Norham Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Northam; Norrham

In the civil parish of Horncliffe. In the historic county of Durham; North (Modern Authority of Northumberland, 1974 county of Northumberland).

Castle originally built as a motte and bailey in 1121 for Bishop Flambard and rebuilt in stone circa 1157 by Richard of Wolviston for Bishop Puiset. Additions were made in C13, including the great hall and south wall. The keep was remodelled between 1422-25. The last phase of construction was 1513-15 when rebuilding was carried out especially to the north wall for Bishop Ruthal. During the late C18 and early C19 one of the south turrets was encased in a gothic cottage. A possible outer enclosure encroaches into the field to the S . The castle lies within a possible Iron Age promontory fort , and there are various post-medieval artillery fortifications in the vicinity.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law. This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 237920)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NT90674756

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 4006
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is N2207 '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://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~agene/castle1.htm
    http://www.castlexplorer.co.uk/england/norham/norham.php
    http://accessibility.english-heritage.org.uk/default.asp?wci=Node&wce=8001
    http://www.keystothepast.info/durhamcc/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=N2207
    http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/conProperty.133
    http://www.sine.newcastle.ac.uk/view_structure_information.asp?struct_id=204
    http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_north/74/norhamcastle.htm
    http://www.pbase.com/tomstorey/norham
    http://www.ecastles.co.uk/norham.html
    http://www.northofthetyne.co.uk/Norham.html
• Books
  • Humphrys, J., 2007, Enemies at the gate: English castles under siege from the 12th century to the Civil War (Swindon; English Heritage) [1513 siege]
    Pearson, Trevor, 2002, Norham Castle, Northumberland (English Heritage Report AI/25/2002)
    Brooke, C.J., 2000, Safe Sanctuaries (Edinburgh; John Donald) p60-1
    Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Keepdate Publishing) p27-30
    Thompson, M.W., 1998, Medieval bishops' houses in England and Wales (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing) p99-102, 174
    Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern) p86-9
    Emery, Anthony, 1996, Greater Medieval Houses Vol1 (Cambridge) p51-4
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p193-4
    Dobson, B., 1992, 'The Church of Durham and the Scottish Borders 1378-88' in Goodman, A. and Tuck, A. (eds), War and Border Societies in the Middle Ages (London; Routledge)
    Jackson, M.J.,1992, Castles of Northumbria (Carlise) p95-8 [plan]
    Pevsner, N., 1992 (revised by Grundy, John et al), The Buildings of England: Northumberland (London, Penguin) p521-6
    Rowland, T.H., 1987 [reprint1994], Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p7, 8, 11, 14-15
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p339
    Colvin, H.M., Ransome, D.R. and Summerson, John, 1982, The history of the King's Works Vol4: 1485-1660 (part 2) (London) p679-82
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p266-8
    Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p284-9
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker) p257-8,260
    Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p142-3
    Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p749-50
    Hugill, R.,1939, Borderland Castles and Peles [1970 Reprint by Frank Graham] p175-9
    Armitage, Ella, 1912, The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles (London: John Murray) p172-3
    Evans, Herbert A., 1912, Castles of England and Wales (London) p231-43
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Tomlinson, W.W., 1897, Comprehensive Guide to Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p547-50
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p408-12
    Clark, G.T., 1884, Medieval Military Architecture in England  (Wyman and Sons) Vol2 p322-36
    Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol3 (London) p348-9
    White, W., 1859, Northumberland and the Border p291-3
    Raine, J., 1852, History and Antiquities of North Durham (London) p284-9
    Hodgson, J. and Laird, F., 1813, Beauties of England and Wales; Northumberland Vol12 p225-6
    Hutchinson, Wm, 1785-94, The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham Vol3 p393-402
    Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol1 p87
    Grose, F., 1756, Antiquities of England and Wales Vol4 p132-3
• Journal Articles
  • Saunders, A.D., 11997, 'Norham Castle and early artillery defences' Fort Vol25 p37-59
    Dixon, P., and Marshall, P., 1993. 'The great tower in the twelfth century: the case of Norham Castle' Archaeological Journal Vol150 p410-32
    Kenyon, J.R., 1981 'Early Artillery Fortifications in England and Wales: a Preliminary Survey and Re-appraisal' Archaeological Journal Vol138 p221-2
    Kenyon, J.R., 1977, 'Early Gunports' Fort Vol4 p83
    Fawcett, R., 1976, 'Norham Castle’ Archaeological Journal Vol133 p202-3
    Binnie, 1973, History of the Berwickshire Naturalist Club Vol39 p181-3
    King, D.J.C. and Alcock, L., 1969, 'Ringworks in England and Wales' Château Gaillard Vol3 p90-127
    1960, Journal of the British Archaeological Association Vol23 p10,12
    Brown, R, Allen, 1959, 'A List of Castles, 1154–1216' English Historical Review Vol74 p249-280 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p90-121] http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-8266%28195904%2974%3A291%3C249%3AALOC1%3E2.0.CO%3B2-P
    Brown, R. Allen, 1955, 'Royal Castle-building in England 1154-1216' English Historical Review Vol70 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press)] pp19-64
    St Joseph, J.K., 1950, 'Castles of Northumberalnd from the air' Archaeologia Aeliana [ser4] Vol28 p10-11
    Hunter Blair, C.H., 1944, 'The Early Castles of Northumberland' Archaeologia Aeliana [ser4] Vol22 p137-41 [plan]
    Hunter Blair, C.H., 1932-4, History of the Berwickshire Naturalist Club Vol28 p27-75, 257-8
    Blair, 1927, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle Vol3 p46-53
    Harvey, 1924, The Builder Vol127 p399-402
    1907, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle Vol3 p130-46 [various historical notes]
    Bates, C.J., 1891-2, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle Vol5 p52-6
    1889, The Monthly Chronicle; North Country Lore and Legend p151-4
    1887, The Antiquary Vol16 p210-11 [slight]
    Clark, G.T., 1876, 'Norham Castle' Archaeological Journal Vol33 p307-24 [reprinted in MMA]
• Guidebooks
  • 1998, Norham Castle (London: English Heritage)
    Blair, C.H.H. and Honeyman, H.L., 1985, Norham Castle, Northumberland. (London: English Heritage)
    Blair, C.H.H. and Honeyman, H.L., 1966, Norham Castle (HMSO)
    Blair, C.H.H. and Honeyman, H.L., 1936, Norham Castle (HMSO)
    Jerningham, H.E.H., 1883, Norham Castle (Edinburgh)
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • 1584 Commissioners Report [http://homepage.mac.com/philipdavis/numblis9.html]
    1541 Survey of the East and Middle Marches [http://homepage.mac.com/philipdavis/numblis4.html]
    1415 list of Northumberland Castles [http://homepage.mac.com/philipdavis/numblis2.html]
    Rickard, John, 2002, The Castle Community. The Personnel of English and Welsh Castles, 1272-1422 (Boydell Press) [lists sources for 1272-1422] p369-70
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/nhumbeng.html#nhumb28]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p344
• Other sources, 'grey' literature, unpublished works, etc. (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • Payne, Naomi, 2003, The medieval residences of the bishops of Bath and Wells, and Salisbury (PhD Thesis University of Bristol) Appendix B: List of Medieval Bishop's Palaces in England and Wales [available via http://ethos.bl.uk ]