Otterburn Tower

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Otterburn Tower
Northumberland
Location
Grid reference: NY888931
Location: 55°13’57"N, 2°10’39"W
Village: Otterburn
History
Built 1086-1830
Country house
Information

Otterburn Tower is a Grade-II-listed castellated, three-star country house hotel in Otterburn, Northumberland. Its name has also been rendered Otiburne or Otterburn Castle and it is now the 'Otterburn Tower Hotel'.[1]

The house is set in 32 acres of deer park and woodland, all in the Northumberland National Park.

Originally founded by a cousin of William the Conqueror in 1086, it was later owned by the Hall family, before being rebuilt in 1830 by Thomas James, a magistrate, on the site and using some of the stones from the Otterburn Castle.

Nearby is Otterburn Hall, a much more modern foundation, built in 1870 and unrelated to the ancient tower.

Geography

Otterburn Tower is situated on 32 acres[2] north of Otterburn village, Northumberland. It is on the right bank of the River Rede within the Northumberland National Park, and is accessible by the A696 road along Redesdale. It is three miles west of Elsdon, while Cramlington is twenty-five miles to the southeast.[3][4][5]

The tower is said to be "bosomed high in tufted trees".[6]

From the tower, a short walk by a burn leads to the moor; fishing is available on three miles of riverbank along the Rede.[2] Several spots are marked with stones set in circles, indicating ancient places of burial.[6] Otterburn Hall, a fortified country house hotel, Otterburn Mill, and a quarry are nearby.[7]

History

Middle Ages

Otterburn Tower was built on the site and using some of the stones from Otterburn Castle,[8] a castle on the site founded by a cousin of William the Conqueror in 1086 as a bastion to repel invasion from the north.[2]

In August 1388, during the Battle of Otterburn, initially, the Scottish forces had camped near the valley close to the tower, in the evening. The next day, early in the morning, they attacked the Otterburn Tower but were unsuccessful in their attempt to capture it.[2][9] Following this failure, the army wanted to return to their homes but Douglas wanted to pursue the battle as Henry Percy, known to history as 'Hotspur', had vowed that he would not allow the Scots to leave the village Otterburn. The result was a fiercely fought battle on 19 August 1388 between the forces of Henry Percy and the Earl Douglas in which the former was taken prisoner and the latter was slain.[3][9] The scene of the battle, as reconstructed by historians, mentions that it took place about half a mile northwest of Otterburn village.

By the beginning of the 15th century, the tower was held by Sir Robert Umfraville.[10] It was owned by the Hall family from at least the 1500s.

18th-19th centuries

One of its notable owners was Mad Jack Hall, a Jacobite rebel who was tried five times and finally executed at Tyburn for high treason on 13 July 1716. His initials are still carved over one of the original doors.[10] Hall had pleaded during the trial that as he was returning from a Justice’s meeting, he was surrounded by rebels and forced to go with them.[2][10]

In 1777, the "Percy Cross" was placed near the tower to commemorate the Otterburn Battle site.

In the 1860s, Otterburn Castle was owned by Thomas James (1807-unknown),[11][12] a magistrate, landholder, and farmer of 1,276 acres; he was the son of William James (d. before 1822), of Otterburn Castle, and Elizabeth Woodhouse.[13] Thomas James built Otterburn Tower over what was Otterburn Castle incorporating the masonry of an 18th-century house which contained an early building.[7] No traces of the castle remain.[14]

William James of Otterburn Towers, a Lieutenant of the 42nd Highlanders, served in the Crimea and Indian Mutiny on 28 Feb 1838 and 9 April 1864, respectively.[15] He was the son

Architecture and fittings

Otterburn is a castellated building. Much of the current building was constructed in 1830 incorporating an 18th-century tower and earlier architectural work as little of the original tower remained. The northern corner of the modern tower includes part of the walls of the old castle. The building was extended at the rear in 1904,[16] and a stable block was added by F.W. Rich for Howard Pease.[7]

