Etal Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Echale; Ethalle; Othale; Ethale; Etella; Etall; Etell; Etayle

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

Remains consists of the great tower to the north west, a gate tower to the south east and a smaller third tower to the south west. A length of the original curtain wall survives connecting the latter two. In c1341 Edward III granted the lord of Etal, Robert Manners, licence to crenellate. Almost certainly the tower, a tower house, itself was already crenellated at this time, but the grant meant that its owner now had permission to extend the fortification to include the gatehouse, corner tower and curtain wall whose remains now extend around the edges of the barmkin. Documents indicate that the construction of these features took a minimum of 15 years.

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

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1341 May 3.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This site is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 238049, 238050)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NT92533931

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; 3641

County Sites and Monuments Record number; N1811

• Web site links
  • http://www.bispham2.freeserve.co.uk/castles/etal.htm
    http://www.castlexplorer.co.uk/england/etal/etal.php
    http://www.eng-h.gov.uk/reports/etal/
    http://www.keystothepast.info/durhamcc/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=N1811
    http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/conProperty.128
    http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_north/74/etalcastle.htm
• Books
  • Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Keepdate Publishing) p87-9
    Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern) p52-3
    Emery, Anthony, 1996, Greater Medieval Houses Vol1 (Cambridge) p91-2, 159
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p184
    Jackson, M.J.,1992, Castles of Northumbria (Carlise) p63-4 [plan]
    Pevsner, N. (revised by John Grundy et al), 1992, The Buildings of England: Northumberland (London, Penguin) p273-4
    Rowland, T.H., 1987 [reprint1994], Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p10, 11, 19, 20
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p333
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p228
    Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p152-5
    Hedley, W. Percy, 1968-70, Northumberland Families Vol2 p44, 246
    Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p100-1
    Hugill, R.,1939, Borderland Castles and Peles [1970 Reprint by Frank Graham] p101-3
    Vickers, Kenneth H. (ed), 1922, Northumberland County History (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Vol11 p460-71
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Tomlinson, W.W., 1897, Comprehensive Guide to Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p523-4
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p387
    Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p9, 14, 23, 38, 73
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p413
• Journal Articles
  • Harbottle, Barbara and Ellison, Margaret, 2001, 'An Excavation at Etal Castle, Northumberland, in 1978' Archaeologia Aeliana [ser5] Vol29 p235-52
    Webster, L.E. and Cherry, J., 1979, ‘Medieval Britain in 1978' Medieval Archaeology Vol23 p262
    1928, History of the Berwickshire Naturalist Club Vol26 p309 [only plans from N.C.H.]
    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 p8
    Bates, C.J., 1887-8, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle Vol3 p350-1
    1882-4, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle Vol1 p147-8
• Guidebooks
  • Nelson, Ian S., 1998, Etal Castle (English Heritage)
    Nelson, Ian S., 1994 [3edn], Etal Castle (Berwick: How and Blackhall) [1st printed 1975]
• 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]
    1509 Survey of Tevedale [Click here]
    1415 list of Northumberland Castles [Click here]
    Calendar of Patent Rolls (1340-43) p179
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/nhumbeng.html#nhumb26]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p343-4