Haughton Castle, Humshaugh

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Houghton; Hawghton

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

Originally C13. Good original doorway. In the late C14 the original house was enlarged and fortified with towers and battlements, and two-light pointed windows. It is now in the form of an oblong tower-house with angle towers and a fifth tower in the middle of the south front. There were alterations in c.1780, c.1816 and 1845. A west wing was added by Salvin in 1876. The interior was altered in 1889, but still has two Jacobean fireplaces from Newcastle. The original mid-C13 hall house may have had a two-storey hall block with a taller solar tower at the east end, the whole heightened in C14 when the arcades (a defensive feature, meurtriere in the arch soffits protecting the wall foot) were infilled. A barmkin was visible in 1538.

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 NY919729

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; 19186

County Sites and Monuments Record number; N9294

• Web site links
  • http://www.keystothepast.info/durhamcc/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=N9294
    http://www.sine.newcastle.ac.uk/view_structure_information.asp?struct_id=130
• Books
  • Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Keepdate Publishing) p362-4
    Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern) p62-3
    Emery, Anthony, 1996, Greater Medieval Houses Vol1 (Cambridge) p97-100
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p186-7
    Jackson, M.J.,1992, Castles of Northumbria (Carlise) p77-
    Pevsner, N., 1992 (revised by Grundy, John et al), The Buildings of England: Northumberland (London, Penguin) p306-7
    Rowland, T.H., 1987 [reprint1994], Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p10, 11, 44, 56, 63
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p335
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p239-40
    Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p190-4
    Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p115-16
    Pevsner, N., 1957. The Buildings of England: Northumberland (London) p160
    Dodds, Madeleine Hope (ed), 1940, Northumberland County History (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Vol15 p203-20
    Hugill, R.,1939, Borderland Castles and Peles [1970 Reprint by Frank Graham] p119-21
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Tomlinson, W.W., 1897, Comprehensive Guide to Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p199-201
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p393
    Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p11, 15, 17, 47
• Journal Articles
  • Simpson, W.D., 1951, Archaeologia Aeliana Vol29 p118-134
    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 p14
    1893, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle Vol6 p62
    Hall, 1885-6, History of the Berwickshire Naturalist Club Vol11 p145-59
    Hall, 1880-5, Transactions of the Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland Vol3 p33-48
• 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]
• Other sources and unpublished works (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • Ryder, P.F., 1995. Towers and Bastles in Northumberland Part 4 Tynedale District Vol2 p105-12