Clennell Hall

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Clennill

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

Clennell Hall lies in a strategic position at the entrance to the valley of the River Alwin. The building comprises a tower house, with C17 house attached to its south side, and C18 and C19 additions. The tower house was built in late medieval times and belonged to Percival Clennell. It stands three storeys high with walls over 1.5m thick at basement level. The basement of the tower is vaulted and many original features survive. The south range has long been recorded as having been built in 1568, but it is now thought unlikely that an undefended house would be built at this time in the unsettled Border region and a later C17 date may be more likely. According to documentary evidence the tower was newly repaired in 1541 and a barmkin was under construction. In 1568, a 2 storey wing was built onto the west of the tower and at the same time, or possibly earlier, the tower itself was heightened. A third storey was added to the west wing in the late C17 and the tower roof was altered. The house was extended and altered in 1895. No trace of C16 barmkin survives.

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.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NT92900715

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; 1616

County Sites and Monuments Record number; N1056

• Web site links
  • http://www.keystothepast.info/durhamcc/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=N1056
• Books
  • Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Keepdate Publishing)
    Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern) p37
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p200 [slight]
    Rowland, T.H., 1987 [reprint1994], Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p31, 36
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p330
    Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p110-111
    Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p85
    Dodds, Madeleine Hope (ed), 1940, Northumberland County History (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Vol15 p434
    Hugill, R.,1939, Borderland Castles and Peles [1970 Reprint by Frank Graham] p72-3
    Dixon, D.D., 1903. Upper Coquetdale, Northumberland: its history, traditions, folk-lore, and scenery (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p240
    Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p43-4
• Journal Articles
  • 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 p3-4
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • 1541 Survey of the East and Middle Marches [Click here]
• Other sources and unpublished works (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • Ryder, P.F., 1995. Towers and Bastles in Northumberland, Part 1 Alnwick District p3-5