England · Still standing
Drumburgh Castle
Drumburgh Castle is a Grade I-listed medieval pele tower in the village of Drumburgh, Cumbria. The site originated as a 14th-century pele tower built on Hadrian's Wall, was rebuilt in 1518 and altered in 1678–1681 to its present form, and retains an external first-floor doorway and stair bearing the Dacre coat of arms with reused Roman stonework in the masonry.
Its prime
1681
Today
Still standing
As it stood in 1681
What Drumburgh Castle looked like in its prime.
A compact, rectangular multi-storey pele tower of warm red sandstone with a slightly taller, crenellated corner tower attached to a two-storey pitched-roof house block; roof covered in slate with several tall brick chimneys. The east-facing façade is reached by an external stone stair rising to a first-floor doorway carved with a heraldic shield. Masonry includes irregular blocks and visibly reused Roman stones set into lower courses. The castle sits directly beside a narrow village lane with a low stone forecourt wall and iron gate.
Its story
The story of Drumburgh Castle.
Drumburgh Castle began as a 14th-century pele tower built on Hadrian's Wall, and reused Roman stonework survives in its masonry. Thomas Dacre rebuilt it in 1518, producing what contemporaries described as 'neither castle nor tower but a house of strength'.
Alterations of 1678–81 gave the building its present form. Grade I listed, it still shows an external first-floor doorway and stair bearing the Dacre coat of arms — the mark of the family that rebuilt it — in the village of Drumburgh, Cumbria.
Step inside
6 places to explore in 1681.
The record describes 6 distinct spots at Drumburgh Castle — including the full exterior approach. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and walk through every one — more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
Create History
Recreate Drumburgh Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1681 — a photoreal walk that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
Recreate this castle →Whose castle
Clans who held Drumburgh Castle.
The families that held Drumburgh Castle for a decade or more across its history — follow a name to its clan.
Dacre
Rebuilt by Thomas Dacre in 1518; the Dacre coat of arms still marks the first-floor doorway and stair.
