castle (Part 2)
36 - The Tudors, the Percys and Syon House
43 - The History of Tennis
45 - Strange and Mysterious Alnwick Castle Tales
72 - The Border Reivers
83 - The Stolen Crown

For our final episode of 2025, we recommend grabbing your best wooly jumper and getting cosy as we learn all about the history of ... wool!
Company of Artisans, regular guests on the Alnwick Castle podcast, are experts on many different aspects of medieval craftsmanship, and on this episode, Karen and Charlie explain why wool was so important to the economy of medieval England - creating trade, funding wars, and providing employment across the country and society. You will hear the exhaustive process of how wool clothing was made, and some of the reasons why wool is no longer England's top export. You will also hear some of the stories of the history of wool in Northumberland, and from Alnwick Castle itself. 
This is a fascinating deep-dive into centuries of history, and we hope it gives you a new perspective on your clothes!
For more from Company of Artisans, head into our podcast back catalogue, and don't forget to check us out on YouTube as well as our usual platforms!
We will be back with more episodes in 2026. If there's a subject you would like us to cover on the podcast, let us know: [email protected] .

Alnwick Castle would not look the way it does today without the work of Anthony Salvin, the principal architect for the restoration of the castle in the Victorian period. Salvin, one of the top architects of his day (especially when it came to castles), created a new entrance to the castle keep, added towers, and designed the Great Kitchen for the 4th Duke of Northumberland.
To find out more about Salvin, his life and his work - especially at Alnwick - we spoke to architectural historian and Country Life editor John Goodall, who explained why Salvin's work has been so significant to the development of Alnwick Castle, adapting to modern needs while calling back to other periods of history, and connecting the domestic space of the Great Kitchen with the grandeur of the State Rooms.
If you enjoyed the episode, you can hear John talk about Alnwick and other castles in Episode 6 of the podcast - or if you visit the castle, you can listen to him talk about the Constable's Tower in our museum!