Langley Castle

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

Tower house built circa 1350, in ruins by 1541. A four storey central block with five storey angle towers projecting from the east and west faces. A later C14 forebuilding is set in the re-entrant angle of the south east tower and the east face. It was restored in the 1890's by antiquarian Cadwallader Bates became St Cuthbert's school for girls and is currently an hotel. Probably the finest tower-house in Northumberland, Langley Castle is thought to have been built by Sir Thomas de Lucy and later belonged to the Earl of Northumberland. It was already a roofless ruin in 1541 but remained a tolerably intact shell until Bates' restoration.

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

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NY83476247

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; 16363

County Sites and Monuments Record number; N7640

• Web site links
  • http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/langleycastle/history.htm
    http://www.keystothepast.info/durhamcc/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=N7640
    http://www.langleycastle.com/history.htm
• Books
  • Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Keepdate Publishing) p402-5
    Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern) p72-3
    Emery, Anthony, 1996, Greater Medieval Houses Vol1 (Cambridge) p110-14
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p188-9
    Jackson, M.J.,1992, Castles of Northumbria (Carlise) p83-4
    Rowland, T.H., 1987 [reprint1994], Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p9, 11, 49, 55
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p337
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p251
    Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p223-5
    Hedley, W. Percy, 1968-70, Northumberland Families Vol1 p233
    Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p130
    Pevsner, N., 1957. The Buildings of England: Northumberland (London) p203
    Hugill, R.,1939, Borderland Castles and Peles [1970 Reprint by Frank Graham] p144-6
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p396-9
    Tomlinson, W.W., 1897, Comprehensive Guide to Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p154-5
    Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p48
    White, W., 1859, Northumberland and the Border p385
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1853, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol2 p113-4, 332-334
    Hodgson, J.C., 1840, History of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) pt2 Vol3 p367
    Hodgson, J. and Laird, F., 1813, Beauties of England and Wales; Northumberland Vol12 p130-1
• Journal Articles
  • 1991, The Northumbrian Magazine Vol14 p48-51
    1889, The Monthly Chronicle; North Country Lore and Legend p117-8,120
    Bates, C.J., 1885, 'The Barony and Castle of Langley' Archaeologia Aeliana [ser2] Vol10 p38-56
• 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]
    1415 list of Northumberland Castles [Click here]
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/nhumbeng.html#nhumb11]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p338
• Other sources and unpublished works (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • Coombes, L.C., 1990, A History of Langley Barony, Northumberland [manuscript copy in Hexham Library]