West Bitchfield Tower, Belsay (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
West Beechfield

In the civil parish of Belsay.
In the historic county of Northumberland.
Modern Authority of Northumberland.
1974 county of Northumberland.
Medieval County of Northumberland.

OS Map Grid Reference: NZ09067705
Latitude 55.08786° Longitude -1.85966°

West Bitchfield Tower, Belsay has been described as a certain Pele Tower.

There are major building remains.

This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*.

Description

House. C14 tower with additions of C16 and C17. Extensively restored and east wing added 1935 by Caroë and Lord Gort. Dressed stone and ashlar with Welsh slate roof.
3-storey tower to left with 2-storey, 6-bay house attached to right and C20 wing on extreme right.
Tower: partly ruinous in 1930's. South side has C17 doorway with moulded surround; on south-east corner at 2nd floor level the start of a rounded corbel for a corner turret (cf. Belsay Castle). On west side several slit windows and one C16 window with moulded surround; other windows are 2- and 3-light mullioned windows of 1935.
Attached hall and former kitchen wing, refaced in late C17, has steps up to central 2-leaf, 6-panel door in surround with bolection moulding, pulvinated oak-leaf frieze and scrolled pediment. Mullioned-and-transomed cross windows, with roll-moulded sills and cornices on ground floor. The crosses are renewed. Sundial of 1711 above door, brought from Belsay in C20. Moulded cornice, and panelled parapet added 1935. Gabled roof with external stacks.
C20 wing recessed to right in similar style.
Rear facade is irregular. It has tower to right with one cruciform slit window. Left of the tower is the hall with enormous external chimney stack. Left of this a projecting 3-storey C16 staircase wing which has, on ground floor two 2-light windows with segmental heads to lights; scattered fenestration with 2- and 3-light mullioned windows above. Left of this the former kitchen, now the dining room, with another enormous external chimney now covered on ground floor by 1935 entrance, with doorway in C17 style. 1935 wing to left.
Interior: Tower has vaulted ground floor and stair in thickness of wall; C14 door with pointed arch and continuous chamfered surround (cf. Belsay) between tower and hall. 1st floor ceiling with broach-stopped beams brought from elsewhere; on 1st and 2nd floors two C17 fireplaces with moulded surrounds.
Drawing room (former hall) has large fireplace with bolection-moulded surround, and Palladian doorcase with pulvinated frieze.
Late C17 staircase with dumb-bell balusters.
Dining room has large fireplace with segmental head and a doorway with Tudor- arched lintel inscribed RF 1622 IF for Fenwick. (Listed Building Report)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1303894
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 20703.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) N10235.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Rightmove
  Wikipedia entry
Books
- Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Newcastle upon Tyne: Keepdate Publishing) p. 273-4
  Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 26
  Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 177
  Rowland, T.H., 1987 (reprint1994), Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p. 75, 86
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 328
  Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p. 317
  Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p. 70-1
  Long, B., 1967, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p. 69
  Pevsner, N., 1957, Buildings of England: Northumberland (London, Penguin) p. 96
  Hugill, R.,1939, Borderland Castles and Peles (1970 Reprint by Frank Graham) p. 226-7
  Dodds, Madeleine Hope (ed), 1926, Northumberland County History (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Vol. 12 p. 341-2
Periodical Articles
- Kenyon, J.R., 1981 'Early Artillery Fortifications in England and Wales: a Preliminary Survey and Re-appraisal' The Archaeological Journal Vol. 138 p. 228
  Hussey, 1940, Country Life Vol. 88 p. 278-82
  Middleton, A.E., 1922, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (ser3) Vol. 10 p. 299-300, 307 online copy
  Hodgson, J.C., 1921, 'The manor and tower of Bitchfield' Archaeologia Aeliana (ser3) Vol. 18 p. 101-16

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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.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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*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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