Tarset fortified house (Tarset with Greystead)
Remains of Tarset Castle, Tarset. Photo by G McCombie, 1993.
(Centred NY78848547) Tarset Castle (Remains of). (1)
Tarset or Tyrset Castle, or 'Hall' as it was more commonly called, may be almost certainly identified with the camera which John Comyn obtained leave to fortify with a stone wall and ditch in 1267.
The castle disappears from history until 1523 when it was occupied by Sir Ralph Fenwick with eighty men. In 1525 it was taken and burnt by an alliance of Scots and Tynedale men. It was never restored and its ruins served as a quarry. The site was of strategic importance and
commanded the Tyne and Tarset fords and the junction of two old traffic routes. A plan of the ruins made in 1773 show that John Comyn's Camera was a long narrow building with a small rectangular turret at each corner. The wall built in 1267 extended all round the 'Camera' and was broken round the outline of the corner turrets. The ditch, intact except where cut by the railway, enclosed two sides of an area about 250 feet square. The remaining two sides were bounded by a steep bank rising from the Tarset water on the north, and a less steep slope, in part apparently artificially scarped, facing westwards. The stone castle, oriented north-south, stood on the east side of the enclosure. There is no evidence of any wall or defence on the
inner side of the ditch although there was possibly a timber palisade. There must also have been at some point a trestle bridge or gangway. Excavations were made in 1888 by Mr W L S Charlton but no plan was made. (2)
Licence to crenellate his camera at 'Tyrset' (Tarset) was granted to John Comyn on 5 December 1267 by Henry III at Westminster. This is the first licence to crenellate in Northumberland which has been preserved. Leland, writing c.1538, mentions the ruins of 'Tarset Castelle'. A survey of 1541 refers to a tower called 'Tarsett Hall' as being burnt 16 years since (1525). (3)
A bronze key was found during the excavations of 1888 by Mr W L Charlton. (4)
The remains of the castle are situated upon a steep-sided promontory which points westwards and which commands the valley of the Tarset Burn to the north, and the valley of the River North Tyne to the west, south and east. The promontory is cut off from the rising ground to the east by a broad deep ditch, 22m wide, and of an average depth of 5m. The southern end of this ditch has been destroyed by the construction of a railway cutting.
Upon the east side of the site, are foundations of a building, of which the south end and north east corner are exposed, and stand to a maximum height of 1.5m. The rest of the site has been subjected to ravaging for stone and is covered with pits and spoil heaps, now turf covered. (5)
As described by F1, except that the foundations of the south end of the building are too mutilated for survey action. Resurveyed at 1:2500. (6)
Tarset Castle, Grade I Listed Building. Built by John Comyn in 1267. It is clear from the part excavated some years ago that all the lower parts of the walls remain buried under debris. The masonry is of very good quality and the fact that it is a dated example makes it more valuable. Scheduled as an ancient monument. Description and plan in N.C.H. Vol 15. (7)
The main buildings of the castle have stood within the eastern half of the sub-circular enclosure. Foundation mounds indicate a north-south block c.30m by 15m with an internal division a little north of centre. Footings, with a hood quality steeply chamfered plinth (of typical 13th century character), are exposed on either side of the north east corner; although the actual corner is not exposed, there is no visible evidence of a tower or turret in this position. The only other exposed masonry appears to be of a tower (an addition?) projecting south from the eastern part of the south wall of the block; this appears to be c.7m square. Rubble wall core stands to c.1.5m but no facing stones are exposed.
To the west of this structure are further quite high mounds, possibly spoil dumps; to the east, just within the encircling ditch, are more irregular earthworks, again difficult to interpret.
