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
The shape it held 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.
By 1174 John of Edlingham owned a manor house here, guarding one of the few approaches to Alnwick through the hills to its west. In 1294 his descendant Walter of Edlingham sold it to William de Felton, who strengthened it with ramparts, a gatehouse, a fortified hall and courtyard buildings — fortifications increased in response to the Anglo-Scottish border warfare of about 1300–1600.
Elizabeth de Felton inherited the property in 1396 and married Sir Edmund Hastings, who added the strong solar tower that still dominates the ruin. Their descendants occupied the castle until 1514, when George Swinburne, a constable of Prudhoe, purchased it; his family held it until the 18th century, during which time most buildings were dismantled in the 1660s to build nearby farmhouses.
The solar tower survived, despite a crack running several storeys to ground level. The Department for the Environment acquired the site in 1978 and excavated it extensively — rubble had filled the tower three metres deep. Pevsner called the castle, more properly a fortified manor house, one of the most interesting in the county; it is now in the care of English Heritage.
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 walk through every one — more scenes means more photos, more angles and more rooms of the immersive experience.
Create History
Recreate Edlingham Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1514 — a photoreal walk that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
Recreate Castle to Explore →Whose castle
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.
