Halton Castle, Northumberland

Halton Castle is a pele tower situated close to Hadrian's Wall to the north of the village of Corbridge in Northumberland (gbmapping|NY997678).

The tower was first recorded in 1382 and it is still present today. It has four storeys and a basement with a stone vault. In the 15th century a manor house was built onto the north side of the tower giving it a T shaped plan. In about 1696 much of this building was demolished by the then owner John Douglas and replaced with the present five bay residence.

In 1757 Anne Douglas the heiress of Halton married Sir Edward Blackett and the castle remains a residence of the Blackett family

Halton Castle is a grade I listed building.

Early area history

The earliest recorded history of this locale derives from the Roman occupation period; in 122 AD the Romans constructed Hadrian's Wall, the course of which lies in proximity to Halton Castle. The wall incorporated Agricola's Ditch and was constructed chiefly of stone in the eastern reaches, [ [http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=18177 C.Michael Hogan (2007) "Hadrian's Wall", ed. A. Burnham, The Megalithic Portal] ] such as near Haltwhistle. The wall was designed primarily to prevent entrance by small groups of raiders or unwanted immigration from the north, not as a fighting line for a large scale invasion according to Johnson. [Stephen Johnson (2004) Hadrian's Wall, Sterling Publishing Company, Inc, 128 pages, ISBN 0713488409]

Line notes

References

* [http://www.northofthetyne.co.uk/HaltonCastle.html Images of Halton Castle]
* [http://homepage.mac.com/philipdavis/English%20sites/3726.html Halton Castle 1]
* [http://www.durham-pa.gov.uk/durhamcc/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=N8653 Halton Castle 2]
*Fry, Plantagenet Somerset, "The David & Charles Book of Castles", David & Charles, 1980. ISBN 0-7153-7976-3