Ford Vicars Pele

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Parsons Tower; Forde

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

Ruined medieval tower house, known as Parson's Tower, situated south west of Ford Castle. It was the home of the local parson and as such was always separate from the nearby castle. The remains comprise the basement stage of a tower built of coursed, squared, sandstone blocks, with chamfered set-back or plinth visible on three sides. The tower is almost square in plan, measuring 10.1m by 10.5m externally, stands about 3.65m high and has walls about 2m thick enclosing a single chamber. Internally, the basement is covered by an east-west barrel vault and many bear masons marks. Various sockets and rooflines can be traced in the stonework externally and are associated with later buildings attached to the tower. These buildings no longer survive. Since the medieval period the tower is reported as having been totally demolished in 1663, rebuilt in 1725 and enlarged in 1825.

This site has been described as a;
Pele Tower.
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 238069)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NT94383742

Sources of information, references and further reading

Web site links

http://www.keystothepast.info/durhamcc/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=N1813
http://www.sine.newcastle.ac.uk/view_structure_information.asp?struct_id=116
http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_north/74/fordtower.htm

Books

Harrison, Peter, 2004, Castles of God (Woodbridge; Boydell Press) p67
Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Keepdate Publishing) p85
Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern) p57
Pevsner, N., 1992 (revised by Grundy, John et al), The Buildings of England: Northumberland (London, Penguin) p283-4
Rowland, T.H., 1987 [reprint1994], Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p11
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p334
Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p167-8
Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p106-7
Vickers, Kenneth H. (ed), 1922, Northumberland County History (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Vol11 p362-3

Journal Articles

Fawcett, R., 1976, ‘Ford, Parson's Tower' Archaeological Journal Vol133 p192
1891-2, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle [new ser] Vol5 p64-5

Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)

1541 Survey of the East and Middle Marches [Click here]

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The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English Heritage and other individuals and organisations.

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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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