Warkworth Castle

Early history map published in 1945 showing Warkworth in the loop of the River Coquet. Warkworth Castle is at the south end of the loop. Although the settlement of Warkworth in Northumberland dates back to at least the 8th century, the first castle was not built until after the Norman Conquest. The town and its castle occupied a loop of the River Coquet. The castle was built at the south end of the town, guarding the narrow neck of the loop. A fortified bridge also defended the approach to the town. The surrounding lowland countryside was favourable for agriculture. When the castle was founded and by whom is uncertain, though traditionally Prince Henry of Scotland, Earl of Northumberland, has been thought responsible. With civil war in South West England, King Stephen of England needed to ensure northern England was secure. To this end, the Treaty of Durham in 1139 between Scotland and England ensured peace. Under the treaty Henry of Scotland became Earl of Northumbria in exchange for ceding control of the castles at Bamburgh and Newcastle to the English. Without them Henry would have needed a new seat from which to exercise his authority, and a new castle at Warkworth may have met the requirement. However, charters show that Henry still controlled Bamburgh Castle after the treaty, and as Warkworth was a modest castle by contemporary standards it may have been founded by someone else. Malcolm surrendered England's northern counties to Henry, including the castles of Bamburgh, Carlisle, and Newcastle, and probably Appleby, Brough, Wark, and Warkworth, though it is possible that Henry II founded Warkworth Castle in 1157 to secure his lands in Northumberland; other contemporary castles in the area were built for this purpose, for instance the one at Harbottle. The first mention of Warkworth Castle occurs in a charter of 1157–1164 from Henry II granting the castle and surrounding manor to Roger fitz Richard, It has been suggested that this charter may have used the term castle to describe a high-status residence on the site, possibly dating from the Anglo-Saxon period, meaning Roger may have built the castle. In 1174 Duncan II, Earl of Fife, raided Warkworth. The contemporary record does not mention the castle, and instead notes that Warkworth's inhabitants sought refuge in the church. When Roger fitz Richard died in 1178 his son and heir, Robert fitz Roger, was still a child. A guardian looked after the family estates until Robert came of age in 1191. He paid the Crown 300 marks in 1199 for confirmation of his ownership of Warkworth, including the castle. Substantial building work at Warkworth Castle is attributed to Robert. A favourite of King John, Robert hosted him at Warkworth Castle in 1213. King Edward I of England stayed at Warkworth Castle for a night in 1292. The English king was asked to mediate in a dispute over the Scottish throne and laid his own claim, leading to the Anglo-Scottish Wars. After the Scottish victory at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297, Robert and his son, John de Clavering, were captured. They were subsequently released and in 1310 John assumed control of the family estates. A year later, John made arrangements so that on his death the king would receive all of his property. Between roughly 1310 and 1330 the English struggled to deal with Scottish raids in northern England. Ralph Neville was the keeper of Warkworth Castle in 1322. As he was married to John's daughter, Euphemia, Ralph may have hoped to inherit the Clavering estates, but that did not happen. Twice in 1327 Scottish forces besieged the castle without success. Percy family Around this time, the Percy family was becoming Northumberland's most powerful dynasty. Henry de Percy, 2nd Baron Percy, was in the service of Edward III and was paid 500 marks a year in perpetuity in return for leading a company of men-at-arms. In exchange for the annual fee, in 1328 Percy was promised the rights to the Clavering estates. Parliament declared such contracts illegal in 1331, but after initially relinquishing his claim Percy was granted special permission to inherit. John de Clavering died in 1332 and his widow in 1345, at which point the family's estates became the property of the Percys. in recognition of his extensive power in the march areas along the Anglo-Scottish border. With a network of contacts and dependencies, the Percys were the pre-eminent family in northern England in the 14th century "for they have the hertes of the people by north and ever had", in the words of contemporaneous chronicler John Hardyng. Henry Percy commissioned the building of the distinctive keep shortly after he was made Earl of Northumberland. Percy may have enhanced his main castle to compete with John of Gaunt, who rebuilt the nearby Dunstanburgh Castle, or with the House of Neville, a family becoming increasingly powerful in northern England and who undertook a programme of building at the castles of Brancepeth, Raby, Bamburgh, Middleham, and Sheriff Hutton. Architectural similarities