| Wark on Tweed Castle | |
|---|---|
| Northumberland, England, UK | |
 The ruins of Wark on Tweed Castle | |
  Wark on Tweed Castle Location in Northumberland | |
| Coordinates | 55°38′30″N2°16′55″W / 55.64162°N 2.28196°W |
| Grid reference | NT822388 |
Wark on Tweed Castle, sometimes referred to as Carham Castle, is a ruined motte-and-bailey castle at the West end of Wark on Tweed in Northumberland. The ruins are a Grade II* listed building. [1]
The castle, which was built by Walter Espec in 1136, was destroyed by the Scots following a siege in 1138 and then rebuilt between 1157 and 1161. [2] An octagonal keep was built on the motte in the early 13th century at roughly the same time that the towers and gatehouse were added. [2] It was here that in 1349 King Edward III bent down and assisted the "Countess of Salisbury" (either Edward's future daughter-in-law Joan of Kent or her former mother-in-law, Catherine Montagu, Countess of Salisbury) with her garter and, in honour of that moment, subsequently founded the Order of the Garter. [3]
Thomas Dacre described the newly refurbished castle in June 1518 after work directed by the Master Mason of Berwick. The donjon or keep was finished, and fit to mount great cannon on each vaulted floor. Cannon could be hoisted up the donjon through an internal well. The watchman on top could see Norham and the outskirts of Berwick. There were three wards or courtyards, almost complete. [4]
A Scottish army commanded by Regent Albany besieged Wark in November 1522, and Sir William Lisle defended the castle against the French assault troops, helped by bad weather. [5] Advance warning of Albany's invasion plan was sent to the English commanders by the Prioress of Coldstream and the Prioress of Eccles. The weather was poor and it was thought that Scottish artillery could not be brought to the border. However, the Scottish guns were set up to batter Wark. After two days Albany's force of 2,000 men (mostly French) crossed the Tweed in boats. They penetrated the inner court but were repulsed by William Lisle's garrison. [6]
In September 1523 the Earl of Surrey, William Frankelyn, Chancellor of Durham, and Sir William Bulmer, Sheriff of Durham viewed the defences at Wark and Norham Castle. Surrey gave orders for new bulwarks and earthwork defences at Wark. He thought the inner ward could withstand a 10 day siege, but the outer ward could only be held for 2 days. He thought the keep at Wark was as strong as any he had seen, and stronger than the keep at Guînes. [7]
In June 1524 Cardinal Wolsey ordered repairs to the keep or donjon walls and lead for the roof was to be brought from Dunstanburgh Castle. [8] George Lawson reported to Thomas Cromwell in March 1533 that the walls by the waterside had fallen. [9] During repairs in September 1542 carts carrying stone from Carham church to the castle were attacked by Scottish raiders. [10]
In 1544, during the war of the Rough Wooing, John Carr, captain of Wark, complained that a length of curtain wall had fallen, near the river. In February 1545 an Italian military engineer Archangelo Arcano was sent to advise on repairs. He sent a plan to the Earl of Shrewsbury, noting particularly that the roofs were leaking. Lead could brought from Kelso Abbey, which Arcano was also fortifying. The names of the garrison and the numbers of cannon were listed in March 1545. There was a saker and a broken falcon cannon on top of the donjon. [11]
James VI of Scotland passed by on the other side of the Tweed on 26 April 1588 and was saluted by the castle cannon, and he sent a reward of 20 crowns. [12] The castle cannon saluted the Scottish rebel Earl of Bothwell twice in 1594, which angered James VI. [13]
The castle was demolished by order of King James at the Union of the Crowns. [2] In December 1604, the inhabitants of Berwick requested the use of smaller cannon removed from Wark to defend the town and harbour. [14]
Norham is a village and civil parish in Northumberland, England. It is 7 miles (11 km) south-west of Berwick on the south side of the River Tweed where it is the border with Scotland.
Sir Richard Lee (1513–1575) was a military engineer in the service of Henry VIII of England, Edward VI and Elizabeth I. He was a commander of Henry VIII and appointed surveyor of the King's works. Lee was member of parliament for Hertfordshire in 1545. He was the first English engineer to be knighted.
