Adderstone Tower

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Turris de Ederston

In the civil parish of Adderstone with Lucker.
In the historic county of Northumberland (Modern Authority of Northumberland, 1974 county of Northumberland).

Vanished. C15 tower said to be close to present C18 Adderstone Hall (at map reference given). Dodds writes thick woods inhibit visual confirmation. PastScape reports site of pre 1415 tower in grid square NU1249, which may represent this tower. SMR record reads 'A medieval tower at Adderstone is mentioned in a document of 1415. However, the exact site has never been located and it has been suggested it maybe the same as the tower at Cocklaw.' The tower was home of Sir Thomas Forster who fought at the Battle of Flodden, the tower having been built before 1415. The tower was incorporated into a mansion in the late C16 or early C17, but both were pulled down when a later Thomas Forster built a new house (Adderstone Hall) in C18.

This site has been described as a;
Pele Tower.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Possible.
Nothing visible remains.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NU141303

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; 7403

County Sites and Monuments Record number; N4917

• Web site links
  • http://www.keystothepast.info/durhamcc/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=N4917
• Books
  • Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Keepdate Publishing)
    Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern) p114 [slight]
    Rowland, T.H., 1987 [reprint1994], Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p26
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p345
    Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p11
    Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p52
    Bateson, Edward (ed), 1893, Northumberland County History (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Vol1 p221-2
    Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p12, 17
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • 1415 list of Northumberland Castles [Click here]