Errington Tower (The Gatehouse Record)

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

OS Map Grid Reference: NY959716
Latitude 55.03896° Longitude -2.06495°

Errington Tower has been described as a probable Pele Tower.

There are uncertain remains.

This is a Grade 2 listed building protected by law*.

Description

In the north-east corner of the township, about three-quarters of a mile from Watling Street and the same distance from the Erring bum, on a grassy knoll, approached bv a road from the east and west and sheltered on the north by a clump of sycamores, is the homestead now known as Errington or West Errington, but formerly described as Errington hall, and in Captain Armstrong's map of 1769 called a castle. It is now a substantial stone-built house facing south. Its plain front presents a quaint appearance, with a formal line of six narrow windows on the upper floor and corresponding apertures on the ground floor, enriched by effective mouldings. Farm offices are attached. From this, their ancient home, the family of Errington took their name. (Hodsgon 1897)

The ancient Hexhamshire family of Errington held Cocklaw township in 1225 and lived within its bounds at Errington Hall, where now stands the hamlet of Errington. The Hall appears to have been a substantial strong house, but evidently it was not considered strong enough, or perhaps not sufficiently impressive, and the family built and moved into a tower a mile or so to the west, at East Cocklaw, during the second half of the fourteenth century. The original Errington Hall disappeared a long time ago and its replacement, the existing Hall, has no fourteenth century work visible. (Dodds 1999)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1156658
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 1402744.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) N22362.

Books
- Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Newcastle upon Tyne: Keepdate Publishing) p. 352
  Jackson, M.J.,1992, Castles of Northumbria (Carlisle)
  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. 347
  Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p. 152
  Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p. 99
  Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (London: Methuen and Co)
  Hodgson, John Crawford (ed), 1897, Northumberland County History (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Vol. 4 p. 184 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Hodgson, J.C., 1916, 'List of Ruined Towers, Chapels, etc., in Northumberland; compiled about 1715 by John Warburton, Somerset Herald, aided by John Horsley' Archaeologia Aeliana (ser3) Vol. 13 p. 13 abridged transcription

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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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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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