Cresswell Tower. Photo by Northumberland County Council, 2002.

[NZ 29369335] Tower. (1)

Tower. Chapel. (2)

Tower must be attributed to the 15th century. (3)

Chapel recorded as ruinous in 1715 (4)

The tower measures 21 1/2ft long x 16 1/2ft wide within, and consists of a strong room vaulted with stone ... the north-east angle of the tower is surmounted with a turret.
William Cresswell III, after 1698, demolished the mansion house and chapel - to which the tower was attached - and upon the site, built large additions to the old tower, which formed an extensive residence. (5)

The Tower is a rectangular building measuring 12.5m x 8.5m. It is of coursed masonry with walls 1.5m thick, and has a slate roof. There are small windows on all sides, a mullioned window on the south-east side, and a door on the north-west side. There is a small turret on the north corner.
There is no trace of the extensive rebuilding mentioned in T2(4) except for the masonry of the battlements which is apparently of later date.
In an excellent state of repair the Tower is empty and not used. The mansion house (and probably the chapel) lay to the north-west of the Tower. The only traces are on the Tower itself, where the roof line is visible as a groove cut into the masonry of the north-west side. (6)

Condition unchanged. (7)

Cresswell Tower, Grade II*. Towerhouse, probably 14th century. Embattled parapet early 18th century. Squared stone with dressings. Three storeys. Segmental pointed doorways to ground and first floors (upper is original entrance). Windows mainly rectangular chamfered loops, except ground floor vesica on east and larger 17th century window on first floor south. Openings to lower floors blocked.
Interior: ground floor barrel vault. Newel stair in north-east corner. Contemporary fireplaces, recesses and garderobe.
The medieval tower of the Cresswells. An adjacent 'mansion' on the north was built in early 18th century and demolished in 19th century. (8)

Cresswell Tower. An old picture shows the tower with turrets corbelled out at the corners and the mansion house attached. (9)

Scheduled. (10)

