Bothal Castle is a

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

and

stately home An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

in the village of the same name near the River Wansbeck, between

Morpeth Morpeth may refer to: *Morpeth, New South Wales, Australia ** Electoral district of Morpeth, a former electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in New South Wales * Morpeth, Ontario, Canada * Morpeth, Northumberland, England, UK ** Morpeth (UK ...

and Ashington in the English county of

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

. Botl is

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

for a dwelling. Bothal could refer to a particular dwelling or hall. It was fortified before the

Norman conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conque ...

, and renovated and remodelled a number of times. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and a Grade I listed building. In 1095, Bothal was given by King William Rufus to

Guy I de Balliol Guy I de Balliol was a Picardy, Picard baron who was granted land in northern England in the late eleventh century. In the 1090s, he was established in the north of England by King William Rufus, as part of King William's carve-up of the forfeited ...

, whose daughter Alice married William

Bertram Bertram may refer to: Places * Bertram, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth, Australia *Bertram, Iowa, United States, a city * Bertram, Texas, United States, a city * Bertram Building, a historic building in Austin, Texas * Bertram Glacier, Palmer ...

, Baron of Mitford, who probably built a hall house. Several generations later, in 1343, Sir Robert Bertram was given permission to turn his

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

into a

, including an impressive gatehouse. The gate tower and fragments of curtain wall are

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

, a good deal of which still survive to this day. Through the marriage of Bertram's daughter Hellen to Sir Robert Ogle (d. c.1363),Wallis, J. (1769). The Natural History and Antiquities of Northhumberland: And of So Much of the County of Durham A Lies Between the Rivers Tyne and Tweed, Commonly Called North Bishoprick. (Vol. II, pp. 551). N.p.: Strahan
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the estate passed to the

Ogle family The Ogle family were prominent landed gentry in Northumberland, England. The earliest appearances of the family name were written Hoggel, Oggehill, Ogille and Oghill.Burke, B. & Burke, J. B. (1863). ''A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the ...

in the 14th century. In August 1583 Cuthbert Ogle, 7th Baron Ogle, negotiated a marriage between his daughter Jane and Edward Talbot, a son of George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury. Shrewsbury's agents visited Bothal, and described the house as 'a castle battled, and not unlike to Nether Haddon where Master John Manners doth dwell.' In 1591 the estate passed to the Cavendish- Bentinck family ( Dukes of Portland), through the marriage of Catherine, Countess of Ogle to

Sir Charles Cavendish Sir Charles Cavendish (13 Aug 15914 Feb 1653) was an English aristocrat, Member of Parliament for Nottingham, and patron. Described as 'a little, weak, crooked man’ by John Aubrey, he studied mathematics himself, as well as supporting others ...

of Welbeck. King James visited on 5 May 1617 on his way to Scotland and stayed for two nights.John Nichols, ''Progresses of James the first'', vol. 3 (London, 1828), p. 297. Restoration was carried out in the 19th century. The building is used as a private residence of the Cavendish- Bentinck family and also houses the Welbeck Estate Office. The castle is in an excellent state of repair and is not accessible for the public.

Footnotes

Sources

*Fry, Plantagenet Somerset, ''The David & Charles Book of Castles'', David & Charles, 1980.

External links

Images of Bothal Castle and VillageKeys to the Past
{{Castles in North East England Castles in Northumberland Grade I listed castles Grade I listed houses Grade I listed buildings in Northumberland Scheduled monuments in Northumberland Ashington William II of England Bentinck family