Witton Tower, Witton-le-Wear

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Witton Le Wear 2; Witton Hall

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

Witton Tower is an extensive mansion which includes a Medieval tower house, a chapel and an intermediate dwelling. There are a number of modern extensions. The chapel appears to be the earliest part of the structure, and contains in its south gable end a Norman window - a narrow, round-headed aperture of C12 date, situated above a restored Early English window. The remains of C16 hood-moulds and mullions may be seen in the tower and dwelling-house. The roofs are of stone flags and Welsh slate, with stone and brick chimneys.

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

This site is a Grade 2* listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 403775)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NZ14343130

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; 22234

County Sites and Monuments Record number; D1763

Web site links
- http://www.keystothepast.info/durhamcc/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=D1763
Books
- Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles and Tower Houses of County Durham (Malvern) p63
  Emery, Anthony, 1996, Greater Medieval Houses Vol1 (Cambridge) p139
  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 p138
  Hugill, Robert, 1979, The Castles and Towers of the County of Durham (Newcastle; Frank Graham) p108
  Pevsner, N., 1953, The Buildings of England: County Durham (Harmondsworth) (London) p244-5

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant

The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English Heritage and other individuals and organisations.

It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from any site without proper recording and reporting. Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.

Please help me to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting me if you see errors or if you can add information.
I do acknowledge the help I get with this site.

*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

Go to Previous Record Go to Next Record Back to List
This record last updated on Friday, April 6, 2007

¤¤¤¤¤