| 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. 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. The Earl of Surrey wrote that newly built bulwarks of earth had made the Castle better able to withstand a siege. He found it hard to maintain a garrison, and wished the castle was in the sea so there could be no deserters. [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 be 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]
Scotland was at war with England in 1557, and Sir Ralph Grey passed control of the castle to the crown. It was held and defended by Sir John Slingsby, a brother-in-law of the Earl of Northumberland. After peace was concluded in 1559, the Earl of Northumberland asked the Privy Council of England for advice on the future of the castle. He suggested the site should be surveyed by John Brende or Richard Lee. [12]
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. [13] The castle cannon saluted the Scottish rebel Earl of Bothwell twice in 1594, which angered James VI. [14]
In December 1604, the inhabitants of Berwick requested the use of smaller cannon removed from Wark to defend the town and harbour. [15]
Norham is a village and civil parish in Northumberland, England, 7 miles (11 km) south-west of Berwick on the south side of the River Tweed where it is the border with Scotland.
Dunglass is a hamlet in East Lothian, Scotland, lying east of the Lammermuir Hills on the North Sea coast, within the parish of Oldhamstocks. It has a 15th-century collegiate church, now in the care of Historic Scotland. Dunglass is the birthplace of Sir James Hall, an 18th-century Scottish geologist and geophysicist. The name Dunglass comes from the Brittonic for "grey-green hill".
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.
Berwick Castle is a ruined castle in Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland, England.
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 Norham, 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, daughter of Sir Thomas Parr of Kendal by his wife, Alice Tunstall. Mabel was the first of the Parr family to marry into the peerage but she was surpassed by her great niece, Catherine Parr, who became the sixth and final wife of Henry VIII.
The Anglo-Scottish border is an internal border of the United Kingdom 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.
Ladykirk is a village on the B6470 in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, and the former Berwickshire, just north of the River Tweed and the Anglo-Scottish border. The town was formerly known as Upsettlington, but King James IV of Scotland renamed the town Ladykirk; the church is also known as St Mary's Church or Kirk of Steill. Ladykirk stands directly opposite Norham Castle, Northumberland, England
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 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 Thomas Grey of Heaton Castle in the parish of Cornhill-on-Tweed, Northumberland, was a soldier who served throughout the wars of Scottish Independence. His experiences were recorded by his son Thomas Grey in his chronicles, and provide a rare picture of the day-to-day realities of the wars.
George Nicholson or Nicolson, was an English diplomat in Scotland.
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.
Dunglass Castle was a castle at Dunglass in East Lothian, Scotland. It was a seat of the Home family and frequently visited by the Stewart kings. A fortification was built during the Rough Wooing. There are no upstanding masonry remains of the castle. A more recent mansion has also been demolished. The medieval Dunglass Collegiate Church at the site is maintained by Historic Environment Scotland.
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.
