Exploring Dartmouth Castle
Having moved to Devon at New Year we are still wandering around like tourists so it only feels natural to check out the local sights. Last weekend we paid a visit to our closest English Heritage property, Dartmouth Castle.
A bit about Dartmouth Castle
Today very little of the original fortification, which resembled a small castle and gives the site its name, exists. You can however tour the Battery, Casemates and Gun Tower. These were used as coastal defences right up until World War II and were finally handed over to the state in 1955.
Our visit
We arrived late morning and were among only a handful of people looking around. This was handy for negotiating all the narrow stairwells with our girls. There was quite a lot of ducking involved, much to the amusement of Tin Box Baby who was being carried around in our Baby Weavers back pack by Mr Tin Box.
Tin Box Tot isn’t a quiet child so loved making high pitched squeaks in all the echoing corridors. The powder store in particular was an ideal place to run around and play hide and seek.
In the Gun Tower there were displays for visitors to touch, feel and try on, as well as a nice collection of history books aimed at kids like Horrible Histories. Tin Box Tot thought it was great fun to try on the medieval helmet, which made her look like a mini Darth Vader!
At the top of the Gun Tower there is an open platform with a turret that you can climb up inside. Tin Box Tot seemed to like this part of the castle the best and went up and down the turret stairs with me in hot pursuit several times.
The views off the English Channel as well as back down the River Dart to Kingswear and Dartmouth are beautiful, and in stark contrast to the original lethal purpose of the building. The tower stands at the narrowest part of the entrance to the River Dart which would have made any unwelcome ships extremely vulnerable to short-range fire from the guns. A chain also stretched across the river from here to stop enemy vessels passing.
We were at Dartmouth Castle for about an hour before the rain set in again. If the weather had been with us we could have extended our visit by looking at the ruins of the original fortification and taking a walk down the cliff to Castle Cove. These are all things we can do another day as they are accessible to the general public.
Planning your visit
Dartmouth Castle can be reached by car along a sometimes narrow road from the town centre. In peak holiday season I can imagine the road being very busy. On a blustery January day we had no problems driving right up to the small car park at the entrance to the castle. There’s a larger car park further back up the road.
Another option to reach the castle is a boat trip from Dartmouth town quay when the weather is better.
The castle is open weekends only until 24 March 2016 and costs £16.40 for a family of two adults and up to three children (with a Gift Aid donation). We paid for two adult tickets at £6.30 each (with Gift Aid) as both our girls were under five and therefore free.
For all the latest opening times and prices visit the English Heritage website.
Need to know
- The cafe was not open during our visit, which meant no baby bottle warming facilities. So check before you visit if you’re going to need this.
- The toilets are at the end of the car park and have no baby chaining facilities.
- It’s not advised to take a pushchair around the castle, so wear babies and toddlers who are unable to walk.
- There are lots of low ceilings and narrow stairwells to negotiate so make sure you have lots of hands free to help small children.
Looking for more recommended days out? Check out my guide to even more things to do in Dartmouth on my Devon with Kids website and my UK-wide guide to top family attractions.
What a beautiful castle. I’ve actually been here but not inside as it was closed so just a wander around the grounds. We were staying nearby in Dartmouth. What a beautiful area to live near to. Where did you move from? Lovely photos, looks like you had a great visit. Love the views and your little baby in the carrier 🙂 Thanks very much for linking up to #MyFavouriteTrip Polly x
I do love a good castle, looks fab here too! Love the echoy corridors! x
I haven't visited Dartmouth, but it looks right up our street. The photo of TBT with the medieval helmet made me laugh – so sweet. Glad you got to expolore before the rain came! Thanks for linking up with #MondayEscapes
What an exciting place to explore! I think my three would enjoy exploring the echoy corridors too!
This looks like a great day out – even in this weather. We went to Warwick castle back in September and the boys loved running around and exploring. We love castles too!
Thanks so much for linking up to #KCACOLS I hope to see you back again on Sunday.
I've enjoyed your photos of Dartmouth Castle on Instagram so it's good to read the post now. We'd love to go – we're a bit obsessed with castles in our house!
I love castles, thus looks like a great family day out. Tin box tot does look like darth vader, amazing. I love the gun powder room and playing hide seek in a castle sounds like great fun. Glad you had a good day and are enjoying exploring your new home xx #TriedTested
Sounds like an interesting day out. Good tip about wearing babies or toddlers (that photo of Mr Tin Box ducking through the doorway with a very amused Tin Box Baby on his back made me laugh!). Love the photo of Tin Box Tot in the medieval helmet – she looked like she really enjoyed herself 🙂
I haven't visited Dartmouth or the castle, but they're one of our favourite days out. I especially like places that have put a little effort into the historical reconstruction, like this one.
What a wonderful place to visit….It looks like you had a fantastic time x
It looks like a great day out! I always loved visiting castles as a kid and I can't wait to start taking Marianna around our local ones. I don't think I'll inflict the visiting old churches my dad used to insist on though – I was terrified some skeleton was going to rise up and get me! 🙂 #KCACOLS
How fun to have a whole new area on the doorstep to explore – I don't think I know Dartmouth but sounds a great one if we find ourselves back in Devon. #countrykids
Looks like you had a lovely day out at Dartmouth Castle despite the weather. The views look amazing and I really enjoyed reading about the history. I hope one day soon we'll find ourselves up that way so we too can explore it. xx #KCACOLS
That's one of the things that excites me most about moving here – we've got so much to see! 🙂
Definitely. It's a good couple of hours to look around properly and then there's plenty of other things to do close by 🙂
There's certainly a lot of history here! Thanks for hosing #CountryKids
I've always lives by the sea and can't imagine living anywhere else 🙂
We have been close but never visited. It looks well worth it though so I've made a note. I love the view up the estuary and I know my boys would adore the gun tower. anuthing they can visualise from times gone by and better still get to fel and touch makes it so much more engaging. Thank you for sharing a really lovely day out on #CountryKids
Somewhere we'd love to visit at some point, looks like there's lots to keep my son interested too #CountryKids
I used to live close to Dartmouth. Theres some beautiful paces to visit and gorgeous beaches, makes me want to live close to the sea again #countrykids