England · Partial ruin
Belsay Castle
Belsay Castle is a medieval castle at Belsay, Northumberland, centred on a three-storey rectangular pele tower built about 1370 with a manor house added in 1614. A west wing was added in 1711 and later largely removed; the site is a Scheduled Monument and Grade I listed and is administered by English Heritage. The standing tower and attached manor survive as an evocative historic building open to the public.
First raised
1439
Its prime
1711
Today
Partial ruin
As it stood in 1711
The shape it held in its prime.
A substantial three-storey rectangular pele tower of honey-coloured sandstone with rounded, battlemented corner turrets dominates the composition, linked to a lower 17th-century manor range with tall vertical mullioned windows and ashlar façades. The massing contrasts the cylindrical tower forms and crenellated parapets with the rectangular, two-storey manor block; low stone garden walls, straight gravel paths and trimmed lawns lie in the foreground and open Northumberland fields fall away beyond.
Its story
The story of Belsay Castle.
Belsay Castle is centred on a substantial three-storey rectangular pele tower with rounded turrets and battlements, built about 1370 as the home of the Middleton family. In 1614 Thomas Middleton built a new manor house attached to the tower, and a west wing followed in 1711 — largely demolished in 1872 by Sir Arthur Middleton, when the remainder of the house was considerably altered.
The family abandoned the castle as a residence in the early 19th century, when Sir Charles Monck built Belsay Hall close by. The interiors were largely removed and the old castle became a ready-made folly, as was fashionable among the aristocracy at the time, serving as the setting for garden parties and other entertainments. It is now administered by English Heritage and open to the public.
Step inside
7 places to explore in 1711.
The record describes 7 distinct spots at Belsay Castle — including the full exterior approach. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and walk through every one — more scenes means more photos, more angles and more rooms of the immersive experience.
Create History
Recreate Belsay Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1711 — a photoreal walk that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
Recreate Castle to Explore →Whose castle
Clans who held Belsay Castle.
The families that held Belsay Castle for a decade or more across its history — follow a name to its clan.
Middleton
Home of the Middleton family from the tower's construction about 1370; Sir Arthur Middleton was still altering the house in 1872.
