Castlefacts³

Weetslade

Has been described as a Questionable Tower House, and also as a Questionable Pele Tower

There are no visible remains

Name	Weetslade
Alternative Names	Weetslaid; Wittslad; Wittsland Juxt Mare
Historic Country	Northumberland
Modern Authority	North Tyneside
1974 Authority	Tyne and Wear
Civil Parish	Longbenton

Tower is listed (without the owner's name) in the 1415 survey of Border defences at 'Wittsland Juxt Mare'. This is taken to be Weetslade, although it is hardly next to the sea. There is no later record of a tower in the vicinity. (PastScape)

Gatehouse Comments

M.H. Dodds rejected Longbenton as the site of this tower since it is not by the sea. Was there another Wittsland? Has it been lost (to coastal erosion perhaps)? Both Bates and Dodds knew the county well and it seems unlikely they would have missed such if it was in the records. Was 'Juxt mare' a scribal error? There is still some marsh nearby and this could have been much larger in medieval times so perhaps reference to being beside a marsh or mere (called seas in East Yorkshire ie Skipsea - Marshland was an important medieval resource because it produce duck and other waterfowl, which were counted as fish during the fasts of Lent etc. as well as other important resources such as reeds.)The form of the turris is not known. It is low on the 1415 list which is roughly in size order suggesting this was more likely a solar or chamber tower (a pele tower).Given map reference is for High Weetslade farmhouse, although there is no archaeological evidence that this stands on the site of this documented tower.

- Philip Davis

Not scheduled

Not Listed

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)

1388342

County Historic Environment Record

www.twsitelines.info/SMR/788

OS Map Grid Reference	NZ260726
Latitude	55.0461196899414
Longitude	-1.59492003917694
Eastings	426000
Northings	572600