Chatton Earls Tower (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Forsters Tower; Fowberyes Tower; Fowberry's Tower; Ederston, Grieve's Law

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

OS Map Grid Reference: NU05342841
Latitude 55.54950° Longitude -1.91708°

Chatton Earls Tower has been described as a certain Pele Tower.

There are no visible remains.

Description

In 1415 two towers are entered on the list of fortalices. (for the other, Vicar's Tower, see NU 02 NE 6) In the early 16th c the Earl's Tower is described as being capable of 80 men and inhabited by Thomas Revely. In 1541 it was described as being of the inheritance of Richard Fowberry. Garrisons of the tower are mentioned in 1542 and 1549, and in 1566 it is referred to as "Fowberyes Tower". In 1616 the tower was held by John Collingwood but it is not mentioned again and the site is unknown (Dodds 1935).
A survey of 1586 states that the tower is situated on the Lord's Waste of the town of Chatton (Bates 1891).
The site on a NE-SW ridge, is under pasture, and there are no traces of antiquity to be seen (F1 ASP 02-DEC-55). (PastScape)

'Chatton. Roger Fowberry gent. holdeth there a Tower builded on the Lord's Waste of the Towne aforesaid And Renteth by Yeare at the Termes aforesaid. (Note–This Tower was builded by Lycence of ye Lord for a Strength to ye Towne there & now ye Inhertance thereof claymed by Roger Fowberry).' (Stockdale Survey, 1586; at Alnwick Castle. - quoted in Bates)

Comments

Bates transcription of the 1509 survey record the site as suitable for 60 men but this gives on a rough guide to the size of the tower. The form of the tower is lost but it was not a baronial residence of the Earl but a gentleman's residence let from the Earl, it is usually mentioned in association with the nearby Vicar's Tower. The form is most probably that of a solar tower attached to a hall and within a complex of farm buildings but a large more self contained tower is possible.

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 5443.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) N3393.

Books
- Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Newcastle upon Tyne: Keepdate Publishing) p. 100
  Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 114 (slight)
  Graham, Frank, 1993, Northumberian Castles Aln, Tweed and Till (Butler Publishing) p. 7
  Rowland, T.H., 1987 (reprint1994), Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p. 30
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 347
  Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p. 100
  Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p. 80
  Dodds, Madeleine Hope (ed), 1935, Northumberland County History (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Vol. 14 p. 207
  Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p. 19, 23, 35n166 (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. 19, 23, 35n166 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
  1509, Holdis and Towneshyppes too lay in Garnysons of horsmen Survey of Tevedale
  1415, Nomina Castrorum et Fortaliciorum infra Comitatum Northumbrie online transcription

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.

Data >	PastScape	County HER
Maps >	Streetmap	NLS maps	Where's the path	Old-Maps
Data/Maps >	Magic	V. O. B.	Geology	LiDAR	Open Domesday
Air Photos >	Bing Maps	Google Maps	Getmapping	ZoomEarth
Photos >	CastleFacts	Geograph	Flickr	Panoramio