Although little masonry is exposed, the surface indications suggest a rectangular hall house, possibly of mid 13th century date with perhaps an added tower of the late 13th or 14th century. It seems likely that a considerable amount of fabric survives buried beneath the turf. (8)
Tarset Castle. Grade II* listed building. (9)
The remains of a fortified residence known as Tarset Castle. The house is largely visible as the grassed over remains of a rectangular structure. Standing masonry is visible to a maximum height of 1.5m at the north-east and south-east corners of the structure standing upon the uncovered remains of a stone plinth. This masonry is thought to represent two of the four square corner turrets known to exist at Tarset Castle. Tarset Castle is both a grade II* listed building and a scheduled monument. (10)
A ruin which is very difficult to read on the ground but which appears to resemble nearby Dally Castle in plan. It is unusual in having a well-attested date of building. The earthworks are steep and impressive and where facing stone survives the quality is quite evidently very high, (see a stretch of plinth on the north side). A number of architectural fragments said to have come from the site were built into Reenes farmhouse just outside the National Park boundary. Some of them are quite fine, especially a late 15th century or early 16th century two-light window with cusped heads to the lights. (11)
A desk-based assessment was carried out in 2014 which comprised a search of documentary and cartographic records, records of archaeological interventions, consultation with the Tarset Archive Group, the Historic Environment Record, and a site walk-over survey. The works were intended to provide background information to inform decisions about the future preservation of the monument. (12)
Four evaluation trenches were excavated in 2015 in conjunction with a programme of conservation works to address erosion by the Tarset Burn. In the trench excavated adjacent to the western escarpment of the castle mound, two bands of sandstone rubble were recorded, probably deriving from defensive features or walls in this area. Re-deposited natural subsoil, used to create the castle
mound, was identified in the base of the trench. In trenches excavated over the structural remains of the castle, the defensive outer walls were identified; those to the north exhibited signs of collapse related to the landslip. Walls forming the north-east tower of the castle were identified, with dressed facing-stones surviving at lower levels. The wall had previously been partially exposed during the 19th-century excavations. In this north-eastern area of the castle mound further walls and floor surfaces were identified, some indicating earlier phases of construction. The excavations show that there were extensive episodes of deconstruction and stone reclamation in the post-medieval period. Many of the large earthworks visible on the castle mound are spoil-heaps (mortar and stone rubble) discarded during these episodes. As a result, the upper sections of all walls identified during this phase of excavation survived as lime-mortared rubble cores, lacking facing stones and dressed masonry. However, facing stones were preserved at lower levels of the structures. The original cut of the castle ditch was identified. The sequence of deposits within the ditch indicated a process of colluviation and slumping from the castle mound to fill the ditch. Metalled surfaces and overlying sandstone rubble evidenced the existence of structural remains exterior to the castle, on the upper eastern edge of the castle ditch. (13)
Evidence of possible structures has been identified, including remains of the curtain wall and possible annex buildings, to the south and west of the four-towered fortified house on the castle mound. The remains of the castle itself are not clearly defined in the geophysical surveys. This could be due to a number of factors, including the presence of rubble spreads and stone-robbing. Former ridge and furrow cultivation, which survives as earthworks, has been geophysically recorded to the east of the castle. Substantial anomalies forming a regular band to the east of the ridge and furrow may reflect an earth and stone bank, or at least substantial revetment. This feature could have been built as a defensive structure, such as the boundary of an outer enclosure associated with the castle. No evidence of the suggested mill race to the west of the castle has been identified; this may exist closer to the edge of the Tarset Burn, outside the survey extent. (14)
In July 2015, Archaeological Services, Durham University undertook an archaeological watching brief during during erosion repair works at Tarset to the north of the scheduled area. The works comprised the pollarding of existing alder trees and the building of protective stone walls. No signficant archaeological deposits were recorded. (15)
NY 788 855. Tarset Castle. Scheduled No ND/225. (16a)
NY 7884 8547. Tarset Castle was surveyed in May 1999 by English Heritage field investigators as part of the National SAMs Survey Pilot Project. The remains of the castle stand upon a motte which has been formed by cutting deep ditches to isolate a promontary above the Tarset Burn, the spoil form the ditches having been used to augment the natural feature. The northern side of the motte is defined by a steep river-cliff which is being actively eroded by a meander in the river. The ditches, to east and south are well preserved, although a trackway interrupts the inner and outer scarps of the ditch to the south-east.
The only identifiable remains of the castle are remnants of the north-east and south-east angle towers, the former displaying a double-chamfered plinth, the latter surviving as the turf-covered rubble core of the wall, up to 1.2m high. The eastern two-thirds of the surface of the motte are covered by turf-covered heaps of rubble, the debris of extensive stone-robbing. At least four small excavation trenches are visible in the vicinity of the castle, all approximately 0.6m wide, which are probably from the excavations of 1888. (16b)
Listed by Cathcart King. (16c)
History of the monument. (16d)
Tarset or Tyrset Castle, or 'Hall' as it was more commonly called, may be almost certainly identified with the camera which John Comyn obtained leave to fortify with a stone wall and ditch in 1267.
