Branton Tower (The Gatehouse Record)

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

OS Map Grid Reference: NU046163
Latitude 55.44078° Longitude -1.92729°

Branton Tower has been described as a probable Pele Tower.

There are no visible remains.

Description

There was a tower here in Queen Elizabeth's day and it was marked on Christopher Dacre's plat of 1584 but nothing is known of its previous or later history. A mansion, no longer existing, was built in 1695 and the tower may have contributed to its building material, or it may have been destroyed in a fire which engulfed most of the village in 1680. The latter could give support to the story that its foundations were visible in 1864 opposite what was then a Presbyterian chapel. (Dodds 1999)

Tower, not mentioned 1541 (Well inside the area of the Survey; nothing is there said about it). Site in NU/sq. 0416. (N.C.H., xiv, 403-4). (King 1983)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 5186.
Further information may be available from the holder of the county Historic Environment Record.

Books
- Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Newcastle upon Tyne: Keepdate Publishing) p. 113-4
  Graham, Frank, 1993, Northumberian Castles Aln, Tweed and Till (Butler Publishing) p. 5, 7
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 346
  Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p. 82
  Dodds, Madeleine Hope (ed), 1935, Northumberland County History (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Vol. 14 p. 403-4
  Bates, C.J., 1891, 'Border Holds of Northumberland' Archaeologia Aeliana (ser2) Vol. 14 p. xvii, 78-9 online 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.

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Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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