Featherstone Castle (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Feeatherstonhaughe; Fetherstonehaugh; Fetherstonhawgh; Fetherstonhaughe

In the civil parish of Featherstone.
In the historic county of Northumberland.
Modern Authority of Northumberland.
1974 county of Northumberland.

OS Map Grid Reference: NY67386096
Latitude 54.9416° Longitude -2.5105°

Featherstone Castle has been described as a certain Tower House.

There are major building remains.

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

Description

Featherstone Castle is a large and complex country house. It is four-sided with a central courtyard and a tower at each corner. The tallest tower is C14 and is the main piece of medieval work in the building. The origins of the castle lie in the medieval period when the manor of Featherstone belonged to the Featherstonehaugh family. The oldest part of the building may be a C13 hall house, which now lies within the west range, or Gun Room. This early work is difficult to interpret and some of it may not be in its original position. In C14 the tower was added to the building and it is typical of many towers in south Northumberland. Little changed at the castle from this time until C17, when it was remodelled. Mentioned in 1541 as “At Feeatherstonhaughe ys a toure of thinherytaunce of Alexander Featherstonhaughe of the same in good rep'ac'ons.”

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1370307
English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 14100.
County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) N6124.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Structural Images of the North East
  Charles Taylor's ecastles
  North of the Tyne
  Northumberland Cam Photos on line
  Raving Loony Productions
Books
- Geldard, Ed, 2009, Northumberland Strongholds (London: Frances Lincoln) p. 102
  Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Newcastle upon Tyne: Keepdate Publishing) p. 381-2
  Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 54
  Emery, Anthony, 1996, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 1 Northern England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 93-4
  Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 185
  Jackson, M.J.,1992, Castles of Northumbria (Carlisle) p. 64-6 (plan)
  Pevsner, N., 1992 (revised by Grundy, John et al), Buildings of England: Northumberland (London, Penguin) p. 278-9
  Rowland, T.H., 1987 (reprint1994), Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p. 11, 48
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 333
  Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p. 231
  Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p. 159-64
  Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p. 104
  Pevsner, N., 1957, Buildings of England: Northumberland (London) p. 152
  Hugill, R.,1939, Borderland Castles and Peles (1970 Reprint by Frank Graham) p. 103-5
  Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (London: Methuen and Co)
  Tomlinson, W.W., 1897, Comprehensive Guide to Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p. 175-7
  Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p. 48 (Also published as the whole of volume 14 (series 2) of Archaeologia Aeliana view online)
  Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England; their story and structure (New York: Macmillan) Vol. 2 p. 388 online copy
  Hodgson, J.C., 1840, History of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Part 2 Vol. 3 p. 356-7 online copy
  Mackenzie, E., 1825, History of Northumberland Vol. 2 (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p. 316
  Hodgson, J. and Laird, F., 1813, Beauties of England and Wales; Northumberland Vol. 12 p. 114-5
Periodical Articles
- Cornforth, J., 1973 Dec 13, Country Life p. 2024
  Cornforth, J., 1973 Oct, Country Life p. 1246-9
  1930, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol. 30 p. 206-8
  Gibson, J., 1926, 'Featherstone Castle, Northumberland' Archaeologia Aeliana (ser4) Vol. 2 p. 125-31
  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. 8
  Bates, C.J., 1891, 'Border Holds of Northumberland' Archaeologia Aeliana (ser2) Vol. 14 p. 48 online copy
  1888, The Monthly Chronicle of North Country Lore and Legend p. 401-2 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
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Ryder, P.F., 1995, Towers and Bastles in Northumberland, Part 4 Tynedale District Vol. 1 p. 66-71

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