Prudhoe Pele (The Gatehouse Record)

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

OS Map Grid Reference: NZ09166341
Latitude 54.96473° Longitude -1.85821°

Prudhoe Pele has been described as a Pele Tower although is doubtful that it was such.

There are no visible remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*.

Description

In 1326 Roger Manuyt, the keeper of Prudhoe Castel, was ordered to construct a pele outside the gates of Prudhoe Castle. It was built between the two moats on the west side of the barbican where a chapel stood called "Our Lady of the Pele-yard". Stockdale in 1596 says the pele yard was entered from the barbican by a large "Gate Rowme". (Graham 1976)

In 20 Ed. II., Roger de Mauduit, constable of Prudhoe, was ordered to construct a certain pele without the gates of that castle, at the expense of twenty marks. (Abb. Rot. Orig. i., p. 299.) This appears to relate to the fortification of the area between the outer and the inner moats, in which stood the 'elder chapell' of 'Our Lady at the foot of the mount' (Wallis) and the 'lodgeings there scituate without the castle.' This pele was entered by_ 'a large gate-toure'_ to the west of the barbican (Stockdale).

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1011647, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 23228
National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1370476
Further information may be available from the holder of the county Historic Environment Record.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Prudhoe and Distrcit Local History Society
Books
- Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p. 304
  Dodds, Madeleine Hope (ed), 1926, Northumberland County History (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Vol. 12 p.
  Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p. 57, 202 (Also published as the whole of volume 14 (series 2) of Archaeologia Aeliana view online)
  Wallis, J., 1769, The Natural History and Antiquities of Northumberland Vol. 2
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Playford, H. and Caley, J. (eds), 1805, Rotulorum Originalium in Curia Scaccarii Abbreviatio (London: Record Commission) Vol. 1 p. 299b online copy
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Stockdale, 1586, Survey of the Barony of Prudhoe Alnwick Mss. A. ii, 8

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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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