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Harbottle Castle

The Remains of Harbottle Castle

Harbottle Castle, a ruinous medieval castle some nine miles south of Rothbury has been the subject of recent consolidation and repair works carried out by St Astier. There is a fair amount of history attached to the site itself.

The mound upon which the castle sits was used by the ancient Britons and in Saxon times was home to a stronghold held by Mildred, son of Ackman. The remains of the castle, partially captured above by our very own James Croft, date back to the 12th century when Henry II ordered Odinel de Umfraville to build a ‘strong castle’ on land awarded to him following the Norman Conquest.

Shortly after it was completed, the castle was captured by the Scots in 1174 who worked to rebuit and strengthened the structure. This further fortification would be tested to its limits some 122 years later when the castle was besieged by John Balliol and 40,000 of his supporters. The siege was withstood but the castle fell to Robert the Bruce some 22 years later in the 1318. It was repaired once more towards the end of the 14th century and became the residence of the Warden of the Middle Marches and used as a prison for some considerable time.

In 1515 Margaret Tudor, the widowed queen of James IV of Scotland and sister of Henry VIII, having been banished by the regent, the Duke of Albany, came to the castle with her second husband, the Earl of Angus. It was at Harbottle Castle that their daughter, Margaret who was to become the mother of Lord Darnley, the second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, and grandmother of James VI of Scotland and James I of England. Further building work took place between 1541 and 1551 and more repairs were made in 1563. In 1537 however, Harbottle ‘…was not fit for the keeper of Redesdale to live in, so decayed were the roofs and floors’ and by 1604 it was referred to as ‘An old castle much decayed’. Most of its masonry was taken for use in other buildings in the area.

Today, little of the castle remains save for some earthworks and a small amount of standing masonry. The site is now run by Northumberland National Park Authority.

Substantial consolidation of the ruins of Harbottle Castle were carried out in 1995, 1997 and 2000. The recent proposals were to revisit some of the areas of masonry already worked on for minor remedial action, but also address some other areas where no previous work was attempted i.e. the South West angles of the Inner Bailey Screen wall and to a large fallen fragment of the South wall of the Keep.

This most recent scheme has concentrated on five key areas

  • Gatehouse between the Inner and Outer Baileys
  • Screen wall North of Gatehouse between Inner and Outer Baileys
  • South West corner of Inner Bailey Screen Wall and adjacent South Wall
  • South West corner of Keep
  • Loose fragment of Keep wall lying in a ditch below South side of Keep

Posted on 2 December 2008 by Phil Brown and filed under .

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