between Warkworth's keep, Bolton Castle, and the domestic buildings at Bamburgh Castle suggest that John Lewyn was the master mason responsible for building Warkworth's keep. The earl eventually went to York to submit to the king. He was arrested and the king attempted to install his own men at the castles of Alnwick, Langley Castle, Prudhoe, and Warkworth. The earl's 14-year-old son claimed that he was loyal to the king but was not empowered to formally surrender the castle, and it remained under control of the Percys. It remained in the ownership of the Crown until Henry V restored it to the Percy family in 1416, and at the same time made the son of "Hotspur" Henry, another Henry Percy, second Earl of Northumberland. It is known that the second earl resided at Warkworth and undertook building work there, but it is now unclear for which parts he was responsible. The Percys supported the House of Lancaster during the Wars of the Roses, and the second earl and his successor – Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland – were killed at the battles of St Albans in 1455 and Towton in 1461 respectively. On 1 August 1464, as a result of suppressing Lancastrian rebellions in the north for the previous three years, the title of Earl of Northumberland was given to The 1st Marquess of Montagu, a Yorkist, and with it, the castle. During his tenure, he constructed a twenty-five-foot tall rectangular tower, built for defence, "with Arrowslit|[arrow] slits in the three outer walls;" this is known as 'Montagu's Tower' to this day. His brother, The 16th Earl of Warwick, used Warkworth as a base from which the Lancastrian-held castles of Northumberland – Alnwick, Bamburgh, and Dunstanburgh – were attacked and their sieges co-ordinated. In 1470 Edward IV returned the Percys' estates to the eldest son of the third earl, who was also called Henry Percy. A year later Henry was granted the earldom of Northumberland. Although royal officers still used the castle, by 1550 it had fallen into disrepair. In 1557 the Percy estates were restored to the descendants of Thomas, and the nephew of the sixth earl, another Thomas Percy, was given the earldom. He began a programme of repairs at the castle, and in the process dismantled "the hall and other houses of office". and supporters congregated at the castles of Alnwick and Warkworth. Sir John Forster, Warden of the March, ordered those inside to leave and the castles were surrendered to his control. During the conflict that followed, Warkworth remained under royal control. An attainder was issued against Thomas Percy so that when he came into English custody he was executed without trial on 22 August. With the unification of England and Scotland under a single ruler, the earls of Northumberland had no need for two great castles near the Anglo-Scottish border; they maintained Alnwick at the expense of Warkworth. In the first quarter of the 17th century, the keep was used to hold manor courts and for the laying out of oats. The details surrounding Warkworth Castle's role in the English Civil War are unclear, but the conflict resulted in further damage to the structure. Initially held by Royalist forces, the castle was still important enough that when the Scots invaded in 1644 they forced its surrender. Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland, supported Parliament, which may have prevented the Scots from doing much damage to the castle. The Duke occasionally used the chambers for picnics when he visited from Alnwick Castle. The 4th Duke funded excavations at the castle in the 1850s which uncovered the remains of the collegiate church within the bailey. In 1922, The 8th Duke of Northumberland granted custodianship of the castle to the Office of Works which had been made accountable for the guardianship of ancient monuments. The Duke's Chambers remained under the direct control of the Percys. The Office of Works undertook excavations in the moat in 1924 and removed the custodian from the gatehouse. English Heritage, who now manage and maintain the site, succeeded as the castle's custodians in 1984, and three years later the Duke's Chambers were given over to their care. The castle is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, a "nationally important" historic building and archaeological site which has been given protection against unauthorised change. It is also a Grade I listed building (first listed in 1985) and recognised as an internationally important structure. The castle continues to be officially owned by the Percy family, currently being owned by the 12th Duke of Northumberland. ==Layout==

