Hepple Woodside (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Hepplewoodside

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

OS Map Grid Reference: NY9699898730
Latitude 55.28270° Longitude -2.04881°

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

There are no visible remains.

Comments

Faulkner and Lowery appear to be the only source for the existence of a C14 tower here. The older county historians and castelologists do not mention a tower. Fore instance Dixon, who was certainly interested in towers, knew now to recognise one and knew the area very well, mentions the house as a 'well appointed country seat' but makes no note of an age to the house and certainly doesn't mention a tower.
A transcription of The Comprehensive Gazetteer of England and Wales, 1894-5 on the website UK Genealogy Archives reads "Hepple Woodside is the seat of the lord of the manor and principal landowner, and includes the remains of an ancient castle which belonged to the Bardolfs, the Talboyses, and the Ogles. An ancient chapel stood on Kirk Hill, about a quarter of a mile to the W, was destroyed by the moss-troopers, and was completely removed in 1760." This can be compared with the transcription of John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-2, given on the A vision of Britain through Time website, which reads "Hepple House is the seat of Sir Walter Riddell, Bart.; and includes remains of an ancient castle, which belonged to the Bardolfs, the Talboyses, and the Ogles. An ancient chapel stood on Kirk-hill, about of a mile to the W; was destroyed by the moss troopers; and was completely removed in 1760." This suggests there is some confabulation between this site and Hepple Tower where there is a standing C14 tower.
(NB. Kirk Hill at NT975006 is 1160m - i.e. about three quarters of a mile - west of Hepple Tower and 2030m NNE of Woodside)
Walter Riddle, who owned both Hepple Hall and Woodside, appears to spent some considerable money on developing Woodside, which was used as a hunting lodge, and it may well have had some fashionable gothick features.
Further research is required to confirm or dismiss the presence of a medieval tower here although Gatehouse suspects this is an erroneous report based on confabulation with Hepple Tower.

Sources of information, references and further reading

County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) N20712.

Books
- Faulkner, T. and Lowery, P., 1996, Lost Houses of Newcastle and Northumberland (Jill Raines) p. 51
  Dixon, D.D., 1903, Upper Coquetdale Northumberland: Its History, Traditions, Folk-lore and Scenery (Newcastle-upon Tyne: Robert Redpath) p. 302-3 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.

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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