Mitford Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Midford

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

Late C11 earthwork fortress of Bertram family; curtain of inner ward early C12, outer ward and chapel late C12, keep early C13. Squared stone, in places of ashlar quality. Natural hill scarped and ditched to produce motte carrying irregular oval inner ward containing pentagonal keep, with triangular outer ward to south and east and barmkin to north-east. Inner ward: tall curtain,on stepped plinth, remains on west, with large round arch perhaps to a balcony. Section of wall on east with round arch to outer ward, is largely C19 reconstruction. Keep stands to 1st floor but external facing wholly robbed. Basement divided by axial cross wall into 2 barrel- vaulted chambers; impost band at spring of vault, internal stone spouts (bringing in rainwater; the chambers were probably intended as cisterns), segmental-arched doorway to mural stair. 1st floor has chamfered plinth, and is entered via lobby from external stair. To west of keep footings of possibly earlier 'blockhouse' with splayed arrow loops. Historical Notes. Described as the "oppidum" of William Bertram in 1138. Seized by Flemish troops of King John in 1215. In 1315 the scene of kidnappings and the holding of prisoners to ransom by Sir Gilbert de Middleton. In 1327 described as "wholly burned"; it is uncertain if it was ever restored. Excavations in 1938 uncovered the remains of a mid C12 chapel and an earlier burial ground.

This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle
Masonry Castle.
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 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 238931, 238934, 238932)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NZ17018548

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; 23178

County Sites and Monuments Record number; N11067

• Web site links
  • http://www.keystothepast.info/durhamcc/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=N11067
    http://www.sine.newcastle.ac.uk/view_structure_information.asp?struct_id=189
• Books
  • Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Keepdate Publishing) p232-5
    Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern) p78-9
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p190
    Jackson, M.J.,1992, Castles of Northumbria (Carlise) p86-90 [plan]
    Pevsner, N., 1992 (revised by Grundy, John et al), The Buildings of England: Northumberland (London, Penguin) p391-2
    Rowland, T.H., 1987 [reprint1994], Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p7, 66-8, 72
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p337
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p262
    Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p234-8
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker) p245-7
    Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p135-6
    Sanders, I.J., 1960, English Baronies. A study of their origin and descent 1086-1327 p132-3
    Hugill, R.,1939, Borderland Castles and Peles [1970 Reprint by Frank Graham] p159-61
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Tomlinson, W.W., 1897, Comprehensive Guide to Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p252-3
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p400-1
    Clark, G.T., 1884, Medieval Military Architecture in England  (Wyman and Sons) Vol2 p300-3
    Hartshorne, C.H., 1858, Feudal and Military Antiquities of Northumberland and the Scottish Borders (London: Proceedings of the Archaeological Institute at Newcastle) Vol2 p47-52
    Hodgson, J.C., 1832, History of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) pt2 Vol2 p54-63
    Scott, W., 1814, Border Antiquities of England and Scotland Vol72-5
    Hodgson, J. and Laird, F., 1813, Beauties of England and Wales; Northumberland Vol12 p185-6
    Grose, F., 1756, Antiquities of England and Wales Vol4 p122-7
• Journal Articles
  • Anon, 2005, 'Grant for Mitford Castle' CSG Newsletter Vol7 Issue1 p3
    1961, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle Vol176 p135-56
    Brown, R, Allen, 1959, 'A List of Castles, 1154–1216' English Historical Review Vol74 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p249-280]
    Honeyman H.L., 1955. 'Mitford Castle' Archaeologia Aeliana [ser4] Vol33 p27-34
    Hunter Blair, C.H. and Honeyman H.L., 1953-5, History of the Berwickshire Naturalist Club Vol33 p202-6
    St Joseph, J.K., 1950, 'Castles of Northumberalnd from the air' Archaeologia Aeliana [ser4] Vol28 p9-10
    Hunter Blair, C.H., 1944, 'The Early Castles of Northumberland' Archaeologia Aeliana [ser4] Vol22 p148-50 [plan]
    Hunter Blair, C.H., 1937. Archaeologia Aeliana [ser4] Vol14 p74-94
    Clark, G.T., 1874, The Builder Vol32 p191 [reprinted in MMA]
    1858, Archaeologia Aeliana Vol3 p29
• 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]
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/nhumbeng.html#nhumb19]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p342
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol5 p63