Troughend Tower, Rochester (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Trowhen; Troughen

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

OS Map Grid Reference: NY86649243
Latitude 55.22591° Longitude -2.21156°

Troughend Tower, Rochester has been described as a certain Pele Tower.

There are no visible remains.

Description

The site of a pele tower built in the 14th century by William Butecom. The Reed family acquired Troughend Tower soon after 1415, and it served them well throughout a turbulent period of raids. It was replaced with a hall house in circa 1716 by Elrington Reed, possibly in front of a much older brewhouse and kitchen which were thought to have been kept in use.
The house had fallen into ruin by the early 20th century and photographs show it in a run-down state during the Second World War. There is a report that the house burnt down in 1952, however a photograph of 1956 shows it still to be standing though in poor repair. Although there are no standing remains of the site, large foundation blocks were discovered during drainage work and there is a piece of stonework in the farmyard today (2011).
The precise site of the tower may be represented by a small wood at the roadside. A modern house now occupies the former site of the hall. (PastScape)
The site of a pele tower built in the 14th century by William Butecom. The Reed family acquired Troughend Tower soon after 1415, and it served them well throughout a turbulent period of raids. It was replaced with a hall house in circa 1716 by Elrington Reed, possibly in front of a much older brewhouse and kitchen which were thought to have been kept in use. The house had fallen into ruin by the time a fire burnt it down in 1952, and there are no visible remains today. The precise site of the tower may be represented by a small wood at the roadside. A modern house now occupies the former site of the hall (Dodds 1999). (PastScape)

The tower at Troughen, for a long time the seat of the family of de Butycombe;
The old tower of this place stood a little to the west of the present house, and its foundations, of very strong masonry, though overgrown with grass, are still traceable. Horsley, who died in 1731, mentions "an inscription in Mr Warburton's map of Northumberland, which was at Troughend, in an old tower there; but the tower is now demolished, and this stone is lost. It seems to have been imperfect when Mr Warburton copied it, for his copy is altogether confused and unintelligible. (Hodgson 1827)

A list of towns dated 1415 refers to a 'Turris de Trowhen' the inheritance of 'Willus Butecom' (Bates 1891).
NY 86649243 'Troughend Hall Farm is now partially demolished, but many years ago, when a new drain was being laid against an outhouse joining the west side of the house (spot indicated) some enormous stones had to be taken out. They had been shaped into blocks and appeared to be foundations - almost certainly - of the old tower. The blocks were broken up' (F1 ASP 13-JUL-1956). (Northumberland HER)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 17428.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) N8279.

Books
- Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Newcastle upon Tyne: Keepdate Publishing) p. 334-5
  Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 115 (slight)
  Rowland, T.H., 1987 (reprint1994), Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p. 52
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 354
  Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p. 326-8
  Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p. 163
  Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p. 18 (Also published as the whole of volume 14 (series 2) of Archaeologia Aeliana view online)
  Hodgson, J., 1827, History of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Part 2 Vol. 1 p. 133-7 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Bates, C.J., 1891, 'Border Holds of Northumberland' Archaeologia Aeliana (ser2) Vol. 14 p. 18 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.)
- 1415, Nomina Castrorum et Fortaliciorum infra Comitatum Northumbrie online transcription

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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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