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Original Text (Annotation: EAW016723 / 2130587)
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"Wylam Castle" During the Second World War there were both German and Italian POW camps close to this location. German prisioners, over a period of just eight days in 1947, built a 3 foot high Bavarian castle in the gardens around their nissen huts. It was built using using stones from the river with roofs made from tins and had four towers, electric lighting and elaborate home-made furniture, and a ball room with tapestries and carpets. The front door could be opened and closed automatically and the castle even had its own ornamental fountain. A discreet panel above the front door read ‘Built by German prisoners’ and it was intended as a lasting reminder of their stay in Wylam. It attracted hundreds of sightseers over the next two years, but in May 1949, a lorry appeared on the site, the castle was lifted from its foundations and is reported to have fallen into pieces.
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