Twizell Castle (also spelt Twizel) is a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...

and a

Scheduled Ancient Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

which stands on a bend of the River Till at Tillmouth Park,

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 ...

, northern

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Below it, the medieval Twizell Bridge spans the river. It is located south-west of

Berwick Upon Tweed Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census recor ...

. The site is visible from a public footpath, which passes the castle from the road. The gardens of the castle contain the earthwork remains of the once lost medieval village of Twizell, whilst the massive ruin presents the remains of an 18th-century castle which was never completed.

The Castle

A medieval

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strateg ...

which once stood on the site was, in 1415, held by Sir John Heron. This was destroyed by a

Scottish army The Scots Army ( Scots: ''Scots Airmy'') was the army of the Kingdom of Scotland between the Restoration in 1660 and the Acts of Union of 1707. A small standing army was established at the Restoration, which was mainly engaged in opposing Co ...

in 1496 commanded by James IV of Scotland and Perkin Warbeck. James IV returned on 24 August 1513 on his way to besiege

Norham Castle Norham Castle (sometimes Nornam) is a castle in Northumberland, England, overlooking the River Tweed, on the border between England and Scotland. It is a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The castle saw much action during ...

, and held a council or parliament at "Twesil" or "Twesilhaugh." The estate was sold by the Herons circa 1520 to a member of the

Selby family The Selby family is a prominent and prolific family in the English gentry that originated in Selby, Yorkshire, but largely settled in Northumberland and County Durham. At various points through history, the family owned Biddlestone Hall and Twizel ...

. A survey in 1561 reported only the remnants of a tower house and a

barmkin Barmkin, also spelled barmekin or barnekin, is a Scots word which refers to a form of medieval and later defensive enclosure, typically found around smaller castles, tower houses, pele towers, and bastle houses in Scotland and the north of Engl ...

. John Selby seems to have repaired the buildings, and an inventory was made of the furnishings on his death in 1595 mentioning a new chamber, a gallery, and chambers in the tower.William Greenwell, ''Wills and Inventories from the Registry at Durham'', vol. 2 (Surtees Society, London, 1860), pp. 256-8
The will of John Selby's father, John Selby of Twizell, only mentions Twizell mill. Of the medieval structure, blocked windows, a chamfered doorway and the original north-east angle

quoins Quoins ( or ) are masonry blocks at the corner of a wall. Some are structural, providing strength for a wall made with inferior stone or rubble, while others merely add aesthetic detail to a corner. According to one 19th century encyclopedia, t ...

are all that remains visible now. In 1685 Sir Francis Blake (d. 1718) purchased the estate from the widow Selby for £1,944, plus an annuity of £100, and the Blake family lived on the estate until 1738 when they moved to nearby Tillmouth Hall. From about 1770, Sir Francis Blake (d. 1780) worked on the recreation of the castle as a Gothic Revival mansion, designed by architect James Nesbit of Kelso to be five levels tall. Despite some forty years of work, the project was never completed. When in 1882, the Blakes built a new mansion at Tillmouth Park much of the incomplete Twizell Castle was demolished and the stone used in the new construction. The house is now a two-storey

folly In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of usual garden buildings. Eighteenth-cent ...

. Rectangular in plan, with circular towers on the angles and two wings on the north side, the basement rooms in the main block are stone and brick-vaulted as a precaution against fire. The property is in poor order and is officially listed as of 2008 on the English Heritage

Heritage at Risk Register An annual ''Heritage at Risk Register'' is published by Historic England. The survey is used by national and local government, a wide range of individuals and heritage groups to establish the extent of risk and to help assess priorities for acti ...

References

* Photograph and architectural description of listed building * * * * {{Castles in North East England Castles in Northumberland Grade II* listed buildings in Northumberland Scheduled monuments in Northumberland Structures on the Heritage at Risk register Selby family