Otterburn Tower

Otterburn Tower was built on the site and using some of the stones from Otterburn Castle. Otterburn Castle, as it was originally known, was founded by a cousin of William the Conqueror in 1086 as a bastion to repel the Scots. In August 1388, during the Battle of Otterburn, initially, the Scottish forces had camped near the Redesdale valley close to the tower, in the evening. The next day, early in the morning, they attacked the Otterburn Tower but were unsuccessful in their attempt to capture it. Following this failure, the Scottish forces wanted to return to their homes but James Douglas, 2nd Earl of Douglas wanted to pursue the battle as Henry Percy (Hotspur) had vowed that he would not…

Otterburn is a castellated building. Much of the current building was constructed in 1830 incorporating an 18th-century tower and earlier architectural work as little of the original tower remained. The northern corner of the modern tower includes part of the walls of the old castle. The building was extended at the rear in 1904, and a stable block was added by F.W. Rich for Howard Pease.