Lowick Tower

Has been described as a Certain Pele Tower

There are no visible remains

NameLowick Tower
Alternative NamesBastle Corner; Lowyke; Lowicke; Lawkye
Historic CountryNorthumberland
Modern AuthorityNorthumberland
1974 AuthorityNorthumberland
Civil ParishLowick

The tower at Lowick was built in the second half of the 14th century and in 1388 is mentioned as being in the extent of Sir Alan Heton's land at Lowick. c1514 it was intimated that the tower could lodge 80 men, and in 1580 was in need of repair. In 1584 the cost of repair was estimated at £50. The site of the tower is not known, but the north corner of Lowick Hall Farm (NU01373962) is called by old people Bastle Corner, and was probably its site (Dodds, 1935).

No trace of a tower in the position indicated or in any of the buildings in the vicinity. The evidence of siting is apparently purely traditional (F1 EG 17-NOV-55).

The tower or bastle was built, along with a chapel, before 1415 to lodge travellers to Lindisfarne. Raids in the area virtually ceased after 1380, so the tower may have been a deterrent then. By 1541 the tower was damaged, and although recommended for repair in 1581, it was not repaired. (PastScape)

Gatehouse Comments

Rowland writes two towers stood at Lowick, one a vicar's pele. Presumably this one would be the vicars pele and the other 'Lowick' tower was Holburn Tower

- Philip Davis

Not scheduled

Not Listed

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceNU013396
Latitude55.6501197814941
Longitude-1.97977995872498
Eastings401370
Northings639620
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

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Books

  • Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Newcastle upon Tyne: Keepdate Publishing) p. 49-50
  • King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 351
  • Rowland, T.H., 1987 (reprint1994), Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p. 11, 23
  • Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p. 133-4
  • Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p. 231
  • Dodds, Madeleine Hope (ed), 1935, Northumberland County History (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Vol. 14 p. 85-6
  • Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p. 17, 23 (Also published as the whole of volume 14 (series 2) of Archaeologia Aeliana view online)

Journals

  • Bates, C.J., 1891, 'Border Holds of Northumberland' Archaeologia Aeliana (ser2) Vol. 14 p. 17 online copy

Primary Sources