West Lilburn 2–Ogle's Tower (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Lylborn; West Lylburne; West Lilburne

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

OS Map Grid Reference: NU02522435
Latitude 55.51268° Longitude -1.96160°

West Lilburn 2–Ogle's Tower has been described as a probable Pele Tower.

There are no visible remains.

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

Description

In 1509 there were two Towers at West Lilburn the older one was probably built by Sir John de Lilburn who died c1400. In 1541 the western tower, belonging to Cuthbert Procter, was in ruins with only the walls standing, while the eastern tower, belonging to Sir Cuthbert Ogle, had lately been burnt". At present (1935) only one tower remains and it is not possible to determine which of the two towers it is. Judging from the external ashlar work the remains are of late 15 cent date. Except for some steps at SW corner, the remaining features are confined to a large three storied fragment of the East wall (Bates 1887-8, 1891; Hodgson 1828). (PastScape)

Comments

Vanished partner to West Lilburn Tower. In 1541 one tower belonged to Cuthbert Proctor; this had fallen into decay and only the walls were standing. The other tower belonged to Sir Cuthbert Ogle and had suffered from a fire. The Ogle tower is recorded as being the eastern tower. This suggests that, despite its poorer condition in 1541, the surviving tower is actually Proctor's Tower and that Ogle's Tower was at the site now occupied by the early C19 country house called Lilburn Tower.

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1233174
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 5857.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) N3480.

Books
- Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Newcastle upon Tyne: Keepdate Publishing) p. 109-10Graham, Frank, 1993, Northumberian Castles Aln, Tweed and Till (Butler Publishing) p. 45-6
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 337, 350
  Rowland, T.H., 1987 (reprint1994), Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p. 32-33
  Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p. 349
  Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p. 170-1
  Dodds, Madeleine Hope (ed), 1935, Northumberland County History (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Vol. 14 p. 433-4
  Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p. 24, 41 (Also published as the whole of volume 14 (series 2) of Archaeologia Aeliana view online)
  Hutchinson, Wm, 1776, A View of Northumberland (Newcastle) Vol. 1 p. 237 (mention) online transcription
Periodical Articles
- Bates, C.J., 1891, 'Border Holds of Northumberland' Archaeologia Aeliana (ser2) Vol. 14 p. 24, 41 online copy
  Bates, C.J., 1887-8, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (ser2) Vol. 3 p. 331-2
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
  1509, Holdis and Towneshyppes too lay in Garnysons of horsmen Survey of Tevedale

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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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