Simonburn Castle and Tower House

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Turris de Simondburn; Symondburne

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

Unfinished motte and bailey. Remains of C13 tower house partly reconstructed as an eyecatcher in 1766, surviving as a ruined building of which the upper storeys have now collapsed. The tower was built of small stone blocks. Only the barrel vaulted ground floor of the tower survives, with the remains of a turret on the north west side. Recorded in 1541 survey as 4 storey strong tower in good repair standing on very strong ground.

This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle
Tower House.
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 2 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 240816)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NY86267373

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 16738

Web site links

http://www.keystothepast.info/durhamcc/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=N7889

Books

Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Keepdate Publishing) p359-60
Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern) p96
Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p200 [slight]
Jackson, M.J.,1992, Castles of Northumbria (Carlise) p111-2
Rowland, T.H., 1987 [reprint1994], Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p11, 43
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p341
Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p318-9
Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle) p158
Pevsner, N., 1957, The Buildings of England: Northumberland (London, Penguin) p292
Dodds, Madeleine Hope (ed), 1940, Northumberland County History (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Vol15 p155,191-4
Hugill, R.,1939, Borderland Castles and Peles [1970 Reprint by Frank Graham] p200
Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p421-2
Tomlinson, W.W., 1897, Comprehensive Guide to Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p203
Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) pxvii, 18, 47
White, W., 1859, Northumberland and the Border p369-70
Hodgson, J. and Laird, F., 1813, Beauties of England and Wales; Northumberland Vol12 p137

Journal Articles

Hunter Blair, C.H., 1944, 'The Early Castles of Northumberland' Archaeologia Aeliana [ser4] Vol22 p166-8
1914, Publications of the Surtees Society Vol124 p232

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]

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant

The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English Heritage and other individuals and organisations.

It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from any site without proper recording and reporting. Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.

Please help me to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting me if you see errors or if you can add information.
I do acknowledge the help I get with this site.

*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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