Prudhoe castle

Описание: A medieval treasure of a fortress, built by the de Umfraville family between 1100 and 1120 to guard a ford across the River Tyne at Prudhoe. The castle has been in continuous use for over 9 centuries. The original castle was besieged on two occasions by Scottish invaders and subsequently strengthened with the addition of a stone keep and great hall.
The castle was enlarged in 1300 with the addition of two guard towers. In 1398 the powerful Percy family, Earls (later Dukes) of Northumberland took over Prudhoe and they added a more sizable great hall.

Unlike many medieval fortresses, which were allowed to fall into disrepair when their defensive uses faded, Prudhoe was continuously occupied and was refurbished in the Victorian period to produce a comfortable Gothic Revival house, occupied by the 2nd Duke of Northumberland's land agent.

The castle is now in the hands of English Heritage, who have created displays explaining the long history of the castle, with plenty of hands-on exhibits to entertain visitors young and old.

HISTORY

Prudhoe was one of a string of Norman castles erected along the Tyne, beginning shortly after the Conquest, around 1095 AD. The first castle was a very simple timber structure, with a traditional Norman motte and bailey arrangement of a wooden palisade atop a high mound, linked to an enclosed area called a bailey. The castle was the administrative centre of a large tract of land known as the Barony of Prudhoe, granted by William the Conqueror to the Umfraville family.

Then events took a curious twist, for in 1139 King Stephen granted the Earldom of Northumberland to the Scottish crown. Many northern nobles, including the Umfraville lords of Prudhoe, attended the Scottish court. Odinel d'Umfraville was actually brought up at the Scottish court, but when Henry II of England reclaimed the Earldom in 1151, Umfraville sided with his English overlord. King William the Lion of Scotland was enraged at Umfraville's turn of allegiance, and he attacked Prudhoe in 1173.

He was beaten off but returned again in 1174. Once again the Scots were rebuffed, and William was captured after giving up the siege. Interestingly, we know a lot about the first siege, which was witnessed by Jordan Fantosme, clerk to the Bishop of Winchester. Fantosme's account of the conflict gives a vivid portrayal of medieval siege warfare.

In the late 13th century Prudhoe housed Scottish prisoners awaiting ransom. Around the same time, the castle defences were strengthened, against the highly likely event of Scottish attack.

When the last male heir of the Umfraville family died in 1381 the 1st Earl of Northumberland, Henry Percy, married his widow Matilda, herself one of the largest landowners in the north. Thus the Percy family became the most powerful noble family in the north of England and took over the barony of Prudhoe.

The Percy's rebelled in 1405 and Henry IV granted the estates to his brother John, Duke of Lancaster. Prudhoe was later attacked and captured by the Yorkist leader Edward IV during the Wars of the Roses, but in an ironic twist, the Percy's regained the barony in 1470.

The castle passed largely unscathed through the Civil War, but by the late 17th century the Percy family moved their centre of administration to Alnwick Castle and left Prudhoe in the hands of the earl's officials. It was later rented out to local farmers and ceased to have any real military function