Walltown Tower (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Wawetowne; Waughtown

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

OS Map Grid Reference: NY67946648
Latitude 54.99187° Longitude -2.50259°

Walltown Tower has been described as a certain Pele Tower.

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains.

Description

A tower stood at Walltown in the 16th century and is mentioned in a document of 1541. It would have been built to protect a family against raids and attacks from the Scottish borders during the medieval period. The foundations were said to be visible in the 19th century but today there is just a series of mounds. Much of the stonework from the tower has been reused in nearby buildings. (Keys to the Past)

The Tower of Walltown, in 1542 (At which time orders were given that a watch be kept nightly by two men upon the "Wall-crag, between the Walltown and Tlndale Eshe:" and, In 1552, It was also ordered that the "Waughtown be kept on the night with 2 men about the town: John Ridley to search the watch."), is described as of the inheritance of John Ridley, and in good reparations. It was a castellated building. Only a fragment of it remained in Wallis's time: but its site is still distinctly shown by bare craggy masses of the heart of its walls, on the bright blue limestone, which covers the whin rock, behind the present farm-house, in an old part of which we saw on a lintel these initials and date—T.M.A. 1713. George Marshall, before the year 1758, in which he was dead, had employed part of the stone of the old tower in enlarging the family mansion-house, to which unfinished additions have since been made; but the whole has now for many years been occupied only as a farm-house. (Hodgson 1840)

At Wawetowne is a toure of thinherytaunce of John Rydley of the same and is not in good rep'ac'ons. (Bates 1891 transcription of the 1541 survey)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 13936.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) N6076.

Books
- Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Newcastle upon Tyne: Keepdate Publishing) p. 372-3
  Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 115 (slight)
  Rowland, T.H., 1987 (reprint1994), Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p. 46
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 355
  Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p. 335
  Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p. 166
  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)
  Hodgson, J., 1840, History of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Part 2 Vol. 3 p. 324 online copy
  Hodgson, J., 1828, History of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Part 3 Vol. 2 p. 217 online copy
  Wallis, John, 1769, The Natural History and Antiquities of Northumberland: And of so much of the County of Durham as lies between the Rivers Tyne and Tweed; commonly called, North Bishoprick Vol. 2 p. 8-9 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Bates, C.J., 1891, 'Border Holds of Northumberland' Archaeologia Aeliana (ser2) Vol. 14 p. 48 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.)
- Nicolson, Wm, 1705, Leges Marchiarum, Or Border-laws (London) p. 240 (Order of the Watch) 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.

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Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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