Edlingham Castle

Edlingham Castle
Northumberland
Location
Grid reference:	NU115095
Location:	55°22’44"N, 1°49’12"W
History
Information
Condition:	Ruins
Owned by:	English Heritage
Website:	Edlingham Castle

Edlingham Castle is a small castle ruin standing in a valley to the west of Alnwick in Northumberland. It has been described as "...one of the most interesting in the county" by Nikolaus Pevsner, the architectural historian Edlingham itself is little more than a hamlet with a church alongside the castle.

The castle ruins are a Scheduled Ancient Monument and Grade I listed building, in the care of English Heritage.

The ruins are mostly laid low though much of the solar tower 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, barbican and other courtyard buildings are still visible, most dating from the 16th century.

The castle - more properly a fortified manor house typical of many mediæval houses in the Middle Shires - 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 throughout the period from about 1300 to 1600.

History

Edlingham Castle ruins from the gatehouse

By 1174, a manor house at the location was in the possession of a John of Edlingham. In 1294, a descendant, Walter of Edlingham sold it to William de Felton, who 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 then 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 to build nearby farmhouses in the 1660s, but leaving the solar tower intact. In 1978 the Department for the Environment acquired the site and conducted extensive archaeological excavations; before this, rubble had filled the solar tower to a height of ten feet.

Visiting

The site is now in the care of English Heritage. It is easily accessible from the nearby church of St John the Baptist, Edlingham. William de Felton is buried there.

There is an interpretation board on-site, while more detailed leaflets are available from the church for a small donation.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Edlingham Castle)

• Images of Edlingham Castle - NorthOfTheTyne
• Pictures of Edlingham Castle and the area on Geograph.co.uk
• Edlingham Castle - English Heritage

References

• John Dodds "Bastles and Belligerents, Mediæval Strongholds in Northumberland" Keepdate Publishing ISBN 1-899506-45-4
• T H Rowland "Mediæval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland" Sandhill Press Ltd 1994 ISBN 0-946098-24-7