Crawley Tower

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Crawelawe; Krawlawe

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

Medieval seat of the Heron family. A licence to crenellate was granted to Sir John Heron for his tower at 'Crawelawe' in 1343. The tower was ruinous by 1541. By C18 the ruins were adapted to provide cottage accomodation. In rectangular earthwork of uncertain date. Suggested Roman fort. Though probably the earthwork protection for an outer bailey or barmkin for the medieval Tower. The earthwork is situated near the summit of a hill. The ditch which has an average width of 13m and a maximum depth of 2.5m has apparently been formed by scarping the natural slope, and the spoil used to form an outer bank with an average width of 7m and height varying from 0.5m to 2m. The earthwork is badly mutilated.

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

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1343 Nov 20.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This site is a Grade 2* listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 236575)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NU06891652

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; 4875

County Sites and Monuments Record number; N3155

• Web site links
  • http://www.keystothepast.info/durhamcc/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=N3155
• Books
  • Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Keepdate Publishing) p114
    Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern) p40
    Emery, Anthony, 1996, Greater Medieval Houses Vol1 (Cambridge) p73-4
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p200 [slight]
    Jackson, M.J.,1992, Castles of Northumbria (Carlise) p50
    Rowland, T.H., 1987 [reprint1994], Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p10, 33
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p331
    Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p125
    Hedley, W. Percy, 1968-70, Northumberland Families Vol2 p47
    Long, B., 1967, Castle of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p89
    Pevsner, N., 1957, The Buildings of England: Northumberland (London, Penguin) p135
    Hugill, R.,1939, Borderland Castles and Peles [1970 Reprint by Frank Graham] p85
    Dodds, Madeleine Hope (ed), 1935, Northumberland County History (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Vol14 p408-14
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Tomlinson, W.W., 1897, Comprehensive Guide to Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p363-4
    Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p9, 17, 42
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p413
    Hodgson, J.C., 1820, History of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) pt3 Vol1 p28
• 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 p7
    1890, The Monthly Chronicle; North Country Lore and Legend p185
• 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]
    Calendar of Patent Rolls (1343-45) p143
• Other sources and unpublished works (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • Ryder, P.F., 1995. Towers and Bastles in Northumberland, Part 1, Alnwick District p29-30