Site of Widdrington Castle. Photo by Northumberland County Council.

[NZ 25519577] Castle (Site of). (1)

Widdrington Castle. Licence for crenellation granted to G de Widdrington in 1341. Its battlements were built on corbels, and it had a projecting turret at each corner with ornamental finials ... various additions were made at different dates - the house being demolished c.1770. (2) [Plate shows this antiquity to be a fortified manor house rather than a castle]

Castle (Rather a tower, H L Honeyman) the seat of Gerald de Widdrington in 1272. (3) [Widdrington Pedigree in Authy 5 proves this to be the great-uncle of the a/m. G de Widdrington]. (5)

The only remains of this building is the mound on which it stood. (4)

[NZ 25569573] A ditchless circular mound with a diameter of 49m having a maximum height of 2.1m, the feature has a circular internal depression measuring 20m in diameter with a max depth of 1.6m below the top of the mound.
Building foundations are visible at NZ 25579574 consisting of unweathered worked stone and fragmentary early brick. Loose worked stones and fragments of early brick and also scattered throughout the internal depression of the mound.
No visible surface remains are to be seen at the published siting symbol, and there seems to be little doubt that the mound constitutes the remains of this antiquity. (6)

The National Coal Board, in August 1954 undertook to dig trenches south of the hollow mound. Digging was done by a mechanical navvy to a depth of 4ft. In only one place, the south edge of the mound, was there a trace of a building and this was the foundation of the mound itself. To the south the underground remains were limited to the foundations of a garden wall and a carriage-way, and to a few field drains and a certain amount of rubble. (7)

[Subsequently Published] Castle Mound. (8)

Mound resurveyed at 1/2500. (9)

Castle now vanished. Stone reputed to have been used to make workmen's homes. In old surveys it changes status from tower to castle. James I of England/IV of Scotland, stayed at Widdrington on his way to London to be crowned. It was then held by Sir Robert Cary. (10)

Widdrington Castle (site of). Scheduled monument Northum 308. All that now remains above ground is a mound and still foundations to the west. A licence to crenellate was granted to Ralph Widdrington in 1341. It consisted of a pele tower to which a wing was added to the north in the 16th century. The Widdringtons lost their lands after the 1715 rising and the castle was demolished in 1772. A gothic castle was erected on the site towards the end of the 18th century, this has also disappeared. (11)

Scheduled. (12)

An evaluation and watching brief were carried out by Lancaster University Archaeological Unit in December 1996 on land east of and adjacent to the scheduled monument at Widdrington Farm. This was associated with an application to construct agricultural buildings. The site consisted of improved pasture with slight earthworks of degraded ridge and furrow and an earthwork features comprising a bank and hollow continuing the line of the Druridge road towards the castle site.
Three evaluation trenches were dug and revealed evidence of ridge and furrow cultivation, a scatter of medieval pottery and a hollow way which had been infilled in the post-medieval period and lead towards the castle site. One trench revealed a curving gully that pre-dated the ridge and furrow cultivation and which is interpreted as part of possible late prehistoric or Roman Iron Age round house; no dating evidence was recovered. The watching brief recovered no further information due to unfavourable conditions. (13)

NZ 255 958. Castle (site of). Scheduled No ND/308. (14a)

Widdrington was the principle residence of the Widdrington family, their tower house, licenced in 1341properly being a castle. It remained their ancestral home until 1715. The tower was demolished in 1775. (14b)

Listed by King. (14c)