Twizell Castle (also spelt Twizel) is a

Grade II* 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 ...

and a

Scheduled Ancient 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 ...

which stands on a bend of the River Till at Tillmouth Park,

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 ...

, northern

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 ...

. Below it, the medieval Twizell Bridge spans the river. It is located south-west of

Berwick Upon Tweed Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census recor ...

. The site is visible from a public footpath, which passes the castle from the road. The gardens of the castle contain the earthwork remains of the

deserted medieval village In the United Kingdom, a deserted medieval village (DMV) is a former settlement which was abandoned during the Middle Ages, typically leaving no trace apart from earthworks or cropmarks. If there are fewer than three inhabited houses the conve ...

of Twizell, whilst the massive ruin presents the remains of an 18th-century castle which was never completed.

The Castle

A medieval

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, to command and defend strategic points ...

which once stood on the site was, in 1415, held by Sir John Heron. This was destroyed by a Scottish army in 1496 commanded by

James IV of Scotland James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was List of Scottish monarchs, King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James I ...

and

Perkin Warbeck Perkin Warbeck ( – 23 November 1499) was a pretender to the English throne claiming to be Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, who was the second son of Edward IV and one of the so-called "Princes in the Tower". Richard, were he alive, would ...

. James IV returned on 24 August 1513 on his way to besiege

Norham Castle Norham Castle (sometimes Nornam) 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 actio ...

, and held a council or parliament at "Twesil" or "Twesilhaugh." The estate was sold by the Herons circa 1520 to a member of the Selby family. A survey in 1561 reported only the remnants of a tower house and a

barmkin Barmkin, also spelled barmekin or barnekin, is a Scots word which refers to a form of medieval and later defensive enclosure, typically found around smaller castles, tower houses, pele towers, and bastle houses in Scotland and the north of Engla ...

. John Selby seems to have repaired the buildings, and an inventory was made of the furnishings on his death in 1595 mentioning a new chamber, a gallery, and chambers in the tower. Of the medieval structure, blocked windows, a

chamfer A chamfer ( ) is a transitional edge between two faces of an object. Sometimes defined as a form of bevel, it is often created at a 45° angle between two adjoining right-angled faces. Chamfers are frequently used in machining, carpentry, fur ...

ed doorway and the original north-east angle

quoins Quoins ( or ) are masonry blocks at the corner of a wall. Some are structural, providing strength for a wall made with inferior stone or rubble, while others merely add aesthetic detail to a corner. According to one 19th-century encyclopedia, ...

are all that remains visible now. In 1685 Sir Francis Blake (d. 1718) purchased the estate from the widow Selby for £1,944, plus an annuity of £100, and the Blake family lived on the estate until 1738 when they moved to nearby Tillmouth Hall. From about 1770, Sir Francis Blake (d. 1780) worked on the recreation of the castle as a

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

mansion, designed by architect James Nesbit of Kelso to be five levels tall. Despite some forty years of work, the project was never completed. When in 1882, the Blakes built a new mansion at Tillmouth Park much of the incomplete Twizell Castle was demolished and the stone used in the new construction or sold. The house is now a two-storey

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 ...

. Rectangular in plan, with circular towers on the angles and two wings on the north side, the basement rooms in the main block are stone and brick-vaulted as a precaution against fire. The property is in poor order and is officially listed as of 2008 on the English Heritage

Heritage at Risk Register An annual ''Heritage at Risk Register'' is published by Historic England. The survey is used by national and local government, a wide range of individuals and heritage groups to establish the extent of risk and to help assess priorities for acti ...

References

* Photograph and architectural description of listed building * * * {{Castles in North East England Castles in Northumberland Grade II* listed buildings in Northumberland Scheduled monuments in Northumberland Structures on the Heritage at Risk register Selby family