Aydon Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Eydon; Ayden; Aidon

In the civil parish of Corbridge. In the historic county of Northumberland (Modern Authority of Northumberland, 1974 county of Northumberland).

Hugh de Reymes, a wealthy Suffolk merchant, brought the manor and began construction of the house in 1296, at the end of an unusually long period of peace in the border regions. The building is naturally defended on one side by the steep valley of the Cor Burn, but was otherwise unfortified. Hugh died soon after and, unfortunately for Robert de Reymes, his son, the building of his house coincided with a new period of conflict with Scotland which led to frequent Scottish raids throughout the area. In 1305, Robert obtained a licence to crenellate his property and set about improving the defences with the addition of battlements and a circuit of curtain walls. These didn't stop the Scots from sacking the property in 1315 and again in 1346. However, Emery (p40) does make the point that Scottish raids did not start until 1311 and the licence was not a direct result of a raid, although tensions were increasing in the area.
A medieval fortified manor house whose elements include a variety of upstanding domestic, ancillary and defensive buildings arranged within three courtyards surrounded by a curtain wall. Also included, due to the manor's conversion to a farmhouse in C17, is an orchard and a range of C18 farm buildings along the west side of the middle courtyard. The medieval defensive ditch outside the north west curtain wall is also included within the scheduling, together with the buried remains of a timber-framed hall which preceded the construction of the fortified house. Medieval documents indicate that a timber hall existed on the site prior to c1300. It was located in roughly the same area as the adjacent late C13 hall and its location has been partially confirmed by excavation. The later house was not originally intended to be fortified. Its construction began in the last quarter of C13, prior to C14 Border wars. By 1305, when most of the buildings were complete, Edward I granted its owner licence to crenellate. The earliest stone buildings are the hall, chamber block and the garderobe; dateable to between 1280 and 1300. Between 1300 and 1305, battlemented walls were built to the north, enclosing the buildings within an inner courtyard. Following the king's licence, parapets were added to the domestic buildings and the inner courtyard wall. The construction of the outer courtyard was begun and completed by 1315. The D-shaped tower probably dates to the mid-C14. Because the curtain wall appears never to have been a strong defensive line and because there was no gatehouse at the castle entrance, it was rapidly surrendered to the Scots in 1315. In C16 or C17, the eastern part of the outer courtyard was divided off to create an orchard. In C18 the manor became a farmhouse on the Matfen estate which saw the construction of farmbuildings in the middle courtyard.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law. This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 239858)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NZ00146631

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 20476
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is N9957 '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.castleuk.net/castle_lists_north/87/aydoncastle.htm
    http://www.castlexplorer.co.uk/england/aydon/aydon.php#castle
    http://www.keystothepast.info/durhamcc/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=N9957
    http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/conProperty.114
    http://www.ecastles.co.uk/aydon.html
    http://www.pbase.com/tomstorey/image/64498274
    http://www.northofthetyne.co.uk/aydon.html
    http://castleuk.net/castle_lists_north/87/aydoncastle.htm
• Books
  • Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Keepdate Publishing)
    Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern) p16-17
    Emery, Anthony, 1996, Greater Medieval Houses Vol1 (Cambridge) p40-1
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p172-3 [plan]
    Jackson, M.J.,1992, Castles of Northumbria (Carlise) p16-7 [plan]
    Rowland, T.H., 1987 [reprint1994], Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p10, 72, 85-7
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p180-1
    Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p37-42
    Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p55-6
    Pevsner, N., 1957, The Buildings of England: Northumberland (London, Penguin) p76-7
    Wood, M.E., 1950, Thirteenth-Century Domestic Architecture p51-5
    Hugill, R.,1939, Borderland Castles and Peles [1970 Reprint by Frank Graham] p30-34
    Tipping, H.A., 1921, English Homes, period 1 Vol1 (London) p101-10
    Craster, H.H.E. (ed), 1914, Northumberland County History (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Vol10 p343-66
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p362-3
    Tomlinson, W.W., 1897, Comprehensive Guide to Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p141-2
    Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p8, 10, 15
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p405
    Hodgson, J. and Laird, F., 1813, Beauties of England and Wales; Northumberland Vol12 p173
    Turner, T.H., 1851, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol1 p148-9
• Journal Articles
  • King, Andy, 2007, 'Fortress and fashion statements: gentry castles in fourteenth-century Northumberland' Journal of Medieval History Vol33 p377, 378, 386-8
    Sherlock, D., 1997, 'Aydon Castle kitchen and its roof’ Archaeologia Aeliana [ser5] Vol25 p71-86
    Dixon, P. and Borne, P.,1978, ‘Coparcenary and Aydon Castle' Archaeological Journal Vol135 p234-8
    Machin, R., 1977, ‘Bamston Manor, Dorset, and Aydon Castle, Northumberland: a re-assessment of two late thirteenth-century houses’ Archaeological Journal Vol134 p297-302
    Weaver, O.J., 1976. ‘Aydon Castle’ Archaeological Journal Vol133 p193-5 [plan]
    Ellison, M., 1976, ‘Excavation at Aydon Castle, Northumberland, 1975’ Archaeologia Aeliana [ser5] Vol4 p133-8
    Wood, Margaret, 1950, 'Thirteenth-century Domestic Architecture in England' Archaeological Journal Vol105 supplement p51-5
    Hadcock, R.N., 1939, 'Map of Mediaeval Northum and Durham' Archaeologia Aeliana [ser4] Vol16 p165
    Tipping, H.A., 1914, Country Life Vol36 p518-26
    1908, Archaeological Journal Vol65 p334
    Raimes, F., 1908, Archaeologia Aeliana Vol4 p313-8
    1905, Publications of the Surtees Society Vol11 p145, 191, 193
    1902, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle Vol10 p353-6
    Knowles, J.H., 1898-9, 'Aydon church, Northumberland' Archaeologia Vol56 p71-88
    1891, The Monthly Chronicle; North Country Lore and Legend p176-80
    1883-4, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle [new ser] Vol1 p300-5
• Guidebooks
  • Summerson, Henry, 2001, Aydon Castle Northumberland (London: English Heritage)
    Dixon, P., 1988. Aydon Castle, Northumberland. (London: English Heritage)
• 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 (1301-7) p328
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/nhumbeng.html#nhumb13]