Callaly Castle is a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ire ...

and a substantial

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhouse (Great Britain), town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the cit ...

to the north of the village of Callaly, which is some to the west of

Alnwick Alnwick ( ) is a market town in Northumberland, England, of which it is the traditional county town. The population at the 2011 Census was 8,116. The town is on the south bank of the River Aln, south of Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Scottish bo ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a ceremonial counties of England, county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Ab ...

, England. It is situated near the site of a 12th-century

motte 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 eas ...

castle and an Iron Age

hill fort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post- ...

. A

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-stan ...

was built in the 14th or 15th century and this was subsequently incorporated, as the west wing, of a new house built by John Clavering in 1619. The first major additions were made in 1676 by architect

Robert Trollope Robert Trollope was a 17th-century English architect, born in Yorkshire, who worked mainly in Northumberland and Durham. His work includes: * Eshott Hall, about 1660 * Capheaton Hall, 1667-8 * Cliffords Fort, North Shields, 1672 * Callaly Cas ...

. In 1707 further alterations were made which more or less concealed all the earlier features. The gardens were reconfigured in 1770, possibly by one or more the

Kennedy Kennedy may refer to: People * John F. Kennedy (1917–1963), 35th president of the United States * John Kennedy (Louisiana politician), (born 1951), US Senator from Louisiana * Kennedy (surname), a family name (including a list of persons with ...

brothers, leading gardeners and nurserymen, who created a similar three walled pleasure garden at Croxdale Hall in County Durham for the Salvin family who were also Catholic and had family connections with the Clavering family. The castle was for many years the home of the Clavering family and incorporated a Roman Catholic chapel which was deconsecrated when the Claverings sold the property in 1877. Alterations were made in the 18th and 19th centuries followed by major restoration work by the new owner Alexander Browne in the 1890s. In 1987 it was divided into residential wings by the architect Kit Martin.

References

English Heritage: architectural description of listed buildingCallaly Castle
*Fry, Plantagenet Somerset, ''The David & Charles Book of Castles'', David & Charles, 1980. {{Castles in North East England Castles in Northumberland Grade I listed buildings in Northumberland Hill forts in Northumberland