Featherstone Castle (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Feeatherstonhaughe; Fetherstonehaugh; Fetherstonhawgh; Fetherstonhaughe

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

OS Map Grid Reference: NY67386096
Latitude 54.94218° Longitude -2.51063°

Featherstone Castle has been described as a certain Tower House.

There are major building remains.

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

Description

Country house. Possibly an early C13 hall-house (now incorporated in west range) with early C14 south-west tower; early C17 alterations; remainder c.1812-30 for Thomas Wallace. Coursed rubble with dressings; slate and stone- flagged roofs; stone chimneys. 4 ranges with corner towers around a rectangular courtyard; nursery wing on north-east tower. Castellated style. Mainly C19 fenestration and embattled parapets.
Embattled west front. Buttressed 2-storey hall range: early C17 ogee-headed doorway to cross-passage (possibly re-set early C13 pointed doorway facing courtyard at far end of passage); two c.1330 cross windows with cusped trefoiled heads. 3-stage early C14 L-plan south-west tower: mullioned windows; scattered loops; original parapet on head corbels with corner bartizans; slightly-taller look-out turret. L-plan stairway to 2-storey added porch on west face of tower. 3-stage north-west tower: small (re-set?) C13 angle buttress; windows with arched heads; taller stair turret; single-storey, 2-bay addition on north.
Embattled south front. Early C14 tower at west. 3-bay centre with taller 2-storey semicircular bay and tower on east have mainly grouped lights with arched heads. Porch on south face of east tower has 4-centred archway and battered angle buttresses. L-plan stair and screen wall on east return of porch.
Buttressed 2-storey, 4-bay east range: mullioned windows with cinquefoil heads; pointed doorway; low-pitched stone-flagged roof. Taller north-east tower has similar details as south-east tower. 2-storey, 4-bay nursery wing has mainly mullioned windows with arched heads, crowstepped east gable and 2-storey semicircular bay on rear.
North range partly hidden by later outbuildings may incorporate earlier masonry; flanking east and west towers already described.
Single-storey wing in courtyard links east and west ranges.
Interior greatly altered in C19. South-west tower: 2 barrel-vaulted basements; fragments of spiral stone stair on second floor. C19 Tudor-Gothic decoration in west range. (Listed Building Report)

Featherstone Castle is a large and complex country house. It is four-sided with a central courtyard and a tower at each corner. The tallest tower is C14 and is the main piece of medieval work in the building. The origins of the castle lie in the medieval period when the manor of Featherstone belonged to the Featherstonehaugh family. The oldest part of the building may be a C13 hall house, which now lies within the west range, or Gun Room. This early work is difficult to interpret and some of it may not be in its original position. In C14 the tower was added to the building and it is typical of many towers in south Northumberland. Little changed at the castle from this time until C17, when it was remodelled. (Keys to the Past)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1370307
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 14100.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) N6124.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Charles Taylor's ecastles
  North of the Tyne
  Northumberland Cam Photos on line
  Abaroth's World
Books
- Geldard, Ed, 2009, Northumberland Strongholds (London: Frances Lincoln) p. 102
  Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Newcastle upon Tyne: Keepdate Publishing) p. 381-2
  Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 54
  Emery, Anthony, 1996, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 1 Northern England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 93-4
  Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 185
  Jackson, M.J.,1992, Castles of Northumbria (Carlisle) p. 64-6 (plan)
  Pevsner, N., 1992 (revised by Grundy, John et al), Buildings of England: Northumberland (London, Penguin) p. 278-9
  Rowland, T.H., 1987 (reprint1994), Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p. 11, 48
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 333
  Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p. 231
  Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p. 159-64
  Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p. 104
  Pevsner, N., 1957, Buildings of England: Northumberland (London) p. 152
  Hugill, R.,1939, Borderland Castles and Peles (1970 Reprint by Frank Graham) p. 103-5
  Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (London: Methuen and Co)
  Tomlinson, W.W., 1897, Comprehensive Guide to Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p. 175-7
  Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p. 48 (Also published as the whole of volume 14 (series 2) of Archaeologia Aeliana view online)
  Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England; their story and structure (New York: Macmillan) Vol. 2 p. 388 online copy
  Hodgson, J., 1840, History of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Part 2 Vol. 3 p. 356-7 online copy
  Mackenzie, E., 1825, History of Northumberland Vol. 2 (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p. 316
  Hodgson, J. and Laird, F., 1813, Beauties of England and Wales; Northumberland Vol. 12 p. 114-5
  Hutchinson, Wm, 1776, A View of Northumberland (Newcastle) Vol. 1 p. 10-11 online transcription
Periodical Articles
- Cornforth, J., 1973 Dec 13, Country Life p. 2024
  Cornforth, J., 1973 Oct, Country Life p. 1246-9
  1930, 'Proceedings' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol. 30 p. 207-8 online copy
  Gibson, J., 1926, 'Featherstone Castle, Northumberland' Archaeologia Aeliana (ser4) Vol. 2 p. 125-31
  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. 8 abridged transcription
  Bates, C.J., 1891, 'Border Holds of Northumberland' Archaeologia Aeliana (ser2) Vol. 14 p. 48 online copy
  1888, The Monthly Chronicle of North Country Lore and Legend p. 401-2 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.)
- 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.
- Ryder, P.F., 1994-5, Towers and Bastles in Northumberland Part 4 Tynedale District Vol. 1 p. 66-71

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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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