Morpeth photographer creates interactive map showing Northumberland's 70 castles

Jim, a managing director who started photography in 2021, came up with the idea when out and about in Bamburgh and Holy Island.

After winning the Northern Photography Prize for a picture of Lindisfarne Castle, Jim decided this was something he really enjoyed and wanted to focus on.

He realised that although there was information out there stating that the county has 70 castles – the most castles in any county in the UK – there was little information about where these castles were or their history.

Already Jim has completed around a third of the project, 23 castles, but is eager to complete the rest as soon as he can.

He said: “I didn’t have any idea that it would be of interest to people to be honest, so it’s really taken me by surprise.

"As much as anything, I’ve had two messages from school teachers asking if they can use the map in school. It’s great that kids are going to learn about local history and use the map in that way.

"Before I created this there just wasn’t a list of all 70 castles and their history. I’ve had to do so much research online and in so many history books you wouldn’t believe it.

"I’ve been blown away by the support so far, I’m so pleased that people are interested.”

Since sharing The Northumberlander Project to social media, it has already attracted more than 2,100 people to the Facebook page and had more than 1,000 people sign up to the mailing list.

Looking forward, Jim is asking anyone with a castle on private land to get in touch as he is keen to include all 70 castles.

Here are the 23 castles included on the map with a basic snippet of the history and information shared:

To find out more, visit: https://www.jimscottphotography.com/northumberlander-project.