Britain is home to over 4,000 castles, ranging from scattered ruins and rubble to wonderfully restored fortresses. Charlotte Smith visits one of Wales’s finest examples, the National Trust’s Powis Castle, to explore the impressive grounds and grand rooms of this former medieval fortress.

Charlotte finds out about the rise and fall of the castle’s battle-scarred walls and discovers how the 25 acres of formal gardens were created over the centuries. Charlotte also joins the castle’s conservationist to get a hands-on experience of a typical day maintaining its maze of rooms.

Along the way, we open the Countryfile archive and revisit stories from across the UK’s finest strongholds. Anita Rani uncovers Saxon treasures buried at Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland, Adam Henson droves goats through Tintagel Castle in Cornwall, and Matt Baker rides a cherry picker to trim Powis Castle’s giant yew hedges and gets a lesson in falconry at Leeds Castle in Kent. Show less