Twizell Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Twyzell; Twysill; Twizel; Twisle

In the civil parish of Duddo.
In the historic county of Durham; North (Modern Authority of Northumberland, 1974 county of Northumberland).

Medieval tower house incorporated into a ruined C18 folly. The ruins comprise a roofless rectangular building of ashlar and squared stone, 29m by 9.5m, standing two storeys high with two wings on the north side and circular towers at each corner. Internally, there are four vaulted rooms along the south front, all of fine ashlar construction. The wings and towers are part of an incomplete C18 folly, built over 50 years from about 1770 by Sir Francis Blake with the assistance of Nesbit of Kelso. It originally stood five storeys high and was stone or brick-vaulted throughout as a precaution against fire. At the core of the building is a medieval house with walls about 1.5m thick whose structure is partly revealed in the collapse of the north wall. Several pre-folly features are visible in the north wall and include blocked windows, a chamfered doorway and original north east angle quoins. The castle was first recorded in 1415 as the castle of 'Twysill' held by Sir John Heron, but it was destroyed by the Scots in 1496 and abandoned. A survey made in 1561 notes 'there has been one tower, or pele, which is of ancient time decayed and cast down, and there remains one part or quarter thereof, and a barmkin about it.

This site has been described as a;
Tower House.
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 2* listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 238015)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NT88294340

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; 1384

County Sites and Monuments Record number; N972

• Web site links
  • http://www.keystothepast.info/durhamcc/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=N972
    http://www.sine.newcastle.ac.uk/view_structure_information.asp?struct_id=238
    http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_north/74/twizelcastle.htm
• Books
  • Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Keepdate Publishing) p31-3
    Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern) p99
    Jackson, M.J.,1992, Castles of Northumbria (Carlise) p118
    Rowland, T.H., 1987 [reprint1994], Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p10, 11, 15-6
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2
    Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p329-31
    Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p164
    Pevsner, N., 1957. The Buildings of England: Northumberland (London) p299
    Hugill, R.,1939, Borderland Castles and Peles [1970 Reprint by Frank Graham] p206-7
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Tomlinson, W.W., 1897, Comprehensive Guide to Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p552
    Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p14, 22, 38, 52
    Raine, J., 1852, History and Antiquities of North Durham (London) p313-4
    Hodgson, J. and Laird, F., 1813, Beauties of England and Wales; Northumberland Vol12 p226
    Grose, F., 1756, Antiquities of England and Wales Vol4 p141-3
• Journal Articles
  • Nenk, B.S., Margeson, S. and Hurley, M., 1994, Medieval Archaeology Vol30 p239
    Aiken, 1912-15, History of the Berwickshire Naturalist Club Vol22 p175-6
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • 1561 Survey book of Norham and Islandshire [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)
  • Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p344
• Other sources and unpublished works (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • Ryder, P.F., 1995. Towers and Bastles in Northumberland Part 2 Berwick district p14-15