Tynemouth Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Tynemouth Priory; Tiefort; Tynemuth

In the civil parish of Tynemouth. In the historic county of Northumberland (Modern Authority of North Tyneside, 1974 county of Tyne and Wear).

The monument includes the remains of an enclosure castle built by the priors of Tynemouth around the headland to enclose the monastery and defend it from attack. Licence to crenellate was granted in 1296 and enclosure walls and towers were built around a circuit of 974m. The visible remains today are of C13 and C14 date and include a gatehouse with a barbican and the curtain wall with two towers. Fragments of the first phase of the castle survive on the north side of the promontory where they have become incorporated into later lines of defence. During the early C14 an additional tower, known as the Whitley Tower, was added to the defence at the north west corner of the castle. In the late C14 a replacement gatehouse was built which survives well today as a three storied rectangular tower. After the dissloution in 1539, Tynemouth became part of Henry VIII's scheme of national defence and was modified to serve as an artillery castle. Some time after 1545 the medieval walls of the castle were reinforced and the main front of the castle was replaced by stone revetted earthworks in order to provide artillery platforms. Gun ports were inserted into the south wall. The fortifications were provided with cannon and held a garrison of 50 men. It has also been suggested that the remains of a Norman castle may survive in the large mound of earth known as The Mount situated at the south west corner of the promontory, which later became incorporated into the defences of C16 artillery castle. (PastScape)
The fortification consists of a strong wall across the neck of the headland with a gatehouse and barbican complex surmount by what amounts to a tower house for the priory's steward.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NZ372694

Air Photo from Air Photo and general mapping	1st edition OS Map from Mid to late 19th century maps
Modern Map from Landscape form and features	Modern Map from General location and route planning
Geograph British Isles occasionally has photos of the site and will usually give an idea of the surrounding landscape.

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 1162269
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 132; 133; 134 'grey' literature, such as watching brief reports, held by H.E.R.s is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded in this website.

• Web site links
  • http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/conProperty.136
    http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_north/88/tynemouthcastle.htm
    http://www.pbase.com/tomstorey/image/64695414
    http://www.ecastles.co.uk/tynemouth.html
    http://www.northofthetyne.co.uk/Tynemouth.html
• Books
  • Harrison, Peter, 2004, Castles of God (Woodbridge; Boydell Press) p67, 85
    Brooke, C.J., 2000, Safe Sanctuaries (Edinburgh; John Donald) p5, 9, 92, 96, 114, 148, 155, 169-175, 190, 343, 360-3, 366
    Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Keepdate Publishing)
    Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern) p100-1
    Emery, Anthony, 1996, Greater Medieval Houses Vol1 (Cambridge) p141-3
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p196
    Bonde, S., 1994, Fortress-Churches of Languedoc (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)
    Jackson, M.J.,1992, Castles of Northumbria (Carlise) p152-5 [plan]
    Rowland, T.H., 1987 [reprint1994], Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p5, 7, 78-80
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p342
    Colvin, H.M., Ransome, D.R. and Summerson, John, 1982, The history of the King's Works Vol4: 1485-1660 (part 2) (London) p682-8
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p311
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker) p336
    Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p331-3
    Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p164-5
    Pevsner, N., 1957, The Buildings of England: Northumberland (London, Penguin) p300-1
    Hugill, R.,1939, Borderland Castles and Peles [1970 Reprint by Frank Graham] p207-10
    Armitage, Ella, 1912, The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles (London: John Murray) p228
    Craster, H.H.E. (ed), 1907, Northumberland County History (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Vol8 p131-204
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England (New York: Macmillan) Vol2 p424-5 http://www.archive.org/stream/castlesofengland02mack#page/424/mode/1up
    Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol3 (London) p360-4
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p404
    Latimer, J., 1857, Local Records of Northumberland and Durham p373
    Gibson, 1847, History of the Monastery founded at Tynemouth Vol2 p111-25
    Brand, John, 1789, The History and Antiquities of Newcastle upon Tyne (Newcastle)
    Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol1 p222
    Grose, F., 1756, Antiquities of England and Wales Vol4 p143-52
• Journal Articles
  • Thompson, M.W., 1986, 'Associated monasteries and castles in the Middle Ages: a tentative list' The Archaeological Journal Vol143 p310
    Fairclough, Graham, 1983, ‘Tynemouth Priory and Castle — excavation in the outer court, 1980' Archaeologia Aeliana [ser5] Vol11 p101–33
    Coulson, C., 1982, 'Hierarchism in Conventual Crenellation: An Essay in the Sociology and Metaphysics of Medieval Fortification' Medieval Archaeology Vol26 p69-100 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    Oman, C., 1979, 'Security in English Churches, AD1000-1548' The Archaeological Journal Vol136 p90-98
    Cambridge, E., 1976, ‘Tynemouth Priory' The Archaeological Journal Vol133 p217-20 [plans]
    Jobey, G., 1967, 'Excavation at Tynemouth Priory and Castle' Archaeologia Aeliana [ser4] Vol45 p33-104 [on the battery]
    Hunter Blair, C.H., 1944, 'The Early Castles of Northumberland' Archaeologia Aeliana [ser4] Vol22 p127-9 [plan]
    Craster, H.H.E. and Hadcock, R.N., 1937, 'Tynemouth Priory' Archaeologia Aeliana [ser4] Vol14 p205-226
    Hadcock, R.N., 1936, 'Tynemouth Priory' Archaeologia Aeliana [ser4] Vol13 p122-38
    Hodgson, J.C., 1916, 'List of Ruined Towers, Chapels, etc., in Northumberland; compiled about 1715 by John Warburton, Somerset Herald, aided by John Horsley' Archaeologia Aeliana [ser3] Vol13 p15
    Knowles, W.H., 1910, 'The Priory Church of St Mary and St Oswin, Tynemouth, Northumberland' The Archaeological Journal Vol67 p1-50
    Adamson, H.A., 1904, 'The Villiers family as governors of Tynemouth Castle and owners of the lighthouse', Archaeologia Aeliana [new ser] Vol25 p111-7
    1902, Archaeologia Aeliana [new ser] Vol23 p36-40
    Adamson, H.A., 1896, 'Tynemouth Castle after the Dissolution of the Monastry' Archaeologia Aeliana [new ser] Vol18 p61-82
    Adamson, H.A., 1892, Archaeologia Aeliana [new ser] Vol15 p218-24
    Hodgson, 1822, Archaeologia Aeliana Vol1 p216-8
• Guidebooks
  • McCombie, Grace, 2008, Tynemouth Priory and Castle (London: English Heritage)
    1999, Tynemouth Priory and Castle (London: English Heritage)
    Saunders, A., 1993, Tynemouth Priory and Castle (London: English Heritage)
    Hadcock. R.N.,1986, Tynemouth Priory and Castle, Tyne and Wear. (London: HMBCE)
    Hadcock. R.N.,1952, Tynemouth Priory and Castle (HMSO)
• 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 list of Northumberland Castles [http://homepage.mac.com/philipdavis/numblis2.html]
    Calendar of Patent Rolls (1292-1301) p197
    The Anglo-saxon Chronicle; Laud Chronicle AD1095 http://omacl.org/Anglo/ [Text based on Everyman Press edn of 1912]
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/nhumbeng.html#nhumb17]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p342