Duddo Tower (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Duddoo

In the civil parish of Duddo.
In the historic county of Northumberland.
Modern Authority of Northumberland.
1974 county of Northumberland.
Medieval County of County Palatinate of Durham.

OS Map Grid Reference: NT93824259
Latitude 55.67677° Longitude -2.10013°

Duddo Tower has been described as a certain Pele Tower.

There are masonry ruins/remnants remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This is a Grade 2 listed building protected by law*.

Description

Duddo Tower survives in reasonable condition as a ruined building and earthwork. The full extent of the building and subsidiary structures survive as earthworks and will retain significant archaeological deposits. It is one of a wider group of medieval border towers reflecting the unstable warlike conditions in the region at this time. The monument includes the ruins of a medieval tower house, which is Listed Grade II, situated in a commanding position on top of crags immediately south of Duddo village. The south west corner and part of the south wall of the tower survive to a height of about 9m and are built of coursed, roughly squared stone. At first floor level is a square window with a chamfered surround and the remains of a second floor window above. At the south west angle a few stones remain of a projecting course that seems to have formed the base of a parapet. Around the base of the standing remains is 19th century masonry, built to prevent its collapse. Large pieces of fallen masonry lie to the south east of the tower and are the remnants of a projecting turret. The outlines of the remaining sides of the tower are difficult to see but measure approximately 12m by 10m. Evidence for the former appearance of the tower has come from late 19th century photographs and a published description by Bates. These describe a tower block with a projecting wing on the south front which contained the entrance and a stair. A barn-like building is also described as having stood near the tower and was removed in about 1850. To the south east of the tower, earthwork remains of building foundations can be seen which are interpreted as remains of the buildings described by Bates. The first known documentary reference to a tower at Duddo was when it was destroyed by James IV of Scotland in 1496. A part of this tower remained standing in 1541 and was described with a barmkin around it in 1561. The present remains are believed to be those of a late 16th century tower. (Scheduling Report)

Ruined strong house. Late C16. Roughly-coursed stone. The south-west corner and about 12 ft. of the south wall stand to c.30 ft. Chamfered plinth. Square window with chamfered surround at c.20 ft.; the sill and jambs of another at the very top. Walls c.5 ft. thick. (Listed Building Report)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1018443, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 31707
National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1042172
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 4098.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) N2339.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- CastleUK.net
  Wikipedia entry
  kevin doonan architect
  Abaroth's World
Books
- Geldard, Ed, 2009, Northumberland Strongholds (London: Frances Lincoln) p. 67Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Newcastle upon Tyne: Keepdate Publishing) p. 45-6
  Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 43
  Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 200 (slight)
  Graham, Frank, 1993, Northumberian Castles Aln, Tweed and Till (Butler Publishing) p. 17
  Rowland, T.H., 1987 (reprint1994), Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p. 11, 21
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2
  Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p. 134
  Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p. 93-4
  Pevsner, N., 1957, Buildings of England: Northumberland (London) p. 139
  Hugill, R.,1939, Borderland Castles and Peles (1970 Reprint by Frank Graham) p. 89-90
  Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (London: Methuen and Co)
  Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England; their story and structure (New York: Macmillan) Vol. 2 p. 383-4 online copy
  Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p. 38, 53, 409 (Also published as the whole of volume 14 (series 2) of Archaeologia Aeliana view online)
  Raine, J., 1852, History and Antiquities of North Durham (London) p. 316-17
Periodical Articles
- SR., 2005, 'Agriculture aids Archaeology' Archaeology in Northumberland Vol. 15 p. 19 (News report of conservation funding) download from Northumberland CC
  Philip Dixon, 1974, 'Hillslap tower, masons, and regional traditions' History of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club Vol. 40.1 p. 128–141 online copy
  1932-4, 'Reports of meetings for 1932' History of the Berwickshire Naturalist Club Vol. 28 p. 20-1 online copy
  Hodgson, J.C., 1916, 'List of Ruined Towers, Chapels, etc., in Northumberland; compiled about 1715 by John Warburton, Somerset Herald, aided by John Horsley' Archaeologia Aeliana (ser3) Vol. 13 p. 12 abridged transcription
  Bates, C.J., 1891, 'Border Holds of Northumberland' Archaeologia Aeliana (ser2) Vol. 14 p. 38, 53, 409 online copy
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- 1561, The Survey Booke of Norham and Ilandshire, taken and made in the 3rd year of our Sovereign Lady Elizabeth, Queen of England, etc. Survey of Norham and Islandshire
  Sir Robert Bowes, 1550, A Book of the State of the Frontiers and Marches betwixt England and Scotland taken from Brit. Mus. Cotton. MS. Titus, F.13, a copy of the original (see Bates, 51, n185). Printed in Hodgson, pt.3, ii, 187, 204
  1541 View of the Castles, Towers, Barmekyns and Fortresses of the Frontier of the East and Middle Marches Survey of the East and Middle Marches
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Kent, C.L., 2016, Beyond the defensible threshold: the house-building culture of Berwick-upon-Tweed and the East March, 1550-1603 (PhD Thesis, Durham University) passim online copy
  Ryder, P.F., 1994-5, Towers and Bastles in Northumberland Part 2 Berwick District p. 13-14

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.
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.

The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
The author and compiler of Gatehouse does not receive any income from the site and funds it himself. The information within this site is provided freely for educational purposes only.

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.

Please help to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting Gatehouse if you see errors, can add information or have suggestions for improvements in functality and design.
Help is acknowledged.

*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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