Thornton Tower, Shoreswood (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
West Thornton Tower; Thorntonpark

In the civil parish of Shoreswood.
In the historic county of Northumberland.
Modern Authority of Northumberland.
1974 county of Northumberland.
Medieval County of County Palatinate of Durham.

OS Map Grid Reference: NT94764818
Latitude 55.72699° Longitude -2.08499°

Thornton Tower, Shoreswood has been described as a certain Pele Tower.

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains.

Description

A survey of 1560, describes a partly destroyed tower with a barmkin, at Thornton. It was destroyed in 1513 (Raine).
The site is on the level top of a slight natural ridge, now under the plough. There is no trace of a building or courtyard (F1 DS 09-MAY-67).
Tower house and barmkin built shortly after 1348, badly damaged in 1513, but one corner had been repaired by 1561, in which year it was sold and nothing of its subsequent history is known. There are grass-covered bumps in a field by Thornton Cottage, 500 yards North-West of Thornton hamlet which appear to be of the right dimensions for a tower house (Dodds). (PastScape)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 4017.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) N2210.

Books
- Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Newcastle upon Tyne: Keepdate Publishing) p. 44
  Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 99
  Graham, Frank, 1993, Northumberian Castles Aln, Tweed and Till (Butler Publishing) p. 42
  Rowland, T.H., 1987 (reprint1994), Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p. 23
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 354
  Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p. 325
  Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p. 171 (possible confused with Newborough)
  Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p. 38, 53 (Also published as the whole of volume 14 (series 2) of Archaeologia Aeliana view online)
  Raine, J., 1852, History and Antiquities of North Durham (London) p. 304
Periodical Articles
- Bates, C.J., 1891, 'Border Holds of Northumberland' Archaeologia Aeliana (ser2) Vol. 14 p. 38, 53 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.)
- 1561, The Survey Booke of Norham and Ilandshire, taken and made in the 3rd year of our Sovereign Lady Elizabeth, Queen of England, etc. Survey of Norham and Islandshire
  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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