Branxton Tower (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;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

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

OS Map Grid Reference: NT892374
Latitude 55.63092° Longitude -2.17292°

Branxton Tower has been described as a certain Pele Tower.

There are no visible remains.

Description

Although there are now no traces of a tower at Branxton, it is mentioned in 16th century documents. The tower seems to have been damaged by the Scots in 1496 and lain unrepaired until 1541. (Keys to the Past)

There is documentary evidence for a small pele tower in 1496 that was situated within the shrunken medieval village of Branxton. The tower is said to have been damaged by the Scots in 1496 and repaired by 1541. It was razed before 1596. However, no evidence remains, either on or below the ground, for this building. (PastScape)

A tower was built in the 1450s but it was laid low by King James IV in 1496. In or about 1520 John Selby of Grindonrigg, a gentleman porter of Berwick, brought the part of Branxton not owned by the monastry. Lord Dacre, warden of the marches ordered him to rebuild the tower as he wished to station ten men in it. This was done before 1541. It was razed well before 1596, when a gang of Scotsmen, returning home after a frustrated attack on Downham, drove off 16 head of cattle and 80 sheep without appreciable hindrance. (Dodds)

A pele tower at Branxton, Northumberland then in the county of Islandshire, owned by William Selby was destroyed by the Scots in 1496 and was rebuilt by his son John (d 1565). It did not remain the main family home as William had purchased Twizell Castle from Heron in 1520 and that estate was developed in preference to Branxton. (Wikipedia uncited)

Comments

Bates assumed the tower was destroyed in 1496. Dodds evidence for the tower being built in the 1450s is unclear. The Selby's were the largest landowners in the parish in the C15 and could have had a house with a small solar tower. The assumption the tower was razed by 1596 may be true but the presence of a small tower per se need not have impeded a raid. However the tower must have been lost fairly early because of the lack of remains and knowledge of its location.
The location of this small tower is lost but must have been near to the church at given map reference.

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 1099.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) N727.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Wikipedia entry for Selby family
Books
- Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Newcastle upon Tyne: Keepdate Publishing) p. 89
  Graham, Frank, 1993, Northumberian Castles Aln, Tweed and Till (Butler Publishing) p. 5
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 346
  Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p. 83
  Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p. 74-5
  Vickers, Kenneth H. (ed), 1922, Northumberland County History (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Vol. 11 p. 105-6 online copy
  Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p. 22, 34 (Also published as the whole of volume 14 (series 2) of Archaeologia Aeliana view online)
Periodical Articles
- Bates, C.J., 1891, 'Border Holds of Northumberland' Archaeologia Aeliana (ser2) Vol. 14 p. 22, 34 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.)
- Brewer, J.S. (ed), 1867, Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII Vol. 3 p. 852 No. 1986 online copy
  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

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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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