Norham Castle

Coordinates: 55°43′19″N 2°08′56″W / 55.722°N 2.149°W / 55.722; -2.149
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Norham Castle
Grid reference
NT907475

Norham Castle (sometimes Nornam) is a castle in

Scheduled Ancient Monument
. The castle saw much action during the wars between England and Scotland.

Early history

The castle was founded when Ranulf Flambard, Bishop of Durham from 1099 to 1128, gave orders for its construction in 1121 in order to protect the property of the bishopric in north Northumberland from incursions by the Scots.

In 1136 David I of Scotland invaded Northumberland and captured the castle. It was soon handed back to the bishopric but was captured again in 1138 during another invasion. This time the structure of the castle was substantially damaged. It remained derelict until Hugh de Puiset, Bishop of Durham from 1153 to 1195, had the castle rebuilt. The work was probably directed by Richard of Wolviston, who was the bishop's architect.

In 1174 Hugh de Puiset supported the rebels in a revolt against

King John
. When Philip died in 1208 the castle reverted to royal control.

Thirteenth century

In 1209 the castle accommodated both King John and William the Lion on an occasion when William did homage for his English lands to the English king. Between 1208 and 1211 King John maintained the castle defences in good order and provided a strong garrison. The strong defences were needed in 1215, when Alexander II of Scotland, son of William the Lion, besieged the castle for forty days without success. In 1217 the castle was once again restored to the bishopric of Durham.

John Balliol, the King of Scotland, did homage to him there. In 1296 Edward invaded Scotland and during his campaign, his queen, Marguerite of France
, remained at Norham Castle.

Fourteenth century

During the early fourteenth century the Scots invaded Northumberland several times but did not always attack Norham. In 1318

Thomas Grey of Heton, a knight who had been captured by the Scots at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 and who was father to the chronicler Sir Thomas Grey
.

In 1327 a Scottish army captured Norham but the castle was soon restored to Lewis de Beaumont, Bishop of Durham, when peace was declared.

Fifteenth century

Although the first half of the fifteenth century proved to be quieter than the previous one, the castle's defences were kept in good repair. The next major activity that the castle saw was during the

Edward IV. The following year a Lancastrian
army besieged the castle for eighteen days until it was relieved by Yorkist forces. In 1464 the forces holding Norham castle changed sides to support the Lancastrians but were then forced to surrender to a force of Yorkists.

Later in the century Bishop Richard Foxe of Durham (1494–1501) had the castle's defences strengthened once more. In 1497 the castle was besieged for two weeks by an army led by James IV of Scotland. The siege included the use of artillery to try to breach the walls but the garrison was finally relieved by an English army. Following this latest siege the castle was repaired again. One of the guns used in the siege was a 20-inch (51 cm) calibre cannon called Mons Meg, which is now at Edinburgh Castle.[1]

Sixteenth century

In 1513 James IV of Scotland invaded England again with a powerful army that included artillery. He crossed the border and moved on Norham. His guns pounded the outer defences for several days until the outer ward was taken by the Scots. Soon after, the castle surrendered. By then most of the outer walls had been destroyed. Weeks later James was defeated and slain at the Battle of Flodden, near Branxton in Northumberland, and Norham fell into English hands again.

The castle was inspected by

Hume family on the Scottish borders.[2]

Bishop

William Bulmer, Sheriff of Durham, viewed the defences. Surrey gave orders for new earthwork defences of platforms and rampires and the "mending of broken places with turvis and yerthe." He estimated the work would take six days and made similar orders for the repair of Wark Castle.[4]

The steward of the

Cardinal Wolsey that members of the refugee Douglas family would not be allowed in the inner wards of the castle.[5]

The castle was maintained in a state of good repair, with a strong garrison during the remaining conflicts with Scotland in that century. Brian Layton, Captain of Norham, reviewed the security of the castle in October 1542 after hearing rumours that insiders would hand the castle to the Scots.[6] Layton invaded Scotland during the war of the Rough Wooing and was killed in February 1545 at the battle of Ancrum Moor.[7]

Queen Elizabeth gave the Captain, Sir Robert Carey, her “resolute answer” that she would spend nothing on Norham.[10]

Norham was the site of regular meetings of border wardens. A meeting at the west ford of Norham in October 1597 ended in a gun fight over the River Tweed at dusk.

