Hadleigh Castle can be bleak in the winter, but come spring when the sun comes out and the wind dies down, it is one of the loveliest places in England. The walk out is a beautiful one, the path through the trees is lined with Queen Ann’s Lace before opening up to stunning views of sky, water, and imagination. Royalty walked here! It’s easy to see why King Edward III identified this as an important place to build a castle — whoever held the castle commanded the estuary and, therefore, the riverway into London.
The walls are fairly child-friendly, and everyone can enjoy imagining a long-ago time and life while wandering amongst the remains of the castle’s rooms and towers.