Brier Dene
Has been described as a Possible Fortified Manor House
There are no visible remains
| Name | Brier Dene |
| Alternative Names | Brierdean; Brierdene; Bryerden |
| Historic Country | Northumberland |
| Modern Authority | North Tyneside |
| 1974 Authority | Tyne and Wear |
| Civil Parish | Whitley Bay |
Site of a fortified manor house at Briar Dene. Gilbert de Middleton, a member of the notorious Mitford Gang, built a fortified manor house at Briar Dene in 1315 or 1316. Shortly after 1613 a new farmhouse was built and the manor house abandoned. An C18 colliery plan shows an unidentified house a few yards from the farm which may have been the manor house. This is on the north bank of the Briardene Burn where a field road connecting Monkseaton to Hartley crosses it. (PastScape)
The Northumberland County History appears to say that the 1318 survey of the Middleton lands in Hartley "contains...the earliest known mention of Brereden, a manor-house or fortified dwelling, built, in all probability, by the Middletons, of which all trace has vanished, though the name survives in that of Brierdean farm. Brereden may be assumed to have occupied a site near the present homestead where the dene is crossed by a field-road leading from Monkseaton to Hartley". "The last mention of the old hall, or, more probably, the earliest reference to the farm which superseded it, is to be found in Sir Ralph Delaval's estate book, under the date of 1613, where it is termed "Bryerden house". (Tyne and Wear HER (Sitelines))
Not scheduled
Not Listed
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
| OS Map Grid Reference | NZ335740 |
| Latitude | 55.0589981079102 |
| Longitude | -1.47517001628876 |
| Eastings | 433550 |
| Northings | 574040 |