Grounds

Three Roman altar stones, said to have been brought from Rochester in Kent, are situated at the entrance to the tower.[6] The Douglas Monument, within a small clump of trees, contains a large upright stone which was originally a fireplace beam in the Otterburn Castle, which was in the process of being demolished around the time the Douglas Monument was created.[17]

Outside links

References

  1. ↑ Matthews, Rupert (24 April 2008). Northumberland. Frances Lincoln Ltd. pp. 84–. ISBN 978-0-7112-2827-6. http://books.google.com/books?id=UGLZGsQdmEsC&pg=PA84. Retrieved 6 July 2011. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "Otterburn Tower". Haunted Hotel Guide. http://hauntedhotelguide.com/hoteldetails.asp?id=19. Retrieved 4 July 2011. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Whellan, William, & Co (1855). History, topography, and directory of Northumberland: comprising a general survey of the county, and a history of the town and county of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, with separate historical, statistical, and descriptive sketches of the boroughs of Gateshead and Berwick-upon-Tweed, and all the towns ... wards, and manors. To which is subjoined a list of the seats of the nobility and gentry. Whittaker and Co.. pp. 672–. http://books.google.com/books?id=8-kGAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA672. Retrieved 6 July 2011. 
  4. ↑ Royal Aero Club of the United Kingdom; United Service and Royal Aero Club (July 1933). Flight International. IPC Transport Press Ltd.. p. 783. http://books.google.com/books?id=bXEPAAAAIAAJ. Retrieved 4 July 2011. 
  5. ↑ Burke, Thomas (1933). The beauty of England. G. G. Harrap. p. 305. http://books.google.com/books?id=lNEBAAAAMAAJ. Retrieved 4 July 2011. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Natural History Society of Northumberland, Durham, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne; Tyneside Naturalists' Field Club (1889). Natural history transactions of Northumberland, Durham, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne (Now in the public domain. ed.). Williams & Norgate. pp. 235–. http://books.google.com/books?id=xBJLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA235. Retrieved 5 July 2011. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Pevsner, Nikolaus; Grundy, John; McCombie, Grace; Peter Ryder; Humphrey Welfare (11 March 1992). Northumberland. Yale University Press. pp. 537–. ISBN 978-0-300-09638-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=kClO7NOfvsIC&pg=PA537. Retrieved 5 July 2011. 
  8. ↑ Matthews, p. 79
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Anthony Goodman; Anthony Tuck (1992). War and border societies in the middle ages. Routledge. pp. 75–. ISBN 978-0-415-08021-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=ZijGamBWWgkC&pg=PA75. Retrieved 6 July 2011. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Geldard, Ed (22 October 2009). Northumberland Strongholds. Frances Lincoln Ltd. pp. 5, 36. ISBN 978-0-7112-2985-3. http://books.google.co.in/books?id=Yw4Nuho27rEC&pg=PA5&dq=Otterburn+Tower&hl=en&ei=XP8TTprxD8PirAe6kNSHBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CF8Q6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=Otterburn&f=false. Retrieved 5 July 2011. 
  11. ↑ Burke, Sir Bernard (1871). A genealogical and heraldic history of the landed gentry of Great Britain & Ireland. Harrison. pp. 346–. http://books.google.com/books?id=161CAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA346. Retrieved 5 July 2011. 
  12. ↑ Paul Frodsham; Council for British Archaeology (2004). Archaeology in Northumberland National Park. Council for British Archaeology. p. 122. ISBN 978-1-902771-38-0. http://books.google.com/books?id=SuRvAAAAIAAJ. Retrieved 6 July 2011. 
  13. ↑ Thomas James, of Otterburn- Clan Barker
  14. ↑ Little or No Trace Castles - 'North of the Tyne'
  15. ↑ Sir Bernard Burke (1894). A genealogical and heraldic history of the landed gentry of Great Britain & Ireland. Harrison. ISBN 978-0-394-48726-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=93M-AQAAIAAJ. Retrieved 6 July 2011. 
  16. ↑ "Otterburn Tower". British Listed Buildings. http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-239688-otterburn-tower-otterburn. Retrieved 4 July 2011. 
  17. ↑ Matthews, p. 87
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