Bywell Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Baliols; Biwell; Binwell

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

The gatehouse, curtain wall and tower of an early C15 castle, apparently uncompleted. The curtain wall and tower are incorporated into a C19 house, the gatehouse is free standing. The earliest reference to the castle is in 1464, when Henry VI fled there after the battle of Hexham. A survey of 1570 refers to the gate-tower, and to foundations as being never finished. A survey of 1608 refers to the castle as being in decay. Jackson says may be based on castle founded by Guy de Balliol soon after 1094 mentioned in 1122. The site overlooks a crossing of the River Tyne.

This site has been described as a;
Masonry Castle
Timber Castle.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Masonry ruins/remnants 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 239836, 239837)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NZ04946178

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; 20623

County Sites and Monuments Record number; N10061 & N10102

• Web site links
  • http://www.keystothepast.info/durhamcc/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=N10061
    http://www.keystothepast.info/durhamcc/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=N10102
• Books
  • Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Keepdate Publishing) p453-6
    Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern) p30
    Emery, Anthony, 1996, Greater Medieval Houses Vol1 (Cambridge) p62
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p178
    Jackson, M.J.,1992, Castles of Northumbria (Carlise) p36-7
    Rowland, T.H., 1987 [reprint1994], Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p86-88
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p329
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p197-8
    Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p85-8
    Hedley, W. Percy, 1968-70, Northumberland Families Vo1 p26, 203-8
    Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p76-7
    Sanders, I.J., 1960, English Baronies. A study of their origin and descent 1086-1327 p25-6
    Pevsner, N., 1957, The Buildings of England: Northumberland (London, Penguin) p109
    Hugill, R.,1939, Borderland Castles and Peles [1970 Reprint by Frank Graham] p54-5
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Hodgson, John Crawford (ed), 1902, Northumberland County History (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Vol6 p75-8, 84
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p370
    Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p372-9
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p202
    Scott, W., 1814, Border Antiquites of England and Scotland Vol115-6
• Journal Articles
  • Milner, L., 1976. ‘Bywell Castle’ Archaeological Journal Vol133 p205
    Honeyman, H.L., 1942. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne [ser4] Vol9 p192
    Hadcock, R.N., 1939, 'Map of Mediaeval Northum and Durham' Archaeologia Aeliana [ser4] Vol16 p163
    1886, Archaeologia Aeliana [ser2] Vol11 p16-17
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/nhumbeng.html#nhumb12]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p339