James VI of Scotland
on his accession to the throne of England. The castle was left to fall into ruin.

Nineteenth century

Norham Castle, 1836, moonrise engraving by William Miller after J. M. W. Turner

The surrounding area of

Bedlington
was known as North Durham.

In the nineteenth century Norham Castle became well known far and wide from the paintings of

Tate Gallery in London
.

Description of the castle

A plan of the castle from J. D. Mackenzie's The Castles of England: their story and structure[12]

The castle stands on the south bank of the River Tweed, high above the river, so that the north side is protected by a steep slope. A deep ravine protected the east side and an artificial moat was dug round the west and south sides to complete the protection. The castle had an inner and outer ward. The inner ward stood on a mound and was separated from the outer ward by a moat, crossed by a drawbridge.

The main entrance to the castle was the strongly fortified West Gate leading into the outer ward. It was protected by a stone causeway spanned by a drawbridge and is also known as Marmion's Gate.[13] There was an additional gate to the south of the outer ward, known as the Sheep Gate.

The inner ward was entered by crossing a drawbridge across the moat and entering through a fortified gate on the west side. The drawbridge has now been replaced by a wooden bridge. On the north side of the inner ward was the bishop's hall, measuring 60 ft by 30 ft (18.3m by 9.1m), now in ruins. To the east side of the inner ward stands the keep, measuring 84 ft by 60 ft (25.6m by 18.3m) and 88 feet (26.8 m) high. The keep is said to have been built by Hugh de Puiset.

Norham Castle is now in the care of English Heritage and is open to visitors.

See also

RMS Norham Castle, a Royal Mail Ship

References

  1. ^ Thomas Dickson, Accounts of the Treasurer of Scotland, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1877), pp. ccxxii, 348.
  2. ^ Letters & Papers of Henry VIII, vol.2 (1864), no 861.
  3. ^ Dacre of Gilsland, Baron (E, 1473 - abeyant 1569) Archived 2011-11-26 at the Wayback Machine at cracroftspeerage.co.uk
  4. ^ State Papers Henry VIII, vol. iv (London, 1836), p. 37
  5. ^ State Papers Henry Eighth, vol. 4 part 4 (London, 1836), pp. 509-10, 518, 520.
  6. ^ Bain, Joseph, ed., Hamilton Papers, vol.1 (1890), pp. 287-291 no 225.
  7. ^ Merriman, Marcus, The Rough Wooings (Tuckwell, 2000), p. 359.
  8. ^ Colvin, Howard, ed., The History of the King's Works, vol. 4 part 2, HMSO (1982), 680-681.
  9. ^ William Boyd, Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 5 (Edinburgh, 1907), p. 605 no. 687.
  10. ^ Colvin, Howard, ed., The History of the King's Works, vol. 4 part 2 (HMSO, 1982), p. 682.
  11. ^ John Duncan Mackie, Calendar of State Papers Scotland, 13:1 (Edinburgh, 1969), p. 98.
  12. ^ Mackenzie, The Castles of England: their story and structure, New York: Macmillan (1897), p. 464
  13. ^ Blair 1936, p. 12.

Bibliography

  • Bain, Joseph, ed., Hamilton Papers, vol.1 (1890), pp. 287–291, no.225, security of Norham Castle in October 1542.
  • Blair, C. H. Hunter (1936). Norham Castle, Northumberland. London, H. M. Stationery off.
  • Dodds, G.L., “Historic Sites of Northumberland & Newcastle upon Tyne”, 2000, Albion Press, pp 121–129,
    ISBN 0-9525122-1-1
    .
  • Saunders, A. D., "Norham Castle and Early Artillery Defences", Fort (Fortress Study Group), (25), 1997, pp37–61

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Norham Castle.
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