Alnwick Castle launches appeal to identify kitchen staff in historic photo ahead of 2025 reopening

For the first time in the Castle’s near 1000-year history, the public will be able to go ‘below stairs’ and explore the historic kitchens as the castle reopens for the 2025 season on Friday, March 28.

As work begins on a transformative four-year project to rediscover, restore and revitalise the castle’s historic kitchens, archivists have been studying an early 20th century photograph.

The picture shows a dozen servants standing in front of the kitchen range preparing for a royal visit and surrounded by silver platters and some of the intricate delicacies of the day.

To help bring to life the stories of these kitchen staff, Alnwick Castle is launching an appeal for people across the UK to see if they can spot an ancestor in the photograph.

Daniel Watkins, education, learning and engagement officer at Alnwick Castle said: “This kitchen project represents a unique opportunity to uncover and share an extraordinary piece of Alnwick Castle’s history.

“We’re thrilled to bring these magnificent spaces to life for our visitors and to celebrate their enduring legacy. But we need help from the public, especially from any families with roots in and around Alnwick.

“Traditionally, so much focus has been placed on the lives of those in the history books. But what about those behind the scenes at the castle? What were their lives like, what was it like working in this cutting-edge kitchen, which boasted some of the very best technology available at the time?

He added: “That’s what we want to discover, and so we are asking the great British public if they can spot any ancestors in this photograph.”

The kitchens, created in the 1850s by renowned architect Anthony Salvin for the 4th Duke of Northumberland, are steeped in history. The ‘Great Kitchen’ and its adjoining larder rooms were opened in November 1859 when a dinner was held for hundreds of castle restoration workers.

If you think that you may have ancestors who lived and worked in the kitchens at Alnwick Castle please contact: [email protected]