England · Ruin
Edlingham Castle
Edlingham Castle is a ruined fortified manor house in Northumberland, England, now a scheduled monument in the care of English Heritage. The site consists of a tall solar tower still standing amid the low foundations and partial walls of a hall house, gatehouse, barbican and other courtyard buildings. The ruins sit in a shallow valley west of Alnwick beside the small hamlet and the church of St John the Baptist.
Its prime
1514
Today
Ruin
As it stood in 1514
What Edlingham Castle looked like in its prime.
At its prime the site presents a compact fortified manor clustered around a central courtyard: a tall rectangular stone solar tower of several storeys dominates the silhouette, with lower stone ranges forming the hall house, a gatehouse and a barbican enclosing the yard. Walls are coursed local sandstone, pale buff to warm grey. Roofed timber halls and a crenellated parapet to the tower complete the skyline, set in a green valley with low rolling heather-covered hills beyond.
Its story
The story of Edlingham Castle.
A Manor Guarding the Alnwick Approach, 1174-1294
By 1174 a John of Edlingham owned a manor house on this site, in a valley west of Alnwick in Northumberland. The position covers one of the few approaches to Alnwick through the hills to its west, and Edlingham itself is little more than a hamlet with a church beside the castle. In 1294 a descendant, Walter of Edlingham, sold the property to William de Felton.
Felton Ramparts and the Hastings Solar Tower, 1294-1514
William de Felton strengthened what he had bought, raising strong ramparts and a gatehouse, fortifying the main hall and adding further buildings within a courtyard. The fortifications here were increased in response to the border warfare between England and Scotland that ran from about 1300 to 1600, though the place is more properly a fortified manor house typical of many medieval houses in the north of England than a castle proper.
In 1396 Elizabeth de Felton inherited the estate and married Sir Edmund Hastings, who added a strong solar tower. Their descendants occupied castle and estate until 1514.
Swinburne Ownership and the Dismantling of the 1660s
The property was then bought by George Swinburne, a constable of Prudhoe, and his family held it into the 18th century. Across those generations it fell gradually into disrepair, and in the 1660s most of the buildings were dismantled to build nearby farmhouses. The solar tower was left standing.
Listing, Excavation and English Heritage Care, from 1969
The castle was listed Grade I on 13 December 1969 and is also a scheduled monument. In 1978 the Department for the Environment acquired the site and carried out extensive archaeological excavations; before that work, rubble filled the solar tower to a height of three metres. Much of the tower still stands, despite a crack running several storeys down to ground level, and the foundations and part of the walls of the hall house, gatehouse, barbican and other courtyard buildings remain visible, most of them 16th-century.
The site is in the care of English Heritage and is reached easily from the neighbouring church of St John the Baptist, where William de Felton is buried. The architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner described it as "...one of the most interesting in the county".
Step inside
8 places to explore in 1514.
The record describes 8 distinct spots at Edlingham Castle, including 2 interiors: upper solar chamber (private chamber), great hall of the hall house. 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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Clans who held Edlingham Castle.
The families that held Edlingham Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
Felton
William de Felton bought the manor in 1294 and fortified it; the Feltons held it until Elizabeth de Felton's marriage carried it to the Hastings in 1396.
Hastings
Sir Edmund Hastings, who married Elizabeth de Felton in 1396, added the solar tower; his descendants occupied the castle until 1514.
Swinburne
George Swinburne, a constable of Prudhoe, purchased Edlingham in 1514 and his family held it until the 18th century.
