Morpeth Town Belfry (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
The Clock Tower

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

OS Map Grid Reference: NZ19768595
Latitude 55.16748° Longitude -1.69119°

Morpeth Town Belfry has been described as a Pele Tower although is doubtful that it was such.

There are major building remains.

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

Description

Long writes “The Belfry is in Oldgate and is C15 with later additions. This tower may well have been used for a refuge as well as a signal or warning tower.” Presumably this refers to the Clock Tower recorded in the SMR as 'This five-storey tower stands in Oldgate in the centre of Morpeth. It has thick walls and is built from squared and coursed sandstone blocks. The earliest reference to the building comes from 1659, and in 1802 it was used as the town lock-up. A map of 1826 shows the tower with an enclosure on the east. It was probably built from stone and masonry taken from the ruins of either Newminster Abbey or a gateway, which stood at the west end of Oldgate.' and in PastScape as 'Probable early C17 belfry and clock tower surviving as a roofed building. Incorporates earlier masonry.'

It has been suggested that the Clock Tower in the middle of Oldgate is of 15th century date with later additions, and that the tower may have been used for a refuge as well as a signal or warning tower (Long 1967, 136). However, such isolated belfry towers are rare in England and since it is not shown on the 1604 map, it probably dates from the early 17th century, reusing earlier masonry from elsewhere (possibly Newminster) including a 14th century cusp-headed window. The top floor was added in 1704, and an inscription records repairs of 1760 (Pevsner 1992, 397). An assessment of the tower and its history (Event No: 39) was prepared by Ryder in 2000. (Northumberland Extensive Urban Survey)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1006566, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number nd110
National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1156135
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 23223.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) N11076.

Books
- Pevsner, N, et al., 1992, The Buildings of England: Northumberland p. 397
  Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p. 242
  Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p. 136
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Northumberland County Council, 2009, 'Morpeth' Northumberland Extensive Urban Survey doi:10.5284/1000177 download 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.

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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*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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