Lanton Towers

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Langeton; Langton; Lancton; Baxter Tower; Strother Tower; Tower of Ralph Reveley

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

Ruined remains of a tower, built before 1369. It was destroyed by James VI in 1496. It was one of two towers, (the other being built in 1415), one built by the Baxters, the other by the Strothers. After the 1496 destruction, one tower was repaired and the other left ruinous. The restored tower was ruinous in 1715, and is recorded as belonging to Mark Strother, esq. Today, the tower survives as a mound of earth and stones over 2m high with traces of a rectangular building on one side. One tower held by Henry Strother in 1415 and jointly by Earl Rutland and William Strother in 1541. Ralph Reveley is recorded in 1522 associated with one of the towers.

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

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NT92423115

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; 3847

County Sites and Monuments Record number; N2006

• Web site links
  • http://www.keystothepast.info/durhamcc/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=N2006
• Books
  • Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Keepdate Publishing) p71-2
    Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern) p115 [slight]
    Rowland, T.H., 1987 [reprint1994], Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p32
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p337
    Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p225-6
    Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle) p131
    Vickers, Kenneth H. (ed), 1922, Northumberland County History (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Vol11 p141-2
    Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p17, 22 and 35
• 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 p11
• 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)
  • Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p344