Belsay Castle

In the civil parish of Belsay.
In the historic county of Northumberland (Modern Authority of Northumberland, 1974 county of Northumberland).

Tower house constructed between 1439 and 1460 during a period of turbulent border warfare. The tower is a three storied rectangular stone building with two short projections or wings at the south west and north west corners; it is capped by four rounded corner turrets with battlements in between. It is constructed of square blocks of sandstone and measures 21.5m to the highest point. In 1614 a low two storied range was added to the tower house, possibly on the site of an earlier range of buildings. Situated 45m north east of the tower house is a linear depression which can be traced to the north into a walled garden, possibly the remains of an infilled moat and may have been associated with the early Manor of Belsay before the construction of the tower house in C14. It is known that there was an earlier manor house as it received Edward I in 1278 and its location has never been confirmed.

This site has been described as a;
Tower House.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Major remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This site is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 238494)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NZ08487855

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; 20700

County Sites and Monuments Record number; N10234

• Web site links
  • http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_north/88/belsaycastle.htm
    http://www.touruk.co.uk/houses/housenorthu_bels.htm
    http://www.theheritagetrail.co.uk/manor%20houses/belsay%20hall.htm
    http://www.touruk.co.uk/castles/castle_belsay.htm
    http://www.keystothepast.info/durhamcc/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=N10234
    http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/conProperty.117
• Books
  • Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Keepdate Publishing) p241-3
    Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern) p24
    Emery, Anthony, 1996, Greater Medieval Houses Vol1 (Cambridge) p48-50
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p175
    Jackson, M.J.,1992, Castles of Northumbria (Carlise) p25-6
    Rowland, T.H., 1987 [reprint1994], Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p9, 73-5, 86
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p327
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p186
    Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p58-61
    Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p61-2
    Pevsner, N, et al. 1957. The Buildings of England: Northumberland (London) p85
    Hugill, R.,1939, Borderland Castles and Peles [1970 Reprint by Frank Graham] p43-4
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Middleton, Sir Arthur E., 1910, An Account of Belsay Castle in the County of Northumberland [Republished in 1990 by Spredden Press]
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p368
    Tomlinson, W.W., 1897, Comprehensive Guide to Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p79-80
    Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p18
    Hodgson, J.C., 1827, History of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) pt2 Vol1 p359-66
    Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol1 p215
• Journal Articles
  • Milner, L., 1976. 'Northumberland Pele Towers: Belsay Castle' Archaeological Journal Vol133 p169
    Hussey, C., 1940 Oct, Country Life Vol88 p346-50
    Simpson, 1940, 'Belsay Castle and the Scottish Tower Houses' Archaeologia Aeliana [ser4] Vol16 p75-84
    Hodgson, J.C., 1916, 'List of Ruined Towers, Chapels, etc., in Northumberland; compiled about 1715 by John Warburton, Somerset Herald, aided by John Horsley' Archaeologia Aeliana [ser3] Vol13 p5
    1911-12, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle Vol5 p79-80
    1910, History of the Berwickshire Naturalist Club Vol21 p152-4 [slight]
    Middleton, Sir Arthur E., 1896-1905, Transactions of the Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland Vol5 p121-44
    Ferguson et al, 1896-8, History of the Berwickshire Naturalist Club Vol16 p143-6
    1890, The Monthly Chronicle; North Country Lore and Legend p399-402
• Guidebooks
  • White, Roger, 2005, Belsay Hall, Castle and Garden (English Heritage)
    Hewlings, Richard and Anderton, Stephen, 1994, Belsay Hall, garden and castle [guide]
    Johnson, S. 1984. Belsay Hall, Castle and Gardens (English Heritage)
• 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]
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/nhumbeng.html#nhumb18]