| Westhall | |
|---|---|
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  Location in Northumberland | |
| General information | |
| Location | Northumberland, England, UK |
| Coordinates | 55°36′04″N1°50′17″W / 55.601°N 1.838°W Coordinates: 55°36′04″N1°50′17″W / 55.601°N 1.838°W |
| OS grid | NU103341 |
Westhall is a privately owned 19th-century castellated house at Belford in Northumberland, England now in use as a farm. It is on a site with older historical associations.
Westhall Farm, a little to the north-west of the town and approached by a lane from the Wooler road, is the site of a fortified house that was surrounded by a moat, mentioned in a 15th-century document as the Castrum de Belford. [1] [2] The present house was built in 1837 in a castellated Gothic style. [3]
It has been suggested that Westhall is the site of a much earlier Motte and bailey castle, however, Davis, [4] in particular, has strong reservations against it:
Earthworks survive, modern farm on site of a possible C11 Motte and Bailey. Later received C15 tower (qv). Recorded as moat to C15 Tower in SMR and PastScape. The 1415 list mentions a castle here held by the D'Arcy family, it later passed to the Conyers, and then to the Forsters and Dixons, before being sold to William Clarke in the 18th Century. Although the presence of the later tower suggests this may have been a high status location the very nearby presence of a strong natural position and already existing Prehistoric camp at Chapel Crag (qv), which has a medieval chapel on it, would suggest this may not be the manorial centre. Philip Davis offers I can see no reason to build a motte when there is a more dramatic, better defended but still easily accessible site so close by. If there was a C11 or C12 castle at Belford I would suggest that the remains of the Chapel at NU10463449 suggest where it was located. [4]
Belford is a village and civil parish in Northumberland, England, about halfway between Alnwick and Berwick-upon-Tweed, a few miles inland from the east coast and just off the Great North Road, the A1. At the 2001 census it had a population of 1,055, increasing to 1,258 at the 2011 Census.
A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to build with unskilled labour, but still militarily formidable, these castles were built across northern Europe from the 10th century onwards, spreading from Normandy and Anjou in France, into the Holy Roman Empire in the 11th century. The Normans introduced the design into England and Wales. Motte-and-bailey castles were adopted in Scotland, Ireland, the Low Countries and Denmark in the 12th and 13th centuries. Windsor Castle, in England, is an example of a motte-and-bailey castle. By the end of the 13th century, the design was largely superseded by alternative forms of fortification, but the earthworks remain a prominent feature in many countries.
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