West Harle Tower

Has been described as a Certain Pele Tower

There are no visible remains

NameWest Harle Tower
Alternative NamesGreat Harle; Turris de West herle
Historic CountryNorthumberland
Modern AuthorityNorthumberland
1974 AuthorityNorthumberland
Civil ParishKirkwhelpington

A list dated 1415 mentions a tower at West Harle (Bates 1891).

The old mansion house at West Harle has windows with mullions and weather mouldings of stone. One room, now a kitchen, is vaulted and was probably the vault of the tower. The additions to this part were probably made in 1629, the date appearing over the front door (Hodgson 1827).

NY 99048203. The present farmhouse at West Harle is a small plain building, which appears quite modern. It occupies a good position and so is probably built on the site of the mediaeval tower and later mansion (F1 EG 17-APR-56).

Incorporated in the stone walls around the farm are portions of the original house walls and stone roofing slabs. An earth and stone bank at NY 99048199 probably represents the remains of two houses, all that survives apart from the present farm of the village which traditionally comprised of 16 houses (F2 BHP 06-MAR-68 ).

The tower at West Harle had been built by the early 15th century. In 1722 the tower at West Harle was described as a 'stone vaulted room used as a kitchen', that is completely enveloped by the later farmhouse (Dodds 1999). (PastScape)

Gatehouse Comments

Within the context of the 1415 this tower was probably a modest solar tower attached to an unfortified hall rather than a tower house containing all the principle chambers.

- Philip Davis

Not scheduled

Not Listed

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceNY990820
Latitude55.132640838623
Longitude-2.01658010482788
Eastings399040
Northings582030
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

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Books

  • Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Newcastle upon Tyne: Keepdate Publishing) p. 243-4
  • King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 349
  • Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (London: Methuen and Co)
  • Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p. 16 (Also published as the whole of volume 14 (series 2) of Archaeologia Aeliana view online)
  • Hodgson, J., 1827, History of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Part 2 Vol. 1 p. 189 and 201n online copy

Journals

  • 1963, Medieval Village Research Group annual report Vol. 11 App A No 39
  • Bates, C.J., 1891, 'Border Holds of Northumberland' Archaeologia Aeliana (ser2) Vol. 14 p. 16 online copy

Primary Sources

Other

  • Wrathmell, S., 1975, Deserted and Shrunken Villages in Southern Northumberland from the Twelfth to the Twentieth Centuries (PhD Thesis Cardiff) p. 396