Whitley Tower

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Whitleye

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

Gilbert de Whitley applied to King Edward III to fortify his manor house. He received his licence, and built a tower, probably demolishing the manor house, and building on the same site. It is listed in the 1415 survey, but not in 1541. A couple of very old maps have a tower marked on them, but not with any great precision. It appears to have been a little inland from the Table Rocks, perhaps just south of the roundabout where the A191 meets the A193 road, close to the old North Shields Waterworks.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NZ357714

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 1388390
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 726 '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.northofthetyne.co.uk/LittleorNoTraceCastles.html
• Books
  • Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Keepdate Publishing) p483
    Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern) p109
    Emery, Anthony, 1996, Greater Medieval Houses Vol1 (Cambridge)
    Jackson, M.J.,1992, Castles of Northumbria (Carlise) p155
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p355
    Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p351
    Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p172
    Dodds, Madeleine Hope (ed), 1930, Northumberland County History (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Vol13 p395
    Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p10, 16
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p414
• Journal Articles
  • 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 p10
    1891, The Monthly Chronicle; North Country Lore and Legend p22
• 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 (1343-45) p446