Haggerston Castle

Has been described as a Possible Masonry Castle, and also as a Possible Tower House

There are no visible remains

NameHaggerston Castle
Alternative NamesHagerston; Braggarstone; Turris de Haggarston
Historic CountryNorthumberland
Modern AuthorityNorthumberland
1974 AuthorityNorthumberland
Civil ParishAncroft

Castle mentioned in documentary sources in 1311, and described as a strong tower circa 1345. Partly destroyed by fire in 1618. A print of circa 1772 shows the tower in ruinous condition. The remains were demolished in 1805 and a house built on the foundations. This house was in turn replaced circa 1883-89 but the replacement has since been demolished itself, leaving only a tall, narrow, L-plan tower, which served as both a water tower and a belvedere. (PastScape)

John de Hagardestoun, a Scot who chose to live in England when he swore fealty to Edward I in 1296, chose Haggardstown as his estate. His son Robert applied for a licence to crenellate the manor house in 1345, the replacement being described at the time as a strong, square tower. In 1805, the tower was pulled down and a wing to a new mansion built on its foundations. A grander complex replaced this in 1889, but was burnt down in 1911, and a new building, including a tall tower, rose on the site. The site was sold in 1931, only the mock tower of post-1911 remaining, in what is now Haggerston Castle Holiday park. (PastScape ref. Dodds, 1991)

Gatehouse Comments

Licence to crenellate granted, to Robert Hagerston, in 1345. The spelling Braggarstone is an antiquarian slip of the pen.

- Philip Davis

Not scheduled

This is a Grade 2 listed building protected by law

Historic England Scheduled Monument Number
Historic England Listed Building number(s)
Images Of England
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceNU042436
Latitude55.6869316101074
Longitude-1.93499994277954
Eastings404200
Northings643660
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink
Copyright Dave Barlow of Abaroths World All Rights ReservedView full Sized Image
Copyright Dave Barlow of Abaroths World All Rights ReservedView full Sized Image
Copyright Dave Barlow of Abaroths World All Rights ReservedView full Sized Image

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant.

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Books

  • Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Newcastle upon Tyne: Keepdate Publishing) p. 54-5
  • Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 58
  • Jackson, M.J.,1992, Castles of Northumbria (Carlisle) p. 69,71
  • Rowland, T.H., 1987 (reprint1994), Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p. 10, 24
  • King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 349
  • Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p. 180
  • Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p. 112
  • Pevsner, N., 1957, Buildings of England: Northumberland (London, Penguin) p. 161
  • Hodgson, J.C. (ed), 1910, Six North Country Diaries. Vol. I (Surtees Society 118) p. 16-17 online copy
  • Welford, R. (ed), 1905, Records of the Committees for Compounding, etc., with delinquent royalists in Durham and Northumberland, 1643-60 (Surtees Society 111) p. 221-3
  • Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p. 10, 17, 37 (Also published as the whole of volume 14 (series 2) of Archaeologia Aeliana view online)
  • Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol. 3 Part 2 p. 414 online copy
  • Raine, J., 1852, History and Antiquities of North Durham (London) p. 224, 226
  • Hodgson, J. and Laird, F., 1813, Beauties of England and Wales; Northumberland Vol. 12 p. 231
  • Hutchinson, Wm, 1776, A View of Northumberland (Newcastle) Vol. 2 p. 152 online copy

Antiquarian

  • Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p. 343
  • Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (London: Bell and Sons) Vol. 5 p. 64, 68 online copy

Journals

  • Hodgson, J.C., 1916, 'List of Ruined Towers, Chapels, etc., in Northumberland; compiled about 1715 by John Warburton, Somerset Herald, aided by John Horsley' Archaeologia Aeliana (ser3) Vol. 13 p. 9 abridged transcription
  • Bates, C.J., 1891, 'Border Holds of Northumberland' Archaeologia Aeliana (ser2) Vol. 14 p. 10, 17, 37 online copy

Guide Books

  • Slinn, J., 1995, A Souvenir History of Haggerston Castle 1070-1931

Primary Sources