Cornhill-on-Tweed is a small village and civil parish in Northumberland, England about 1 mile (1.6 km) to the east of Coldstream, Scotland. The hamlets of West Learmouth and East Learmouth are located to the south and west of the village respectively. In 2011 the parish had a population of 347.
George Home, 1st Earl of Dunbar, KG, PC was, in the last decade of his life, the most prominent and most influential Scotsman in England. His work lay in the King's Household and in the control of the State Affairs of Scotland and he was the King's chief Scottish advisor. With the full backing and trust of King James he travelled regularly from London to Edinburgh via Berwick-upon-Tweed.
Berwick Castle is a ruined castle in Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland, England.
Berwick Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary was an English office of arms created around 1460 for service on the Scottish Marches based at Berwick-upon-Tweed. In the 16th century there was also a Herald or Pursuivant based at Carlisle on the west border.
Hume Castle is the heavily modified remnants of a late 12th- or early 13th-century castle of enceinte held by the powerful Hume or Home family, Wardens of the Eastern March who became successively the Lords Home and the Earls of Home. The village of Hume is located between Greenlaw and Kelso, two miles north of the village of Stichill, in Berwickshire, Scotland.. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, recorded as such by Historic Environment Scotland.
Norham Castle is a castle in Northumberland, England, overlooking the River Tweed, on the border between England and Scotland. It is a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The castle saw much action during the wars between England and Scotland.
Thomas Dacre, 2nd Baron Dacre of Gilsland, KG was the son of Humphrey Dacre, 1st Baron Dacre of Gilsland and Mabel Parr, great-aunt of queen consort Catherine Parr, the sixth and final wife of King Henry VIII of England. His mother was the daughter of Sir Thomas Parr of Kendal by his wife, Alice Tunstall.
The Anglo-Scottish border is a border separating Scotland and England which runs for 96 miles (154 km) between Marshall Meadows Bay on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west.
In July 1482 an English army invaded Scotland during the Anglo-Scottish Wars. The town of Berwick-upon-Tweed and its castle were captured and the English army briefly occupied Edinburgh. These events followed the signing of the Treaty of Fotheringhay, 11 June 1482, in which Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany, the brother of James III of Scotland declared himself King of Scotland and swore loyalty to Edward IV of England. The follow-up invasion of Scotland under the command of Edward's brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester failed to install Albany on the throne, but Berwick has remained English ever since the castle surrendered on 24 August. The English army left Edinburgh with a promise for the repayment of the dowry paid for the marriage of Princess Cecily of England to the Scottish Prince.
John Carey, 3rd Baron Hunsdon was an English peer, politician and Governor of Berwick-upon-Tweed.
William Eure, 1st Baron Eure (c.1483–1548) of Witton was an English knight and soldier active on the Anglo-Scottish border. Henry VIII of England made him Baron Eure by patent in 1544. The surname is often written as "Evers". William was Governor of Berwick upon Tweed in 1539, Commander in the North in 1542, Warden of the Eastern March, and High Sheriff of Durham. During the Anglo-Scottish war called the Rough Wooing, Eure and his sons Henry and Ralph made numerous raids against towns and farms in the Scottish Borders.
The Burning of Edinburgh in 1544 by an English army was the first major action of the war of the Rough Wooing. The Provost of Edinburgh was compelled to allow the English to sack Leith and Edinburgh, and the city was burnt on 7 May. However, the Scottish artillery within Edinburgh Castle harassed the English forces, who had neither the time nor the resources to besiege the Castle. The English fleet sailed away loaded with captured goods, and with two ships that had belonged to James V of Scotland.
The Treaty of York (1464) was made between England and Scotland on 1 June 1464 at York and was intended to establish 15 years of peace. Previously Scotland had supported the defeated House of Lancaster in the English civil War of the Roses.
Sir Brian Layton, also spelled Laiton, Leyton, or Leighton, was an English soldier and Captain of Norham Castle.
Nicolas Errington was an English soldier, military engineer, and administrator.
John Crane was a soldier and comptroller of works at Berwick-upon-Tweed during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James VI and I.
Archangelo Arcano was an Italian military engineer who worked for Henry VIII of England from 1523.
William Bowyer was an English soldier, administrator, and Captain of the garrison at Berwick-upon-Tweed.
