Tarset Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Tarsett; Tyrsete

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

The remains of the fortified residence known as Tarset Castle. The house is largely visible as the grassed over remains of a rectangular structure. Standing masonry is visible to a maximum height of 1.5m at the north east and south east corners of the structure standing upon the uncovered remains of a stone plinth. This masonry is thought to represent two of the four square corner turrets known to exist at Tarset Castle. Licence to crenellate was granted to John Comyn in 1267, the earliest surviving licence to do so in Northumberland. In 1523 the house was occupied by Sir Ralph Fenwick and 80 men but was taken and burnt in 1525.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law. This is a Grade 2* listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 239752)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NY78838548

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 15682
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is N6995 '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/80/tarsetcastle.htm
    http://www.keystothepast.info/durhamcc/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=N6995
    http://www.northofthetyne.co.uk/TarsetCastle.html
• Books
  • Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Keepdate Publishing) p292-4
    Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern) p97
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p200 [slight]
    Jackson, M.J.,1992, Castles of Northumbria (Carlise)p 114-5
    Rowland, T.H., 1987 [reprint1994], Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p10, 11, 42
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p341-2
    Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p322
    Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p160-1
    Dodds, Madeleine Hope (ed), 1940, Northumberland County History (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Vol15 p242-8
    Hugill, R.,1939, Borderland Castles and Peles [1970 Reprint by Frank Graham] p203-4
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p422
    Tomlinson, W.W., 1897, Comprehensive Guide to Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p222-3
    Bates, C.J., 1895, History of Northumberland p141
    Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p7, 8, 25, 48
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p403
• Journal Articles
  • 1905-6, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle [ser3] Vol2 p156-7
    
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • 1541 Survey of the East and Middle Marches [http://homepage.mac.com/philipdavis/numblis5.html]
    Letters and papers of Henry VIII 4 Nos 328 346 427 1338 1428-9
    Calendar of Patent Rolls (1266-72) p178
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/nhumbeng.html#nhumb7]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p339
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol5 p58 http://www.archive.org/details/itineraryofjohnl05lelauoft