Ida, Anglo-Saxon founder of the dynasty of Northumbrian kings, invaded the Bamburgh shore in AD 547. Here he created the settlement which became the capital of a kingdom stretching from the Humber to the Forth. At its heart was a wooden fortress built on the great Whin Sill, an impressive outcrop of volcanic basalt. Later, Ida's grandson, Ethelfrith, gave both castle and capital to his wife Bebba. In later years 'Bebbanburgh' became Bamburgh.
Oswald (king 633-42), having fought to re-unite his kingdom, wished to convert his subjects to Christianity. From lona came the monk Aidan, who set up a monastery on nearby Lindisfarne. From these beginnings, Northumbria became one of the great centres of learning and art, a golden age cut short in AD 993 by marauding Vikings, who left Bamburgh Castle in ruins. In the 11th century it was rebuilt with stone. By 1272 it was the imposing structure that we see today.
During the early medieval border wars between England and Scotland the keep was often used to house hostages and prisoners, most notably David Bruce, the Scots king, wounded by an arrow at Neville's Cross (1346). In 1356 Bamburgh Castle witnessed an event of historic importance when Edward Baliol there surrendered the Scottish crown to Edward III.
During the Wars of the Roses, the castle was seen as a valued prize. In 1464 Yorkists used Edward IV's new cannons to force the Lancastrians to surrender, reputedly making Bamburgh the first castle in England to be taken by cannon fire.
For centuries the castle lay in ruins until it was bought in 1894 by William, 1 st Lord Armstrong, an inventor and industrialist, who made his fortune from hydraulic machinery and military ordnance. His programme of reconstruction and modernisation was complete in 1903. Since then it has been the family home of the Armstrongs.