Witton Castle, Witton-le-Wear

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Witton le Wear; Whitton

In the civil parish of Evenwood And Barony.
In the historic county of Durham; County Palatinate of (Modern Authority of Durham, 1974 county of County Durham).

Licence to crenellate was obtained by Ralph Eure in 1410 after rebuilding had already begun, probably around 1370. Following a fire in 1796 much rebuilding took place. The original, rubble-built castle within the curtain wall has been largely restored, and retains few exterior features of obvious antiquity, all doorways and windows being modern insertions. The original plan consisted of a square bailey, surrounded by a curtain wall,with a keep on the north side projecting beyond the curtain. The curtain remains almost unaltered.Two gateways lead to the courtyard, in the middle of the east and west sides respectively, and over each is a machicolated gallery. A broad battlement runs around the top of the wall. Each angle of the curtain was originally crowned by a bartizan of which only two remain. The keep is a rectangular structure with turrets at all corners. On the south side of the courtyard and close to the curtain wall is a square, tower-like structure with windows of C16.

This site has been described as a;
Masonry Castle.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Masonry ruins/remnants remains.

A Durham Pardon licence to crenellate was granted in 1410.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NZ15353041

Modern Map from Good for landscape form and features	Modern Map from Good for general location
Air Photo from	1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 22177

County Sites and Monuments Record number; D1768

• Web site links
  • http://www.keystothepast.info/durhamcc/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=D1768
    http://www.sine.newcastle.ac.uk/view_structure_information.asp?struct_id=1983
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles and Tower Houses of County Durham (Malvern) p60-2
    Emery, Anthony, 1996, Greater Medieval Houses Vol1 (Cambridge) p155-7, 159
    Jackson, M.J., 1996, Castles of Durham and Cleveland (Carlise) p68-70
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p33
    Corfe, Tom (ed), 1992, 'The Visible Middle Ages' in An Historical Atlas of County Durhan p28-9
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p137
    Pevsner, N., 1983 (Revised by Williamson, Elizabeth), The Buildings of England: Durham (London, Penguin) p510-1
    Hugill, Robert, 1979, The Castles and Towers of the County of Durham (Newcastle; Frank Graham) p104-107
    Conyers-Surtees, H., 1924, History of the Parish of Witon-le-Wear p20-31
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Leighton, 1910, in Memories of Old Durham (London) p199-200
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p356-7, 431
    Whellan, F., 1894 (2edn), History, Topography and Directory of the County of Durham p426-8
    Boyle, J.R., 1892, Comprehensive Guide to the County of Durham (Newcastle) p510-3
    Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p. xv
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p206
    Brayley, E. and Britton, J., 1803, Beauties of England and Wales; Durham Vol5 p216
    Hutchinson, Wm, 1785-94, The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham Vol3 p367-70
    Grose, Francis, 1787, The Antiquities of England and Wales (London) Vol2 p112-4
• Journal Articles
  • 1911-12, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle Vol5 p190-1
    Anon, 1894, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle Vol6 p229-34
    1826, Gentlemans Magazine Vol96 pt1 p401
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • 1872, Report of Deputy Keeper of Public Records Vol33 p91
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/durhameng.html#durham7]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p543