Edlingham Castle is a small castle ruin, having

scheduled 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

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 ...

status, in the care of

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

. It is located in a valley to the west of Alnwick,

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 ...

, England. It has been described as "...one of the most interesting in the county", by

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...

, the architectural historian. Edlingham itself is little more than a hamlet with a church alongside the castle. The ruins are mostly laid low, though much of the solar towerRobert Liddiard (Editor) still stands despite an impressive crack running several stories down to ground level. The foundations and part of the walls of the hall house,

gatehouse A gatehouse is a type of fortified gateway, an entry control point building, enclosing or accompanying a gateway for a town, religious house, castle, manor house, or other fortification building of importance. Gatehouses are typically the mo ...

, barbican and other courtyard buildings are still visible, most dating from the 16th century. The castle – more properly a fortified

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 ...

typical of many

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 ...

houses in the North of England – guards one of the few approaches to Alnwick through the hills to its west. Its fortifications were increased in response to the border warfare which raged between England and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

in the period from about 1300 to 1600.

History

By 1174, a John of Edlingham owned a manor house at this location. In 1294, a descendant, Walter of Edlingham, sold it to William de Felton. He strengthened it by building strong ramparts and a gatehouse, fortifying the main hall, and adding other buildings inside a courtyard. In 1396 Elizabeth de Felton inherited it, marrying Sir Edmund Hastings, who added a strong solar tower. Their descendants occupied the castle and estate until 1514. It was purchased by George Swinburne, a constable of Prudhoe, whose family held it until the 18th century. During this time it gradually fell into disrepair, with most of the buildings dismantled in the 1660s to build nearby farmhouses, but leaving the solar tower intact. In 1978 the Department for the Environment acquired the site and conducted extensive archaeological excavations, prior to which rubble filled the solar tower to a height of three metres. The site is now in the care of

and is easily accessible from the nearby church of St John the Baptist, Edlingham. William de Felton is buried there. An interpretation board is on-site, while more detailed leaflets are available from the church for a small donation.

References

External links

Images of Edlingham castle
North of the Tyne website
Photos of Edlingham Castle and surrounding area
Geograph website
Edlingham Castle: Visitor information
English Heritage {{Locations of Bastle houses in the United Kingdom Castles in Northumberland English Heritage sites in Northumberland History of Northumberland Grade I listed castles Grade I listed buildings in Northumberland Scheduled monuments in Northumberland Ruins in Northumberland Ruined castles in England Grade I listed ruins

History

References

Further reading

External links