Bamburgh Castle is owned by the Armstrong family, after being bought by William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong in 1894. He was an English engineer and industrialist who founded the Armstrong Whitworth manufacturing concern on Tyneside.

Castles are expensive, though, and in 1894 the Lord Crewe Trustees were forced to sell Bamburgh for £60,000 to inventor and arms manufacturer William Armstrong. His renovation of the castle cost more than £1 million, and wasn’t completed until after his death in 1900.

After William Armstrong’s death, his great nephew, the 2nd Lord Armstrong completed the task, deciding to retain Bamburgh as a family residence. Bamburgh Castle remains the much loved private home of the Armstrong family who are committed to preserving the fortress, its priceless contents and the surrounding Bamburgh Castle Estate.

In the 16th and 17th centuries Bamburgh Castle was left largely abandoned until it was bought in 1704 by the bishop of Durham, Lord Crewe. It became the headquarters of a charity, which ran a free school, library, and infirmary, and parts of the castle were substantially rebuilt and restored in the 1750s.