Warkworth Castle is an irregular enclosure. The keep is at the north end, overlooking the town, with the bailey to the south. The current keep was built on an earlier mound, known as a motte. The curtain wall of the bailey dates from the early 13th century. There are four towers: Carrickfergus Tower in the south-west corner, Montagu Tower in the south-east, a postern tower in the west wall (north of the kitchen), and Grey Mare's Tail Tower attached to the east wall. Against the east curtain wall was a stable. In the northern half of the bailey, aligned east–west, was an unfinished 15th-century collegiate church; it was cleared away in the early 16th century. Immediately west of the church was the kitchen, situated in the angle of the curtain wall as it changes from its north–south alignment and turns towards the keep. Along the west curtain wall, south of the kitchen, were the pantry, great hall, and withdrawing chambers. In the south-west was a chapel. Gatehouse The gatehouse in the centre of the south curtain wall mostly dates from the 13th century. It was originally accessed via a drawbridge and visitors had to pass through two gates, one at either end of the passage, and a portcullis. The semi-octagonal projections on either side of the gate passage are considered ornamental. Between the projections and above the gate were machicolations, openings for missiles to be hurled at attackers. The rooms on either side of the passage were guardrooms. although some of the stone dates from the mid 12th century. The earl would have entered from the south from his connecting private chambers, and people of lower status through the Lion Tower. Internally, it was split into two aisles of differing width. Both halls were heated by open hearths, two of which survive from the earlier hall. Opposite ends of the hall were for opposite ends of the social scale within the castle. The high end (next to the withdrawing chamber) was for the earl and his family, and the low end (next to the kitchen and other service rooms) for the rest of the household. An entrance of lesser status than the main gatehouse, the gate's position next to the kitchen suggests it was a tradesmen's entrance, used for conveying supplies to the castle. The square Little Stair Tower was the entrance from the bailey to the withdrawing rooms south of the great hall. At ground floor level there was a doorway in each of the tower's faces. Directly south of the east side of the tower was the castle's chapel. The northern door led to the great hall, and the western door to a cellar under the great chamber. There are only fragmentary remains of the spiral staircase. Above the passageway was a single room, of uncertain purpose: it may have been used as another chapel, a guest room, or an antechamber where guests would wait before being admitted into the earl's presence. The first floor was entirely occupied by the great chamber, furnished with a fireplace. In the south-west corner of the room was a door to a small room which was perhaps used as a safe. The ground floor was used as a cellar, through which the Carrickfergus Tower could be accessed. North of Montagu Tower, against the east curtain wall, are the ruins of stables which stood two storeys high. West of the stables was a wellhouse containing a stone-lined well some deep. The Grey Mare's Tail Tower, probably built in the 1290s, has a slit in each of its five faces, offering views along the curtain wall. Keep , 1909. North is on the left: Goodall described Warkworth's keep as "a masterpiece of medieval English architecture". Built in the last quarter of the 14th century, it was probably designed by John Lewyn. It was laid out in the form of a Greek cross and originally it was crested with a battlement, and perhaps decorative statues. Around the top of the building survive carvings of angels carrying shields. A large lion representing the Percy's coat of arms overlooked the town from the north side of the keep. The lion and sculptures were probably originally painted and would have stood out from the rest of the building. Archaeologist Oliver Creighton suggests that the rebuilding of the keep and other reconstruction work were meant to suggest the enduring lordship of the owners. On top of the keep is a lookout tower, which would have been less prominent before the keep's roof was removed. Goodall suggests that the keep was used only for short periods, and the west range, including the great hall, was the lord's preferred residence for prolonged visits to Warkworth Castle. The ground floor was used predominantly for storage of food and wine, but there was also a room with access to a basement chamber roughly square. This has variously been interpreted as an accounting room with a floor safe, Kitchens occupied the west side of the first floor and were connected via staircases to the stores immediately below. The second floor was entirely domestic in nature, with bedrooms and withdrawing chambers. In the 19th century, while the rest of Warkworth Castle was in ruins, the rooms of the second floor were re-roofed and occasionally used by the duke on visits. At the centre of the keep was a lightwell with interior windows; at its foot was a tank for collecting rainwater used for cleaning. ==In Art and Literature==

An engraving of a painting of the castle by Thomas Allom with a poetical illustration by Letitia Elizabeth Landon in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1838. ==See also==