Coquet Island Tower

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Coket Island Tower; Coketeland

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

Early Medieval monastery was extant in 684 AD, and possibly destroyed circa 800 AD. A Benedictine cell was founded here in 1125 AD and dissolved in 1539. In C15, the tower here was recorded as being a fortalice of Tynemouth Priory. A windmill was built on the site in the late C12 but was destroyed in 1214. The cell consisted of an east-west 2-storey domestic range with an attached chapel to the east, with a north-west sacristy turret. A tower, perhaps originally detached, is to the south of the west end of domestic range. In 1841 a new dwelling block was built incorporating the undercroft of the domestic range, with a lobby linking it to the tower, the upper part of the tower was rebuilt to carry the lighthouse lantern.

This site has been described as a;
Fortified Ecclesiastical site
Pele Tower.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Masonry footings 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 236802)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NU29290451

Sources of information, references and further reading

Web site links

http://www.keystothepast.info/durhamcc/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=N5591

Books

Harrison, Peter, 2004, Castles of God (Woodbridge; Boydell Press) p67
Brooke, C.J., 2000, Safe Sanctuaries (Edinburgh; John Donald) p154-5
Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Keepdate Publishing)
Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern) p38
Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p200 [slight]
Rowland, T.H., 1987 [reprint1994], Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p53
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p330
Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p114-5
Knowles, David and Hadcock, R Neville, 1971, Medieval religious houses in England and Wales (Longman) p471
Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p87
Pevsner, N., 1957, The Buildings of England: Northumberland (London, Penguin) p129
Hodgson, John Crawford (ed), 1899, Northumberland County History (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Vol5 p315-24 [plan]
Bateson, Edward (ed), 1893, Northumberland County History (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Vol1
Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p19
Dugdale, W., 1846. Monasticon Anglicanum (London)

Journal Articles

1865, Archaeologia Aeliana [new ser] Vol6 p195

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]

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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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