Burradon in Coquetdale (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Bunaden; Borrodone

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

OS Map Grid Reference: NT98110618
Latitude 55.34946° Longitude -2.03134°

Burradon in Coquetdale has been described as a probable Pele Tower.

There are no visible remains.

Description

The tower at Burradon is described in the 1541 survey as the inheritance of George Fenwycke and Percyvall Lysle which for lack of necessary repairs, has fallen into extreme ruin and decay. (Not listed in the 1415 survey pp 13-19) (Bates).
Its ruins are said to have been still visible about 1850, but the present farm buildings now occupy its site (NT 981062) (Dodds 1940).
The hay barn at NT 98110618 is the traditional site, and topographically it is well suited (F1 ASP 19-FEB-57)
The building at NT 98110618 is modern. There is no trace of the alleged tower and its site is not known (F2 ISS 01-FEB-77). (PastScape)

A large tower at Burradon was reported as being in extreme decay in 1541. Towers did not deteriorate very quickly, even when neglected, so this one must have been at least a hundred years earlier, by one of the Burradon.
Round about 1825 the old house was pulled down and replaced by the mansion which is still with us. It and the new farm buildings covered the tower's site so nothing of the stronghold is visible. (Dodds 1999)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 1473.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) N1119.

Books
- Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Newcastle upon Tyne: Keepdate Publishing) p. 170
  Rowland, T.H., 1987 (reprint1994), Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p. 77
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 346
  Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p. 76
  Dodds, Madeleine Hope (ed), 1940, Northumberland County History (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Vol. 15 p. 424-5
  Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (London: Methuen and Co)
  Dixon, D.D., 1903, Upper Coquetdale Northumberland: Its History, Traditions, Folk-lore and Scenery (Newcastle-upon Tyne: Robert Redpath) p. 262 online copy
  Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p. 43 (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. 43 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

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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.

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