The castle disappears from history until 1523 when it was occupied by Sir Ralph Fenwick with eighty men. In 1525 it was taken and burnt by an alliance of Scots and Tynedale men. It was never restored and its ruins served as a quarry. The site was of strategic importance and
commanded the Tyne and Tarset fords and the junction of two old traffic routes. A plan of the ruins made in 1773 show that John Comyn's Camera was a long narrow building with a small rectangular turret at each corner. The wall built in 1267 extended all round the 'Camera' and was broken round the outline of the corner turrets. The ditch, intact except where cut by the railway, enclosed two sides of an area about 250 feet square. The remaining two sides were bounded by a steep bank rising from the Tarset water on the north, and a less steep slope, in part apparently artificially scarped, facing westwards. The stone castle, oriented north-south, stood on the east side of the enclosure. There is no evidence of any wall or defence on the
inner side of the ditch although there was possibly a timber palisade. There must also have been at some point a trestle bridge or gangway. Excavations were made in 1888 by Mr W L S Charlton but no plan was made. (2)
Licence to crenellate his camera at 'Tyrset' (Tarset) was granted to John Comyn on 5 December 1267 by Henry III at Westminster. This is the first licence to crenellate in Northumberland which has been preserved. Leland, writing c.1538, mentions the ruins of 'Tarset Castelle'. A survey of 1541 refers to a tower called 'Tarsett Hall' as being burnt 16 years since (1525). (3)
A bronze key was found during the excavations of 1888 by Mr W L Charlton. (4)
The remains of the castle are situated upon a steep-sided promontory which points westwards and which commands the valley of the Tarset Burn to the north, and the valley of the River North Tyne to the west, south and east. The promontory is cut off from the rising ground to the east by a broad deep ditch, 22m wide, and of an average depth of 5m. The southern end of this ditch has been destroyed by the construction of a railway cutting.
Upon the east side of the site, are foundations of a building, of which the south end and north east corner are exposed, and stand to a maximum height of 1.5m. The rest of the site has been subjected to ravaging for stone and is covered with pits and spoil heaps, now turf covered. (5)
As described by F1, except that the foundations of the south end of the building are too mutilated for survey action. Resurveyed at 1:2500. (6)
Tarset Castle, Grade I Listed Building. Built by John Comyn in 1267. It is clear from the part excavated some years ago that all the lower parts of the walls remain buried under debris. The masonry is of very good quality and the fact that it is a dated example makes it more valuable. Scheduled as an ancient monument. Description and plan in N.C.H. Vol 15. (7)
The main buildings of the castle have stood within the eastern half of the sub-circular enclosure. Foundation mounds indicate a north-south block c.30m by 15m with an internal division a little north of centre. Footings, with a hood quality steeply chamfered plinth (of typical 13th century character), are exposed on either side of the north east corner; although the actual corner is not exposed, there is no visible evidence of a tower or turret in this position. The only other exposed masonry appears to be of a tower (an addition?) projecting south from the eastern part of the south wall of the block; this appears to be c.7m square. Rubble wall core stands to c.1.5m but no facing stones are exposed.
To the west of this structure are further quite high mounds, possibly spoil dumps; to the east, just within the encircling ditch, are more irregular earthworks, again difficult to interpret.
Although little masonry is exposed, the surface indications suggest a rectangular hall house, possibly of mid 13th century date with perhaps an added tower of the late 13th or 14th century. It seems likely that a considerable amount of fabric survives buried beneath the turf. (8)
Tarset Castle. Grade II* listed building. (9)
The remains of a fortified residence known as Tarset Castle. The house is largely visible as the grassed over remains of a rectangular structure. Standing masonry is visible to a maximum height of 1.5m at the north-east and south-east corners of the structure standing upon the uncovered remains of a stone plinth. This masonry is thought to represent two of the four square corner turrets known to exist at Tarset Castle. Tarset Castle is both a grade II* listed building and a scheduled monument. (10)
A ruin which is very difficult to read on the ground but which appears to resemble nearby Dally Castle in plan. It is unusual in having a well-attested date of building. The earthworks are steep and impressive and where facing stone survives the quality is quite evidently very high, (see a stretch of plinth on the north side). A number of architectural fragments said to have come from the site were built into Reenes farmhouse just outside the National Park boundary. Some of them are quite fine, especially a late 15th century or early 16th century two-light window with cusped heads to the lights. (11)
A desk-based assessment was carried out in 2014 which comprised a search of documentary and cartographic records, records of archaeological interventions, consultation with the Tarset Archive Group, the Historic Environment Record, and a site walk-over survey. The works were intended to provide background information to inform decisions about the future preservation of the monument. (12)
Four evaluation trenches were excavated in 2015 in conjunction with a programme of conservation works to address erosion by the Tarset Burn. In the trench excavated adjacent to the western escarpment of the castle mound, two bands of sandstone rubble were recorded, probably deriving from defensive features or walls in this area. Re-deposited natural subsoil, used to create the castle
