Wark on Tweed Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Carham; Carrum; Werke Sup Twedam

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

Earthwork remains of an early C12 motte-and-bailey castle, refortified in 1157-61 and in the early C13 when an octagonal shell keep was raised on the motte and a curtain wall, with towers and a gatehouse were constructed. In the south east corner the outer ward replaced the early bailey defences. Probably dismantled in 1549. the visible remains of the castle largely relate to C16 building phases as the medieval castle was partly demolished and re-built on numerous occasions. The Inner Ward consists of a mound 11m high with a base diameter of 50m which appears to be a simple motte but must be, in fact mainly the remains of an artillery platform, 'the ring' of 1543, enclosing a masonry tower of earlier date. the top of the mound has been disturbed by excavations in 1862. The curtain wall of the Middle Ward survives as a bank 1.4m high running down the north slope of the mound and as a bank 3m high with visible masonry on the east slope.

This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle
Masonry Castle
Artillery Fort.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Earthworks remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This site is a Grade 2* listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 237980)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NT82393872

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; 1143

County Sites and Monuments Record number; N688

• Web site links
  • http://www.coldstream-scotland.co.uk/history_wark_castle.html
    http://www.pastperfect.org.uk/sites/wark/index.html
    http://www.keystothepast.info/durhamcc/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=N688
    http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_north/74/warkcastle.htm
• Books
  • Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Keepdate Publishing) p36-9
    Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern) p102-3
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p196-7
    Jackson, M.J.,1992, Castles of Northumbria (Carlise) p120-2,125
    Rowland, T.H., 1987 [reprint1994], Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p7, 10, 16-8
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p343
    Colvin, H.M., Ransome, D.R. and Summerson, John, 1982, The history of the King's Works Vol4: 1485-1660 (part 2) (London) p688-94
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p313
    Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p335-7
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker) [Listed twice as Wark and as Carham] p339
    Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p166-7
    Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p852-3
    Sanders, I.J., 1960, English Baronies. A study of their origin and descent 1086-1327 p149
    Pevsner, N., 1957, The Buildings of England: Northumberland (London, Penguin) p311
    Hugill, R.,1939, Borderland Castles and Peles [1970 Reprint by Frank Graham] p216-8
    Vickers, Kenneth H. (ed), 1922, Northumberland County History (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Vol11 p44-74
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Tomlinson, W.W., 1897, Comprehensive Guide to Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p554-6
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p426-8
    Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p331-69
    Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol3 (London) p347-8
    Hartshorne, C.H., 1858, Feudal and Military Antiquities of Northumberland and the Scottish Borders (London: Proceedings of the Archaeological Institute at Newcastle) Vol2 p31-6 [history]
    Scott, W., 1814, Border Antiquites of England and Scotland Vol2 121-3
• Journal Articles
  • Kenyon, J.R., 1981 'Early Artillery Fortifications in England and Wales: a Preliminary Survey and Re-appraisal' Archaeological Journal Vol138 p221
    Kenyon, J.R., 1977, 'Wark Castle and its artillery defences in the reign of Henry VIII' Post-Medieval Archaeology Vol11 p50-60
    Nivet, H., 1976, ‘Wark Castle and Coldstream' Transactions of the Hawick Archaeological Society p24-5
    Bennet, 1965, History of the Berwickshire Naturalists Club Vol37 p29-34
    Brown, R, Allen, 1959, 'A List of Castles, 1154–1216' English Historical Review Vol74 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p249-280]
    Brown, R. Allen, 1955, 'Royal Castle-building in England 1154-1216' English Historical Review Vol70 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press)] pp19-64
    Hunter Blair, C.H., 1944, 'The Early Castles of Northumberland' Archaeologia Aeliana [ser4] Vol22 p155-60 [plan]
    Hunter Blair, C.H., 1935-7, History of the Berwickshire Naturalists Club Vol29 p76-103
    Hardy, 1890-1, History of the Berwickshire Naturalists Club Vol13 p78-80
    Mearns, 1863-68. History of the Berwickshire Naturalists Club Vol5 p61-6
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • 1584 Commissioners Report [Click here]
    1541 Survey of the East and Middle Marches [Click here]
    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#nhumb24]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p344