Wooler Tower

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Woller

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

Remains of a medieval tower house of early C16 date situated on a prominent mound. The tower survives as three large blocks of masonry, one of which, a mass of core material, is believed to lie in situ. A block lying near a modern war memorial is a section of the corner of the tower with walls 1.5m thick; the walling is faced with large blocks of sandstone. To the east of these remains are traces of a slight earthwork platform. The mound of which these fragments lie is believed to be natural, rather than artificial, but is the probable site of a C12 castle. The tower is first mentioned in 1509 and in 1526 was referred to a the 'new castle'. It was built in reaction to disturbances on the English-Scottish border

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NT99292809

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 2688
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is N1549 '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.keystothepast.info/durhamcc/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=N1549
    http://www.northofthetyne.co.uk/Motte%26Baileytraces.html
• Books
  • Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Keepdate Publishing) p66-7
    Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern) p113
    Jackson, M.J.,1992, Castles of Northumbria (Carlise)
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p344
    Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p359-60
    Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p175-6
    Vickers, Kenneth H. (ed), 1922, Northumberland County History (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Vol11 p329-30
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p433-4
    Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p4, 24
• Journal Articles
  • Hunter Blair, C.H., 1944, 'The Early Castles of Northumberland' Archaeologia Aeliana [ser4] Vol22 p160-2
• 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]
    1509 Survey of Tevedale [http://homepage.mac.com/philipdavis/numblis3.html]