Edlingham Castle
Northumberland, England
Edlingham Castle
Edlingham Castle
Coordinates	55°22′36″N 1°49′06″W / 55.376755°N 1.818420°W / 55.376755; -1.818420
Type	Castle
Site information
Controlled by	English Heritage
Open to the public	Yes

Edlingham Castle is a small castle ruin, having scheduled monument and Grade I listed building status, in the care of English Heritage. It is located in a valley to the west of Alnwick, Northumberland, England. It has been described as "...one of the most interesting in the county", by Nikolaus Pevsner, the architectural historian.^[1] Edlingham itself is little more than a hamlet with a church alongside the castle.

The ruins are mostly laid low, though much of the solar tower^[2] still stands despite an impressive crack running several stories down to ground level. The foundations and part of the walls of the hall house, gatehouse, barbican and other courtyard buildings are still visible, most dating from the 16th century.

The castle – more properly a fortified manor house typical of many medieval houses in the North of England – guards one of the few approaches to Alnwick through the hills to its west. Its fortifications were increased in response to the border warfare which raged between England and Scotland in the period from about 1300 to 1600.

By 1174, a John of Edlingham owned a manor house at this location. In 1294, a descendant, Walter of Edlingham, sold it to William de Felton. He strengthened it by building strong ramparts and a gatehouse, fortifying the main hall, and adding other buildings inside a courtyard. In 1396 Elizabeth de Felton inherited it, marrying Sir Edmund Hastings, who added a strong solar tower. Their descendants occupied the castle and estate until 1514. It was purchased by George Swinburne, a constable of Prudhoe, whose family held it until the 18th century.

During this time it gradually fell into disrepair, with most of the buildings dismantled in the 1660s to build nearby farmhouses, but leaving the solar tower intact. In 1978 the Department for the Environment acquired the site and conducted extensive archaeological excavations, prior to which rubble filled the solar tower to a height of three metres.

The site is now in the care of English Heritage and is easily accessible from the nearby church of St John the Baptist, Edlingham. William de Felton is buried there. An interpretation board is on-site, while more detailed leaflets are available from the church for a small donation.

• John Dodds. Bastles and Belligerents, Medieval Strongholds in Northumberland, Keepdate Publishing ISBN 1-899506-45-4
• T H Rowland. Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland, Sandhill Press Ltd 1994 ISBN 0-946098-24-7

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Edlingham Castle.

• Images of Edlingham castle, North of the Tyne website
• Photos of Edlingham Castle and surrounding area, Geograph website
• Edlingham Castle: Visitor information, English Heritage

v t e  England - Castles in North East England
County Durham	Auckland Barnard Bowes Brancepeth Cotherstone Durham Lambton Lumley Raby Walworth
Northumberland	Alnwick Aydon Bamburgh Belford Bellingham Bellister Belsay Berwick Blenkinsopp Bothal Bywell Callaly Cartington Chillingham Chipchase Coupland Cresswell Dally Dilston Dunstanburgh Edlingham Elsdon Etal Featherstone Ford Haggerston Halton Haltwhistle Harbottle Haughton Langley Lindisfarne Mitford Morpeth Norham Ponteland Prudhoe Rothley Tarset Thirlwall Twizell Wark (on Tweed) Wark (on Tyne) Warkworth Widdrington
North Yorkshire (North East England part)	Skelton Wilton
Tyne and Wear	Hylton Newcastle Ravensworth Tynemouth
Also See: Castles in England

v t e Locations of bastle houses in the United Kingdom
Cumbria	Birdoswald
Durham	Beamish Museum High Coniscliffe
Northumberland	Beltingham Black Middens Bastle House Chillingham Edlingham Castle Haltwhistle Housesteads Ninebanks
Scotland	Glenae Tower Kinnelhead Bastle-House Lowther Hills
See also: Barmkin Border Reivers Peel tower Tower house Tower houses in the British Isles