The tower is a rectangular structure 12.5m by 8.5m externally, its long axis running north east to south west. The structure is built of coursed and squared stone; the parapet and battlements are of rather better-quality close-jointed stonework. All openings at basement and first floor level have been walled up, to prevent access.
THE NORTH WALL: The north elevation of the tower, formerly adjoined by the 18th century house, is the most complex. Set east of centre at basement level is a doorway with a segmental-pointed arch, with a double-chamfered surround. This area of walling is considerably disturbed (there is an obvious patch, the blocking of a secondary opening a little further west). Although the arched doorway is of medieval character, its relationship with the surrounding stonework suggests that it may be an insertion. At first floor level, above and a little to the east, is a similar but wider doorway, that looks to be an original feature; west of it are remains of a window. A late 19th century survey (Society of Antiquaries Library) shows this as being of mullion-and-transom cross type, like the one opposite on the south. It would appear to have been partly destroyed (a patch of later masonry replaces its east jamb) since this date. At the west end of the wall and set a little lower, is another blocked doorway, shown on the 19th century survey as having a quadrant shaped head and a chamfered surround.
Above the principal blocked first-floor doorway are a series of sockets marking the position of the attic floor of the 18th century house and then a series of infilled vertical slots, which are most easily interpreted as indicating the positions of former corbels carrying a machicolated projection protecting the doorways below. East of these is a single-light square-headed window with a chamfered surround; there is a second similar window, just above the roof-line of the removed house, further west. At the north east corner of the parapet is a taller turret, carried on shallow corbels, with a groove marking the roof-line of the former house cut across its north face.
THE EAST END: The east end of the tower has a central chamfered loop and, further to the north, a vesica-shaped opening cut through a single slab, lighting the newel stair. There are large chamfered square-headed windows at first and second floor levels and another corbelled-out turret at the south east corner, although this one does not rise above the general height of the embattled parapet.
THE SOUTH WALL: The south wall has no openings at basement level. At first floor level are a quite sizeable square-headed window with a chamfered surround, formerly with a mullion and transom, a projecting stone spout (below and to the east of the window) and a tiny loop (to the west). At second floor level there are smaller chamfered windows towards each end of the wall, as on the north. A corbelled-out projection at parapet level appears to be the base of a chimney.
THE WEST END: The only opening here is a chamfered loop to the basement, set centrally. At parapet level are two corbelled-out projections, the northern probably a chimney.
THE INTERIOR: This is currently inaccessible. The 19th century survey shows the basement as having a pointed tunnel vault, with a square projection at the north east corner housing the newel stair and a wall cupboard at the west end. At first floor level there are fireplaces with segmental-pointed arches in both south and west walls, an L-plan mural garderobe at the west end of the south wall and a wall cupboard in the west wall. At second floor level there are fewer features; in the west wall is a cupboard or aumbry with an arched head.
Some older sources (eg Tomlinson) refer to an inscription on the internal lintel and jambs of a window, apparently in the north eastern turret, reputedly reading 'William Cresswell, brave hero'.
DISCUSSION: The tower is probably of 15th century date, although the exterior at least is somewhat lacking in dateable features. It is not clear whether it was solitary or formerly part of a larger establishment. The apparent evidence of a machicolation over the entrance suggests the former, set against this, the form and proportions of the first floor doorway rather suggest a rear arch than the outer facing of an opening. The north elevation is complex and needs close study; it is possible that the machicolation was removed in the medieval period and an adjacent block built then. Hodgson refers to a mansion house, with chapel, preceding the 18th century mansion that he saw.
The present parapet and turret are probably of 18th century date. They may be of the same date as the rebuilding of the house (on the north there is a slight set-back at the base of the parapet, but this is not continuous within the line of the gable of the house roof, implying the parapet is contemporary or post-dates the gable). The 19th century survey made after the demolition of the house, shows the tower as having a hip-ended roof, with king-post trusses of copybook type; these look more of 19th than of 18th century character, suggesting the tower had been reroofed as a conservation measure.
The destroyed 18th century house may itself have been a structure of some interest. A sketch in the Richardson scrapbook (NRO ZAN M13/F13) shows a remarkably elongate block of two storeys and attics, with triangular pediments above the windows and an odd arrangement, from the tower northwards, of four, then three, then two bays, with broad spaces between.
The tower has suffered somewhat in the 20th century. The roof has gone and the architectural features have suffered from both vandalism and crude antivandal measures, as well as natural decay. It remains an important and relatively well-preserved tower. (11)

As part of a programme of building recording prior to repairs being carried out at the tower, a rectified photographic survey was made of the north elevation. (12)

Two areas of the first floor were cleared in 2000. Area 1, against the north wall, was half covered by three stone slabs and the remaining area had been robbed and had decaying mortar bedding. Area 2 next to the south wall was in front of an arched recess, which was also cleared. The flooring in Area 2 was almost undisturbed; within the tower it was squared slabs with some bricks in between, suggesting a 19th century repair. The base of the recess was formed by a single slab with a raised rounded edge, sloping down to a small channel running out through the wall to a spout. The recess was probably some sort of sink or slopstone. (13)

A further phase of recording took place in May and June 2000 when scaffolding was erected at the tower. Around 75% of the basement floor was cleared showing some of the arrangements of the tower in its 18th century phase. Including the doorway into the Mansion House that opened into a north-south passage with rooms on each side. The scaffolding allowed examination of a number of openings and the parapet. A number of re-used stones were found in the tops of the cores of the walls. These included a stone that had formed a voussoir from a a sizeable arch and is carved on both faces and soffit. The carving is typically Romanesque, and probably mid-12th century in date. It probably derives from a high status 12th century building, probably a church. There are old records of a chapel associated with the Manor House that was demolished in the 18th century. A medieval graveslab is also said to have been found at Cresswell and was taken to Woodhorn Church. (14)

