Belsay Castle is a 14th-century medieval castle situated at

Belsay Belsay is a village and civil parish in Northumberland, England. The village is about from Ponteland on the A696 road, A696, which links the village with Newcastle upon Tyne and Jedburgh. The population of the civil parish was 436 at the 2001 ...

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It is a

Scheduled Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

and a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. The main structure, a substantial three-storey rectangular

pele tower Peel towers (also spelt pele) are small fortified keeps or tower houses, built along the English and Scottish borders in the Scottish Marches and North of England, mainly between the mid-14th century and about 1600. They were free-standing ...

with rounded turrets and battlements, was constructed about 1370, and was the home of the

Middleton family The Middleton family is an English family that has been related to the British royal family by marriage since Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, the wedding of Catherine Middleton to Prince William in April 2011, when she becam ...

. In 1614 Thomas Middleton built a new manor house attached to the tower. A west wing was added in 1711 but was largely demolished in 1872 by Sir Arthur Middleton when the remainder of the house was considerably altered. The castle was abandoned as a residence by the family in the early 19th century when

Sir Charles Monck Sir Charles Miles Lambert Monck, 6th Baronet (7 April 1779 – 20 July 1867) was an English politician. He succeeded to the Baronetcy of Belsay Castle on the death of his father in 1795. Life He was born with the surname Middleton, as the thi ...

built

Belsay Hall Belsay Hall is a Regency style country house located at Belsay, Northumberland. It is regarded as the first British country house to be built entirely in the new Greek revival style. It is a Grade I listed building. It was built to supersede Be ...

close by. The interiors were largely removed and it was then used as a ready-made

folly In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of usual garden buildings. Eighteenth-cent ...

, as was fashionable among the aristocracy at the time, serving as the setting for garden parties and other entertainments. The castle is administered by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

and is open to the public.

References

External links

Belsay Hall, Castle and Gardens
- official site at English Heritage

{{English Heritage properties in North East England Grade I listed buildings in Northumberland Houses in Northumberland Historic house museums in Northumberland Gardens in Northumberland Castles in Northumberland English Heritage sites in Northumberland Ruins in Northumberland Scheduled monuments in Northumberland

Castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

See also

References

External links