Spectacular lighting display gives Lake District Castle a touch of Christmas magic

Anyone looking for some real Christmas magic should take a trip during the festive season to the Lake District's most enchanted castle.

At night Muncaster Castle's famous gardens are transformed by a spectacular display of lights, music, sound and other special effects. Darkest Muncaster is a unique spectacle, with the castle, trees and shrubs lit up in a kaleidoscope of colours from reds and yellows to greens and blues.

Eric Robson, the chairman of Gardeners' Question Time on Radio 4, lives near the Castle in the Western Lake District. He says "Darkest Muncaster is breathtakingly beautiful. It adds a fairytale touch to these stunning gardens."

"It's a return to the great winter entertainments that would once have been found at many great houses. It is quite simply magical."

A report in the Cumberland Packet newspaper about a 'distinguished party' held at Muncaster Castle in 1856 described how:

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'The splendid avenue leading through the grounds to the castle was illuminated with a considerable number of lamps, and the arched entrance was literally a blaze of light'

Nearly 150 years later, Darkest Muncaster is delighting its twenty-first century guests with an even more impressive display. Walking through the enchanted gardens of this Castle, people can let their imaginations run wild. There really is nothing else quite like this anywhere else in the North of England.

Darkest Muncaster is open from 4pm until 9pm on the 10th and 11th of December, the 17th and 18th and then from Boxing Day to New Year's Eve. Last entry is at 8pm. There is also a cafe serving hot food until 8pm and a gift shop for buying Christmas presents.

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