Cartington Castle

Cartington Castle is a ruinous, partly restored medieval English castle in the hamlet of Cartington, 2 miles (3.2 km) north-west of Rothbury in the county of Northumberland, England, looking down on the River Coquet. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and a Grade I listed building.

1. History


1. = Medieval period =

Its first recorded owner was Ralph Fitzmain who held it in 1154. In the late 14th century a pele tower was built. This was extended to include a great hall, and probably a tower-defended courtyard, by John Cartington in 1442 when he was granted a licence to crenellate his home.

1. = 16th century =

In November 1515 Margaret, Queen of Scots, with her baby daughter Margaret stayed here on her flight from Scotland to London, having travelled from nearby Harbottle Castle. Nearly ten years later, Lord Dacre stationed his troops here on a march north to join the Earl of Surrey.

1. = English Civil War =

During the Civil War the castle was a major Royalist centre. Sir Edward Widdrington raised 2,000 foot Royalist soldiers and 200 horse and withheld a Parliamentary siege for over two hours in 1648, but the castle was eventually taken and slighted by the enemy.

1. = Abandonment and conservation =

Despite some demolition, the castle continued to be occupied until finally abandoned in the 1860s. In 1887 Lord Armstrong partially restored the castle in order to prevent its complete disintegration. Whilst ruinous, the castle is protected by its status as a Scheduled Ancient Monument and as a Grade I listed building.

1. References

Cartington Castle 1 Cartington Castle 2 Structures of the North East Fry, Plantagenet Somerset, The David & Charles Book of Castles, David & Charles, 1980. ISBN 0-7153-7976-3

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Cartington

Cartington is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Thropton, in Northumberland, England. It is about 11 miles (18 km) south west of Alnwick, and about 2 miles (3 km) north west of Rothbury. In 2019 it had an adult population of 95, after having returned a population of 97 in 2001.

Landmark Neighbourhood

Northumberland Sandstone Hills

The Northumberland Sandstone Hills are a major natural region in the English county of Northumberland. The hills form distinctive skylines with generally level tops, northwest facing scarps and craggy outcrops offering views to the Cheviots further west. The Northumberland Sandstone Hills lie not far from the coast of Northumberland and the region is listed as National Character Area no. 2 by Natural England, the UK Government's advisor on the natural environment. The region covers an area of 72,694 hectares (281 sq mi), beginning at Kyloe in the north and running in a strip roughly 10–15 kilometres (6–9 mi) wide and parallel to the coastal plain as far as Alnwick, where it changes direction to head southwest via Thrunton Wood, Rothbury Forest and Harwood Forest to the area of Throckington and the River Rede, passing over the highest peaks in the area, including Tosson Hill (1,444 feet (440 m)) in the Simonside Hills. The region has a range of semi-natural habitats: moorland with heather and rough, acid grassland mosaics on the thin, sandy soils of the higher steeper slopes and broken ground, transitioning through scrub, and oak or birch woodland to improved farmland and parkland on the lower slopes. Wet peaty flushes, mires, loughs and small reservoirs are dotted throughout the area and there are many caves, including St Cuthbert's Cave and Cateran Hole. Fifteen per cent of the NCA lies within the Northumberland National Park; it also contains one Special Protection Area – Holburn Lake & Moss – and three Special Areas of Conservation – Simonside Hills, Harbottle Moors, and River Tweed – as well as eighteen Sites of Special Scientific Interest, the SSIs totalling 3,771 hectares (14.6 sq mi). Its major watercourses are the rivers Aln, Till, Coquet, Font and Rede, and the Fallowlees Burn.

Hiking National Park

Snitter

Snitter is a village and civil parish in Northumberland, England. It is near the Northumberland National Park. The closest town is Rothbury.

Landmark Neighbourhood

Thropton

Thropton is a hamlet in Northumberland, England, located on the River Coquet, and its tributary Wreigh Burn. With a population of 780 (2021 census) it is situated 1.9 miles (3.1 km) west of the village of Rothbury connected by the B6431 near the junction of the Wreigh Burn and the River Coquet. In the hamlet is a stone bridge over the Wreigh Burn which was built in 1811. Thropton is on the edge of Northumberland National Park, and the surrounding area north and south of the hamlet consists of haughs, and also to the south on the opposite side of the Coquet lies Simonside Hills, a hill range that has many crags dotted along it. Thropton was known in the past as Tattie-toon, a reference to the fertility of the soil in the surrounding area.

Landmark Neighbourhood