Wooler Castle

Heritage listing

Details This monument includes the remains of a medieval tower of early 16th century date situated on a prominent mound. There are steep slopes on the north and east, where it falls to Wooler Water. 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 on which these fragments lie is believed to be natural, rather than artificial, but is the probable site of a 12th century castle with timber defences which belonged to the Muschamps. Documentary evidence records that it was disused by 1255 and the site was not reoccupied until the tower was built in the early 16th century. The tower is first mentioned in 1509 and in 1526 was referred to as the `new castle'. It was built in reaction to disturbances on the English-Scottish border and became an important link in the chain of forts featured in a plan of border defences drawn up by Christopher Dacre in 1584. A number of features are excluded from the scheduling; these are the war memorial, its railings and concrete plinth, a bench and its concrete plinth, although the ground beneath all these features is included. MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. Legacy The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system. Legacy System number: 29337 Legacy System: RSM

From the Historic England List Entry under OGL v3.