Seghill Tower

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Blake Arms Hotel; Sighale

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

This is the site of the medieval tower of Seghill. It was built in 1415, but today only its vaulted basement survives. It is now used as the cellar to the Blake Arms Hotel. It is believed to have stood up to three storeys high. It was finally demolished in the early C19.

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

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NZ28367428

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; 25259

County Sites and Monuments Record number; N11517

• Web site links
  • http://www.keystothepast.info/durhamcc/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=N11517
• Books
  • Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Keepdate Publishing) p486-7
    Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern) p94
    Rowland, T.H., 1987 [reprint1994], Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p79
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p340
    Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p312
    Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p154
    Pevsner, N., 1957, The Buildings of England: Northumberland (London, Penguin) p289
    Craster, H.H.E. (ed), 1909, Northumberland County History (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Vol9 p57-8
    Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p16
• 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 p15
    1905-6, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle [ser2] Vol2 p272-4
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • 1415 list of Northumberland Castles [Click here]