Newburn Hall (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
In the historic county of Northumberland.
Modern Authority of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
1974 county of Tyne and Wear.
Medieval County of Northumberland.

OS Map Grid Reference: NZ16956514
Latitude 54.98058° Longitude -1.73668°

Newburn Hall has been described as a certain Pele Tower, and also as a probable Bastle.

There are no visible remains.

Description

The remains of Newburn Hall, originally a 15th century Pele Tower, to which a 16th century house was added, are embedded in Messrs. Spencer's Steel Works, immediately to the north of the railway at Newburn. An inscribed stone was found in 1887, built up in an old tower at the Newburn Steel works. It measured 1' 3" x 11", and read:-"Leg(io) XX V (aleria) V(ictrix) C(o)ho(rs) IIII C(Centuria) Lib(urni)Fro(ntonis) C(Centuria) Tere(nti) Mag(ni)". ("Built by the 20th Legion styled Valeria Victrix, the 4th cohort, the century of Liburnius Fronto (and) the century of Terentius Magnus). In the centre at the bottom is an eagle; on the left a vexillum inscribed Leg XX; on the right a standard (Dodds, 1930). The remains of Newburn Hall have been demolished and its site re-developed. The centurial stone is now in the Museum of Antiquities in the University of Newcastle upon Tyne(Field Investigators Comments–F1 RL 08-MAR-66) Newburn Hall was a 15th century tower with a 16th century dwelling attached to it. The Percys built both, and in 1530, Sir Thomas Percy, brother of the 6th Earl, made the hall his home (Dodds, 1999) Listed as a bastle (King). (PastScape)

A tower, 39 feet 9 inches N-S x 25 feet E-W externally, 20 feet 8 inches x 16 feet 7 inches inside A minimum of 2 storeys high, built of coursed masonry, with large quoins some of which were re-used Roman stones. It had a vaulted basement, with a door in the east wall, a loop in each of the other 3, a straight stair in the south wall, and a garderobe on first floor at the foot of the stairs to the second. In the 16th century wings were added to the north and east sides to form Newburn hall. In 1895 the tower was in Spencer's Steel Works. By 1966 the Ordnance Survey noted that the hall had been demolished and the site redeveloped. (Tyne and Wear HER)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 22701.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 1289.

Books
- Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Newcastle upon Tyne: Keepdate Publishing) p. 474-5
  Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 82
  Rowland, T.H., 1987 (reprint1994), Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p. 82
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 359
  Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p. 246-7
  Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p. 138
  Dodds, Madeleine Hope (ed), 1930, Northumberland County History (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Vol. 13 p. 139, 561
Periodical Articles
- Knowles, W.H., 1915, 'Newburn Hall' and 'Manor House' Archaeologia Aeliana (ser3) Vol. 12 p. 186-99

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