Description

BYWELL BYWELL
NZ 0461
23/75 Bywell Castle
15.4.69 Gatehouse (previously
listed as Bywell Castle)

GV I

Castle gatehouse, early C15 for Ralph Neville, second Earl of Westmorland.
Squared stone (with re-used Roman material). Rectangular tower-house/gatehouse,
with principal apartments above central gate passage and flanking chambers.
Original external elevation to south 3 storeys. Chamfered plinth and 1st floor
set back. Central 4-centred gateway arch of 2 chamfered orders with portcullis
slot between, with old pegged and panelled double doors, that to left with small
porter's door; small square-headed post-medieval openings to either side. 1st
floor has 2 windows of 2 trefoil-headed lights under Tudor arches, and square-
headed chamfered window to left; 2 more similar 2-light windows on 2nd floor.
Most 2-light windows have lost their mullions. Embattled parapet, oversailing
a hollow-chamfered course, has central section set forward on 5 moulded corbels.
Taller angle turrets have corbelled-out octagonal tops with machicolations.
To right, attached curtain wall (q.v.).

Left return shows corbelled-out garderobe projection and small chamfered windows.
Right return shows partly-blocked 2-light window on 1st floor and blocked doorway
to wall walk on left. Rear elevation shows similar detail to front; parapet
partly fallen.

Interior: Barrel-vaulted gate passage and flanking chambers. Tudor-arched
doorways, that to mural stair with old iron yett. Newel stair from 1st floor
north-west corner. 1st- and 2nd-floor garderobes in north-east and south-west
corners. Chamfered-arched fireplaces(one 2nd-floor fireplace with shoddered lintel)
and segmental rear arches to windows. Cross wall with doorway divides 1st floor
into hall and solar.

2nd floor and roof missing.

Historical notes: Henry VI sheltered here on his flight after the battle of
Hexham Levels in 1464, abandoning his sword, helmet and crown which were found
by the victorious Lord Montagu who captured the castle soon afterwards. Apart
from the tower-house/gatehouse (cf. Dunstanburgh, Bothal, Willimoteswick) the
castle appears never to have been completed.

Northumberland County History VI (1902), 75-78.

Listing NGR: NZ0493561779

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Bywell Castle at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q5004686

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Drawing up a Local Listed Building Consent Order: Historic England Advice Note 6
• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)
• 
  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)