Langley Castle, Haydon. Photo by Harry Rowland, 1967.

(NY 83476247) Langley Castle. (1)

A tower house of c.1350. In ruins in 1541, and restored in the 1809s. It comprises a central hall with four angle towers; the upper room of the south east tower may have been the chapel. (2)(3)(12a)

In good condition and now occupied by St Cuthbert's School for Girls. The chapel has been completely restored. See GPs AO 56/353/2 and 3 for southern and eastern aspects respectively. (4)

Condition unchanged. (5)

Additional bibliography. (6)

Grade I. Castle, c.1350, restored by Cadwallader Bates c.1900. Probably the finest tower house in Northumberland, it is though to have been built by Sir Thomas de Lucy and later belonged to the Earl of Northumberland. It was already a roofless ruin in 1541 but remained a tolerably intact shell until Bates' restoration.

Squared stone, roofs not visible. Large and impressive tower-house consisting of a rectangular 4-storeyed central block with square 5-storey angle towers projecting from the longer east and west faces. Later C14 forebuilding containing entrance and newel stair set in re-entrant angle of south-east tower and east front. East elevation with pointed double-chamfered entrance arch in forebuilding and various windows, some restored. South elevation with twin stepped buttresses capped by corbelled-out circular bartizans. Central door and flanking windows and 1st floor windows C19, other windows C14, some restored. Garderobe projections with arched openings on south and west side of base of south-west tower. West elevation has a variety of traceried windows, some C19 and some restored C14. All ground floor openings C19. North elevation similar to south, C19 ground floor door, restored C14 windows. Embattled parapets, bartizans and turrets all C19 although probably a reasonably correct restoration. Interior; all floors and woodwork C19, C14 doorways, fireplaces, vaulted guardrooms in forebuilding etc. Elaborate garderobe arrangements in south-west tower. (7)

Langley Castle. Rectangular house with projecting towers at the angles. Doorway on ground floor had a portcullis; the groove can still be seen. Main entrance was on first floor in east wall. The south-west tower was all latrines. Corbelled out bartizans on the buttresses part of restoration by Bates. (8)

The castle is sometimes ascribed to Anthony de Lucy (d.1343); it is first referred to as such in 1365. In the later 14th century it passed to the Umfravilles and then Henry de Percy, Earl of Northumberland. It was destroyed by Henry IV in 1405 and apparently remained in ruins until restored by Cadwallader Bates in the last two decades of the 19th century. In recent years it has been a private school, a 'medieval banqueting hall', a private house, and is now a hotel.
Langley Castle is the grandest of the upper floor hall houses in the county. It consists of a central block 25m by 7.6m externally, with towers roughly 8m square projecting from the end of each long face, giving an overall H-plan; on the east front, attached to the south east tower, is a forebuilding, carried up as far as the roof of the main block.
Most of the ground floor windows and doorways, the internal floors and partitions, much of the internal facing at ground and first floor levels, and the parapets and battlements, are the product of Bates' restoration and of subsequent alterations; despite this, much of the fabric is remarkably well preserved considering four centuries of dereliction.
A number of features suggest that the upper parts of the building are a later addition, perhaps a later 14th century remodelling of a late 13th or early 14th century house. The most obvious is a change in colour of ashlar wall facing, to a lighter sandy colour, at the level of the chamfered set-back above the second floor. There are round headed windows on the south and west which may survive from this postulated earlier phase; other windows have reticulated tracery of mid 14th century type. The forebuilding may also be an addition, or a remodelling of an earlier feature; it contains several features (eg the way in which one steps down from the stair into the hall entrance lobby) that would be difficult to explain in a single phase building.
Notable medieval features are the entrance doorway at the base of the forebuilding (with its portcullis slot and roof boss in the form of a mask, through the mouth of which the portcullis chain passed), the entrance lobby between the stair and the first floor hall (with two moulded doorways and an angled passage bypassing the outer), the unique tiered series of garderobes in the south west tower - a remarkable provision - and a possible chapel (restored as such in the early 20th century) on the top floor of the south east tower. The southern part of the forebuilding contains a series of small vaulted chambers, at different levels to the floors of the main block. The original internal arrangements and function of the second and third floors of the main block cannot at present be reconstructed. 20th century alterations have masked some of the medieval features exposed and preserved by Bates, eg a small mural staircase in the north east tower, now sealed off.
The castle now stands in open parkland, with no clear evidence of any surrounding enclosure or curtain wall. The external walls of the building show various traces of attached structures, probably post-medieval farmbuildings.
There is evidence of relatively recent structural failure in the north west tower, although this is now said to be stable. (9)

During a watching brief immediately west of the castle archaeological deposits were encountered. These included deposits of stone likely to have been associated with the castle's foundations and evidence of dumping and demolition which may be associated with renovation works in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Two pieces of dressed architectural stone were found and appeared to be some form of structural component, possibly pillar or plinth bases. (10)

Detailed description and analysis of the castle. Suggests that it may have been designed less for defensive purposes and perhaps as a centre for entertaining, conferences and justice on the Border. (11)

Langley Castle, Grade I, now used as a girls' school. Castellated 4-storeyed tower-house of c.1350, restored in 1890's. Very impressive rectangular tower with corner towers. A fine original. Decorated window above the pointed arched entrance doorway, other windows mostly imitations. Stone water spouts, loop lights, fireplaces. A special feature is the unusually elaborate latrine tower. See Pevsner. (12b)

Listed by Cathcart King and Dodds. (12c-d)