Horton Castle, Chatton (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Horton in Glendale; West Horton

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

OS Map Grid Reference: NU02733087
Latitude 55.57153° Longitude -1.95830°

Horton Castle, Chatton has been described as a certain Tower House, and also as a probable Fortified Manor House.

There are uncertain remains.

Description

Horton Castle was first mentioned in a list of castles from 1415. In 1542 it was described as a 'great tower'. By 1715 it was in a ruined state, though it was repaired and from 1740 to 1808 it was used as a house. It was finally demolished in the early C19. Nothing can be seen at the site today except for a few fragments of worked stone. (Keys to the Past)

Mentioned in a list of fortresses of 1415 and in another of the early 16th century when it could hold a garrison of 60 men. In 1542 the Border Commissions described it as a great tower with a barmkin in decay. In 1715 it is described as an ancient edifice, but now ruinous. It must have been repaired about 1740 as for more than 60 years before 1808 it was the home of the WERGE family. It was demolished after that date to make way for a farmhouse.
The castle has now disappeared except for a few fragments of masonry in the farm buildings at West Horton (Dodds 1935; Bates 1891; Hodgson 1916; Hodgson 1820; Hodgson 1828).
Remains of Horton Castle upon a level piece of ground on the property of West Horton Farm. The site is bounded by steep natural slopes on the E. side which drop to the modern road, and a stream below the road. There is higher land to the N. and W., and low lying land to the S.
The remains of the Castle consist of two fragment of stone, the larger one, about 1m sq, and 0.8m high appears to be in situ. There is an adjacent water supply.
Mr Robson Murray, farmer-owner, could offer no further information (F1 ASP 08-DEC-55).
The site of this castle is featureless, except for a few fragments of scattered masonry. The fragment of stone described by F.I. as 'in situ' is quite loose (F2 WD 25-FEB-64).
It was rebuilt between 1568 and 1674, a drawing of 1728 depicting a a high wall with corner turrets enclosing a garden with a roofless ruin, that is a fortified manor house. The buildings were demolished in 1808, and the stone used to build West Horton Farm now stands at the foot of the knoll on which the tower house once stood (Dodds 1999; King 1983) (PastScape)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 6361.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) N3810.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- North of the Tyne
Books
- Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Newcastle upon Tyne: Keepdate Publishing) p. 96
  Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 70
  Graham, Frank, 1993, Northumberian Castles Aln, Tweed and Till (Butler Publishing) p. 31-2
  Jackson, M.J.,1992, Castles of Northumbria (Carlisle) p. 132
  Rowland, T.H., 1987 (reprint1994), Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p. 30
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2
  Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p. 214-5
  Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p. 124
  Dodds, Madeleine Hope (ed), 1935, Northumberland County History (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Vol. 14 p. 236-8
  Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p. 15, 23, 39 (Also published as the whole of volume 14 (series 2) of Archaeologia Aeliana view online)
  Hodgson, J., 1828, History of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Part 3 Vol. 2 p. 192 online copy
  Hodgson, J. and Laird, F., 1813, Beauties of England and Wales; Northumberland Vol. 12 p. 217
  Buck, Samuel and Nathaniel, 1774, Buck's Antiquities (London) Vol. 1 p. 220
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. 6 abridged transcription
  Bates, C.J., 1891, 'Border Holds of Northumberland' Archaeologia Aeliana (ser2) Vol. 14 p. 15, 23, 39 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
  1509, Holdis and Towneshyppes too lay in Garnysons of horsmen Survey of Tevedale
  1415, Nomina Castrorum et Fortaliciorum infra Comitatum Northumbrie online transcription
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Camden, Wm, 1607, Britannia hypertext critical edition by Dana F. Sutton (2004)

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