A structural history of the tower was described by P Ryder after work carried out in February and March 2000. A structural inventory accompanies a series of plans and measured drawings made by West Yorkshire Archaeology Service and P Ryder. (15)

Additional bibliography in published report of the work by the West Yorkshire Archaeology Service and P Ryder. (16)

A ragged hole broken through the outer wall face revealed a cavity about 0.75m wide by 1.4m high by 1.0m deep. Removal of stone blocks had broken into and partly destroyed the shaft of a first floor garderobe. A drawn record was made of the damaged section of wall. (17)

In May 2014 Archaeological Research Services Ltd (ARS Ltd) carried out an archaeological watching brief at Cresswell Tower House as part of a conservation programme funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. The watching brief monitored the removal of a build-up of debris, soil and vegetation at first-floor level above the ground floor vault. This revealed the partial remains of a flag-stone surface across a large proportion of the first-floor level which had been robbed out in the south-east corner and across the western end of the chamber. The fieldwork identified that the western end of the chamber appears to have been originally partitioned doff into a separate room as reflected in the walls and floors of the structure. The floor level in the western chamber appears to have been higher than the flag-stone floor but with no evidence of original flooring surviving. (18)

A programme of trial trenching was undertaken by Archaeological Research Services Ltd as part of the Heritage Lottery Funded Cresswell Pele Tower Community Archaeology Project. Nine trenches were excavated in Fisheries Field and three hand-dig trenches were excavated in the area around Cresswell Tower in collaboration with the local community. In the area around the pele tower, wall foundations of the 18th century manor house were revealed in Trench 11. A cobbled surface and rough but substantial wall foundations of an earlier building were also found in Trench 11. The pottery associated with this earlier phase of building was 12th-14th century in date. A well-built stone-lined ditch, a linear ditch and a stone-lined gully of unknown date and function were found in Trench 10. In addition two pits were recorded in Trench 10 which contained a number of stones including some chipped flint flakes. The large pit contained a very large lump of red ochre buried at depth below its upper stoney fill and the small pit produced a substantial ironstone boulder below its stoney fill. (19)

The Cresswell Pele Tower Community Archaeology Project Internal Evaluation was carried out by Archaeological Research Services as part of a Heritage Lottery funded project which aimed to remove the Pele Tower from the Historic England's Heritage at Risk register. This part of the project involved the excavation of three test pits and the production of a detailed plan of the floors in order to record and examine their fabric in order to inform conservation decisions regarding their preservation. The excavation of the test pits provided dating evidence, information about the floors construction, causes for cracking in the barrel vaulted ceiling and helped to establish a sequence for repair and replacement.(20)

A Design, Assess and Heritage Statement for Cresswell Tower, Cresswell was produced by Curtis Architecture. The document included a detailed historical and archaeological background, copies for previous archaeological reports, design proposals for the site, structural reports and stonework condition reports as well as detailed drawings and photographs of the structures. (21)

Level 3 historic building recording in 2018-19 confirmed the tower was core to a wider structural complex, probably a solar tower as opposed to a self-contained tower house. The fabric and form of the building befits a manorial complex, providing spacious accommodation behind a curtain wall, with the tower a last retreat in times of conflict. A six phase development is summarised as:
Phase 1: 12th ' 13th century: Medieval development of manorial complex including a stone hall and possibly other buildings including a chapel.
Phase 2: 14th ' 15th century: Construction of the tower as a defensible solar, as part of a manorial complex.
Phase 3: 16th ' 17th century: Various phases of alterations to the original tower building including the construction of two post-medieval outbuildings on to its south-east elevation.
Phase 4: 18th century: Construction of the Mansion House and removal of the outbuildings.
Phase 5: 19th century: Demolition of the Mansion House/Restoration of the tower as a folly/hunting lodge.
Phase 6: 20th century: Dereliction and repair of tower. (22)

NZ 293 933. Cresswell Tower. Scheduled No ND/290. (23a)

Creswell was the seat of the Creswell family and their principle residence. (23b)

Listed by King.(23c)