Prudhoe Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Prodhom

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

The shape of a figure of eight, the inner and outer baileys, now separated by a Georgian manor house built on the site of earlier residential buildings. Within the inner bailey, the most substantial building is C12 great tower. Originally two storeys high, extended in C14/C15 to provide a further level with turrets. Only the south west turret still exists. Adjacent to the great tower lie a range of C13 buildings. Towards the west of the inner bailey are two rounded towers, also dating from C13. The tower in the north west corner of the bailey is virtually intact, whereas only the base remains of the south west tower. Of several early buildings contained in the outer ward, C12 great hall foundations are visible and a C12 gatehouse with C13 chapel above survive.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law. This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 239494)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NZ09166341

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 20529
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is N10118 '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.castlexplorer.co.uk/england/prudhoe/prudhoe.php#castle
    http://www.keystothepast.info/durhamcc/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=N10118
    http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/conProperty.134
    http://www.sine.newcastle.ac.uk/view_structure_information.asp?struct_id=215
    http://www.ecastles.co.uk/prudhoe.html
    http://www.northofthetyne.co.uk/Prudhoe.html
    http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_north/88/prudhoe.html
• Books
  • Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Keepdate Publishing) p461-4
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern) p92-3
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p194-5
    Jackson, M.J.,1992, Castles of Northumbria (Carlise) p102-4 [plan]
    Higham, R. and Barker, P., 1992, Timber Castles (Batsford) p284-5, 287-9
    Pevsner, N., 1992 (revised by Grundy, John et al), The Buildings of England: Northumberland (London, Penguin) p545-6
    Rowland, T.H., 1987 [reprint1994], Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p7-9, 40, 55, 82-4
    Royal Historic Society, 1986 (3 edn), Handbook of British Chronology p475
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p340
    Keen, L.J., 1983, ‘The Umfravilles, the castle and the barony of Prudhoe, Northumberland' in Brown, R.Allen (ed), Anglo-Norman studies V: proceedings of the Battle Conference 1982 (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p165–84
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p282
    Keen, L.J. and Thackray, D.W.R., 1977, Prudhoe Castle' Archaeological Excavations 1976 (HMSO) p30
    Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p298-304
    Renn, D. F., 1973 (2nd edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker) p269,288
    Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p147-8
    Sanders, I.J., 1960, English Baronies. A study of their origin and descent 1086-1327 p73
    Hugill, R.,1939, Borderland Castles and Peles [1970 Reprint by Frank Graham] p186-9
    Dodds, Madeleine Hope (ed), 1926, Northumberland County History (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Vol12 p79-135
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Tomlinson, W.W., 1897, Comprehensive Guide to Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p95-7
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England (New York: Macmillan) Vol2 p417-8 http://www.archive.org/stream/castlesofengland02mack#page/417/mode/1up
    Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p199-222
    Tomlinson, W., 1888. A Comprehensive Guide to Northumberland (London) p95-6
    Hartshorne, C.H., 1858, Feudal and Military Antiquities of Northumberland and the Scottish Borders (London: Proceedings of the Archaeological Institute at Newcastle) Vol2 p229-52
    Gibson, W., 1845-54 (3rd series), Northumbrian Castles, Churches and Antiquities p51-5
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1853, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol2 p206-7
    Scott, W., 1814, Border Antiquites of England and Scotland p89-92
    Hodgson, J. and Laird, F., 1813, Beauties of England and Wales; Northumberland Vol12 p168-70
    Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol1 p221
    Grose, F., 1756, Antiquities of England and Wales Vol4 p134-40
• Journal Articles
  • Dower, R., Geddes, J. and Sherlock, D., 2004, 'The Gates of Prudhoe Castle' Archaeologia Aeliana Vol33 p77-88
    Keen, L.J., 1976, ‘Prudhoe Castle' The Archaeological Journal Vol133 p206-8 [plan]
    Thackray, D.W.R. and Keen, L.J., 1975. CBA Group 3 Newsbulletin 10, 9-10
    King, D.J.C. and Alcock, L., 1969, 'Ringworks in England and Wales' Château Gaillard Vol3 p90-127
    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
    Hunter Blair, C.H., 1944, 'The Early Castles of Northumberland' Archaeologia Aeliana [ser4] Vol22 p153-5 [plan]
    1911-12, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle Vol5 p151
    1893, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle Vol6 p85-7
    1891, The Monthly Chronicle; North Country Lore and Legend p6-10
    Clark, G.T., 1883-4, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle Vol1 p281-8
    1865, Archaeologia Aeliana Vol6 p116-21
• Guidebooks
  • West, S., 2006, Prudhoe Castle (London: English Heritage)
    1993, Prudhoe Castle Northumberland (London: English Heritage)
    Anon, 1986, Prudhoe Castle (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]
    Rickard, John, 2002, The Castle Community. The Personnel of English and Welsh Castles, 1272-1422 (Boydell Press) [lists sources for 1272-1422] p372-3
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/nhumbeng.html#nhumb12]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p156, 338