Bothal Castle is a castle and stately home in the village of the same name near the

River Wansbeck The River Wansbeck runs through the county of Northumberland, England. It rises above Sweethope Lough on the edge of Fourlaws Forest in the area known locally as The Wanneys (Great Wanney Crag, Little Wanney Crag; thus the "Wanneys Beck"); runs ...

, 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 Ashington is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, with a population of 27,864 at the 2011 Census. It was once a centre of the coal mining industry. The town is north of Newcastle upon Tyne, west of the A189 and bordered to the ...

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 ...

. 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 settlers in the mid-5th c ...

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 Con ...

, and renovated and remodelled a number of times. It is 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 ...

and a

Grade I 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 Irel ...

. In 1095, Bothal was given by King

William Rufus William II ( xno, Williame; – 2 August 1100) was King of England from 26 September 1087 until his death in 1100, with powers over Normandy and influence in Scotland. He was less successful in extending control into Wales. The third so ...

to Guy I de Balliol, whose daughter Alice married William Bertram, 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 castle, 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 period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, 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 th ...

in the 14th century. In August 1583 Cuthbert Ogle, 7th

Baron Ogle Baron Ogle is an abeyant title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1461 for Robert Ogle. It fell into abeyance in 1691. The Ogles were a prominent Northumbrian family from before the time of the Norman Conquest. They settled at Ogle, Nort ...

, negotiated a marriage between his daughter Jane and Edward Talbot, a son of

George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, 6th Earl of Waterford, 12th Baron Talbot, KG, Earl Marshal (c. 1522/1528 – 18 November 1590) was an English magnate and military commander. He also held the subsidiary titles of 15th Baron Strange of ...

. Shrewsbury's agents visited Bothal, and described the house as 'a castle battled, and not unlike to

Nether Haddon Nether Haddon is a sparsely populated village and civil parish in Derbyshire, England. It is immediately downstream along the River Wye from the small town of Bakewell and much of its land is owned by Haddon Hall, a medieval and Tudor building l ...

where Master John Manners doth dwell.' In 1591 the estate passed to the

Cavendish Cavendish may refer to: People * The House of Cavendish, a British aristocratic family * Margaret Cavendish (1623–1673), British poet, philosopher, and scientist * Cavendish (author) (1831–1899), pen name of Henry Jones, English au ...

- Bentinck family (

Dukes of Portland Earl of Portland is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of England, firstly in 1633 and secondly in 1689. What proved to be a long co-held title, Duke of Portland, was created in 1716 and became extinct in 1990 upon the death of t ...

), 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 ...

Welbeck Welbeck is a village in Nottinghamshire, England, slightly to the south-west of Worksop. The village population is included in the civil parish of Holbeck. Welbeck became a coal-mining centre in 1912 and has a famous stately home, Welbeck Ab ...

. 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

- 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