Elyburne; The Lee

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

There are no visible remains

NameElyburne; The Lee
Alternative NamesElyburn; Eliburn; Elliburn; Eliburne
Historic CountryNorthumberland
Modern AuthorityNorthumberland
1974 AuthorityNorthumberland
Civil ParishHesleyhurst

There are records of a pele tower at Elyburne in 1569. There is no trace of an old building at The Lee today. (Keys to the Past)

At Elyburne p'cell of the lordeshippe of Rotheberye is a strong pele house of the kings maties Inherytaunce as of thaugmentac'ons of his graces crowne & p'cell of the late erle of Northumb'lands landes (All memory of the strong pele house of Elyburne has been lost; the very name has perished. It was evidently between Whitton and Ritton; and the passage 'Rothebury: Thornyhaughe - Roger Mutford tenet unum tenementum &c. in Elybornemouth' in Hall and Humberton's Survey of the confiscated estates of Thomas Earl of Northumberland in 1569 (Vol. I., p. 65 P.P.O.) seems to prove the Elyburne to be the same stream as that now known as the Forest Burn which flows into the Coquet near Thornyhaugh. Consequently we may be justified in regarding the Lee, a farm house on the Forest Burn, in the direct line between Whitton and Ritton, as occupying the site of Eliburne pele. Mr D. D. Dixon of Rothbury, it is gratifying to find (considering the great knowledge he possesses of the Forest and its history), agrees with the identification. 'The proximity (to the Lee) of an old hollow way - the ancient road - seems,' he remarks, 'to denote the spot as an old centre.'). (Bates 1891)

Gatehouse Comments

Farmhouse now stands on site. By crossing point of Forest Burn. The form of this building is obscure. It is not called a toure and it is unlikely it was a tower. It is not called a bastell. It is described as a 'strong pele house' in 1541 and while this may be a little early for the use of that term to describe the simple two chamber bastles to which the term more normal became associated this may, in fact, be the form of the building.

- Philip Davis

Not scheduled

Not Listed

County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceNZ080978
Latitude55.274959564209
Longitude-1.87431001663208
Eastings408080
Northings597870
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

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Books

  • Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Newcastle upon Tyne: Keepdate Publishing) p. 194
  • King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 347
  • Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p. 145
  • Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p. 97
  • Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p. 45-6 (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. 45-6 online copy

Primary Sources