England · Restored
Bothal Castle
Bothal Castle is a medieval castle and later stately home in the village of Bothal, Northumberland, now owned by the Cavendish-Bentinck family and used as a private residence. The site retains a medieval gate tower and stretches of curtain wall alongside a larger restored residential range. The building is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and Grade I listed.
Its prime
1343
Today
Restored
As it stood in 1343
What Bothal Castle looked like in its prime.
Compact, multi-storey rectangular stone castle of honey-coloured sandstone with a crenellated parapet and projecting square towers; a flagpole rises from the highest central block. A pronounced medieval gate tower and sections of curtain wall extend from the main range, with a partly-ruined stretch visible to one side. Windows of the main house are vertical and mullioned, set into ashlar stone; the castle sits amid hedged lawns, scattered mature trees and low parkland.
Its story
The story of Bothal Castle.
Fortified Before the Conquest, Granted in 1095
Bothal was fortified before the Norman Conquest, and renovated and remodelled a number of times afterwards. The castle stands in the village of the same name, near the River Wansbeck, between Morpeth and Ashington; the word 'Bothal' is Old English for a dwelling, and may have referred to a particular dwelling or hall. In 1095 King William Rufus gave Bothal to Guy I de Balliol, whose daughter Alice married William Bertram, Baron of Mitford; Bertram probably built a hall house here.
Sir Robert Bertram's Licence and the Ogle Inheritance, 1343–1363
Several generations later, in 1343, Sir Robert Bertram was given permission to turn his manor house into a castle, including an impressive gatehouse. The gate tower and fragments of curtain wall are medieval, and a good deal of it still survives. Through the marriage of Bertram's daughter Hellen to Sir Robert Ogle, who died in about 1363, the estate passed to the Ogle family in the 14th century.
The Ogles, from the 1562 Inventory to 1591
After Robert, Lord Ogle, died at Allerton Mauleverer in 1562, an inventory was made listing some of the furnishings at Bothal: bed hangings, window cloths, and painted cloths, which were an alternative to tapestry. In August 1583 Cuthbert Ogle, 7th Baron Ogle, negotiated a marriage between his daughter Jane and Edward Talbot, a son of George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury. Shrewsbury's agents visited Bothal and described the house as 'a castle battled, and not unlike to Nether Haddon where Master John Manners doth dwell.'
In 1591 the estate passed to the Cavendish-Bentinck family, Dukes of Portland, through the marriage of Catherine, Countess of Ogle, to Sir Charles Cavendish of Welbeck.
From King James's Visit to Scheduled Monument Status, 1617–1949
King James visited on 5 May 1617 on his way to Scotland and stayed for two nights. Restoration was carried out in the 19th century. The castle is a Grade I listed building and has been a scheduled monument since April 1949; it is in an excellent state of repair, is used as a private residence of the Cavendish-Bentinck family, houses the Welbeck Estate Office, and is not accessible to the public.
Step inside
7 places to explore in 1343.
The record describes 7 distinct spots at Bothal Castle, including 2 interiors: medieval hall (former hall house), upper private chamber with bed hangings. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
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Recreate Bothal Castle with AI to explore it.
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Clans who held Bothal Castle.
The families that held Bothal Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
Balliol
Given by King William Rufus to Guy I de Balliol in 1095.
Bertram
Held by the Bertrams, Barons of Mitford, from Alice de Balliol's marriage to William Bertram until the estate passed to the Ogles in the 14th century.
Ogle
Held by the Ogle family from the 14th century until 1591.
Cavendish-Bentinck
Held since 1591 through Catherine, Countess of Ogle's marriage to Sir Charles Cavendish of Welbeck; still the family's private residence.
Nearby
