South Charlton Chapel Tower (The Gatehouse Record)

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

OS Map Grid Reference: NU16492031
Latitude 55.47569° Longitude -1.74094°

South Charlton Chapel Tower has been described as a probable Fortified Ecclesiastical site, and also as a probable Pele Tower.

There are no visible remains.

Description

A chapel existed at South Charlton in the middle of the 13th Cent. It had probably been built by the Lucker family. Land attached to it is mentioned in 1273. Not long after 1343 divine service was entirely suspended, possibly as a result of war, and it was probably allowed to fall into ruin. In 1450 the Earl of Northumberland built a tower at the end of the chapel for the protection of the villagers.
In the 16th and 17th centuries the chapel again lapsed into a semi-ruinous condition being destitute of any regular incumbent. There is evidence that it was still in use up to the middle of the 18th century.
It stood at the east end of the village, where a parcel of land is still called 'Kirk Croft'. In 1823 the steps leading up to the chapel yard gate still remained, but in 1829 the wall round the yard was taken down and the yard itself was included in the 'Half Acres' (Hadcock 1939; Bateson 1895).
Remains of the Chapel were extant in 1865, but nothing of it now survives (F1 EG 22-MAR-55). (PastScape)

In 1450 these depredations had become so frequent and serious that the earl of Northumberland built a tower at the end of South Charlton chapel, especiallv designed for the protection of the villagers in time of war. Ad edificationem unius nove turris defensabilis ad finem capelle ibidem, pro salva custodia dicte ville tempore guerre, Ixvi s. viij d.' Account of William Cokke, receiver of the earl of Northumberland, Mich. 28 Hen. VI.-Mich. 29 Hen. VI. Duke of Northumberland's MSS.; cf. Bates, Border Holds, p. 21 (Bateson 1895)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 7493.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) N5040.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Glendale Church Trail
Books
- Brooke, C.J., 2000, Safe Sanctuaries (Edinburgh; John Donald) p. 84
  Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Newcastle upon Tyne: Keepdate Publishing) p. 122
  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. 319
  Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p. 81, 159
  Bateson, Edward (ed), 1895, Northumberland County History (Newcastle upon Tyne) Vol. 2 p. 309-10 online copy
  Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p. 21 (Also published as the whole of volume 14 (series 2) of Archaeologia Aeliana view online)
Periodical Articles
- Hadcock, R.N., 1939, 'A map of mediaeval Northumberland and Durham' Archaeologia Aeliana (ser4) Vol. 16 p. 148-218 esp 167
  Bates, C.J., 1891, 'Border Holds of Northumberland' Archaeologia Aeliana (ser2) Vol. 14 p. 21 online copy

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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.

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