Brier Dene (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Brierdean; Brierdene; Bryerden

In the civil parish of Whitley Bay.
In the historic county of Northumberland.
Modern Authority of North Tyneside.
1974 county of Tyne and Wear.
Medieval County of Northumberland.

OS Map Grid Reference: NZ33557404
Latitude 55.05900° Longitude -1.47517°

Brier Dene has been described as a probable Fortified Manor House.

There are no visible remains.

Description

Site of a fortified manor house at Briar Dene. Gilbert de Middleton, a member of the notorious Mitford Gang, built a fortified manor house at Briar Dene in 1315 or 1316. Shortly after 1613 a new farmhouse was built and the manor house abandoned. An C18 colliery plan shows an unidentified house a few yards from the farm which may have been the manor house. This is on the north bank of the Briardene Burn where a field road connecting Monkseaton to Hartley crosses it. (PastScape)

The Northumberland County History appears to say that the 1318 survey of the Middleton lands in Hartley "contains...the earliest known mention of Brereden, a manor-house or fortified dwelling, built, in all probability, by the Middletons, of which all trace has vanished, though the name survives in that of Brierdean farm. Brereden may be assumed to have occupied a site near the present homestead where the dene is crossed by a field-road leading from Monkseaton to Hartley". "The last mention of the old hall, or, more probably, the earliest reference to the farm which superseded it, is to be found in Sir Ralph Delaval's estate book, under the date of 1613, where it is termed "Bryerden house". (Tyne and Wear HER (Sitelines))

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 1387767.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 775.

Books
- Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Newcastle upon Tyne: Keepdate Publishing) p. 483
  Craster, H.H.E. (ed), 1909, Northumberland County History (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Vol. 9 p. 112 online copy

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

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