mound, was identified in the base of the trench. In trenches excavated over the structural remains of the castle, the defensive outer walls were identified; those to the north exhibited signs of collapse related to the landslip. Walls forming the north-east tower of the castle were identified, with dressed facing-stones surviving at lower levels. The wall had previously been partially exposed during the 19th-century excavations. In this north-eastern area of the castle mound further walls and floor surfaces were identified, some indicating earlier phases of construction. The excavations show that there were extensive episodes of deconstruction and stone reclamation in the post-medieval period. Many of the large earthworks visible on the castle mound are spoil-heaps (mortar and stone rubble) discarded during these episodes. As a result, the upper sections of all walls identified during this phase of excavation survived as lime-mortared rubble cores, lacking facing stones and dressed masonry. However, facing stones were preserved at lower levels of the structures. The original cut of the castle ditch was identified. The sequence of deposits within the ditch indicated a process of colluviation and slumping from the castle mound to fill the ditch. Metalled surfaces and overlying sandstone rubble evidenced the existence of structural remains exterior to the castle, on the upper eastern edge of the castle ditch. (13)
Evidence of possible structures has been identified, including remains of the curtain wall and possible annex buildings, to the south and west of the four-towered fortified house on the castle mound. The remains of the castle itself are not clearly defined in the geophysical surveys. This could be due to a number of factors, including the presence of rubble spreads and stone-robbing. Former ridge and furrow cultivation, which survives as earthworks, has been geophysically recorded to the east of the castle. Substantial anomalies forming a regular band to the east of the ridge and furrow may reflect an earth and stone bank, or at least substantial revetment. This feature could have been built as a defensive structure, such as the boundary of an outer enclosure associated with the castle. No evidence of the suggested mill race to the west of the castle has been identified; this may exist closer to the edge of the Tarset Burn, outside the survey extent. (14)
In July 2015, Archaeological Services, Durham University undertook an archaeological watching brief during during erosion repair works at Tarset to the north of the scheduled area. The works comprised the pollarding of existing alder trees and the building of protective stone walls. No signficant archaeological deposits were recorded. (15)
NY 788 855. Tarset Castle. Scheduled No ND/225. (16a)
NY 7884 8547. Tarset Castle was surveyed in May 1999 by English Heritage field investigators as part of the National SAMs Survey Pilot Project. The remains of the castle stand upon a motte which has been formed by cutting deep ditches to isolate a promontary above the Tarset Burn, the spoil form the ditches having been used to augment the natural feature. The northern side of the motte is defined by a steep river-cliff which is being actively eroded by a meander in the river. The ditches, to east and south are well preserved, although a trackway interrupts the inner and outer scarps of the ditch to the south-east.
The only identifiable remains of the castle are remnants of the north-east and south-east angle towers, the former displaying a double-chamfered plinth, the latter surviving as the turf-covered rubble core of the wall, up to 1.2m high. The eastern two-thirds of the surface of the motte are covered by turf-covered heaps of rubble, the debris of extensive stone-robbing. At least four small excavation trenches are visible in the vicinity of the castle, all approximately 0.6m wide, which are probably from the excavations of 1888. (16b)
Listed by Cathcart King. (16c)
History of the monument. (16d)
N6995
EXCAVATION, Tarset Castle 1888; CHARLTON, W L S
FIELD OBSERVATION, Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Field Investigation 1956; A S Phillips
FIELD OBSERVATION, Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Field Investigation 1970; D Smith
DESK BASED ASSESSMENT, Tarset Castle, Lanehead 2014; Archaeological Services Durham University
GEOPHYSICAL SURVEY, Tarset Castle, Lanehead 2014; Archaeological Services Durham University
WATCHING BRIEF, Tarset Castle, Tarset Bank 2015; Archaeological Services Durham University
EVALUATION, Tarset Castle 2015; Archaeological Services Durham University
MEASURED SURVEY, RCHME National SAMs Survey Pilot Project
HISTORIC AREA ASSESSMENT, Tarset and Greenhaugh historic village atlas (Historic Tynedale Village Atlas) ; The Archaeological Practice Ltd
FIELD OBSERVATION, Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Field Investigation 1956; A S Phillips
FIELD OBSERVATION, Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Field Investigation 1970; D Smith
DESK BASED ASSESSMENT, Tarset Castle, Lanehead 2014; Archaeological Services Durham University
GEOPHYSICAL SURVEY, Tarset Castle, Lanehead 2014; Archaeological Services Durham University
WATCHING BRIEF, Tarset Castle, Tarset Bank 2015; Archaeological Services Durham University
EVALUATION, Tarset Castle 2015; Archaeological Services Durham University
MEASURED SURVEY, RCHME National SAMs Survey Pilot Project
HISTORIC AREA ASSESSMENT, Tarset and Greenhaugh historic village atlas (Historic Tynedale Village Atlas) ; The Archaeological Practice Ltd
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