Craster Tower

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Craucester; Crawster; Craister

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

Medieval tower documented in 1415. The east wing was added in C19. The tower probably dates to C14 although it is first mentioned in documents in 1460. The tower is rectangular in plan with walls 2m thick at basement level, inside which is a barrel vault. The walls of the tower have several windows and openings but only one of these, a blocked loop, is likely to be medieval in date.

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

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NU25101958

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; 8216

County Sites and Monuments Record number; N5668

• Web site links
  • http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_north/81/crastertower.htm
    http://www.keystothepast.info/durhamcc/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=N5668
• Books
  • Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Keepdate Publishing) p132
    Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern) p40
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p181
    Rowland, T.H., 1987 [reprint1994], Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p27-8
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p331
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p216
    Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p124
    Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p89
    Pevsner, N., 1957, The Buildings of England: Northumberland (London, Penguin) p135
    Hugill, R.,1939, Borderland Castles and Peles [1970 Reprint by Frank Graham] p83
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Bateson, Edward (ed), 1895, Northumberland County History (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Vol2 p167-8
    Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p12, 19
    Hodgson, J.C., 1820, History of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) pt3 Vol1 p39
• Journal Articles
  • 1962-4, History of the Berwickshire Naturalist Club Vol36 p136-42
• 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]
• 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 p13-14