Halton Castle

En un regard

Le château en bref

Halton Castle lies in the countryside north of Corbridge, in the parish of Whittington, very close to the line of Hadrian's Wall and the Roman fort of Halton Chesters. It is a medieval tower house (pele tower) to which later buildings were added, today forming a composite residence. The tower, of four storeys over a vaulted basement, is recorded as early as the late 14th century. A 15th-century range attached to the north gives the whole a T-shaped plan, and a five-bay house was then built around 1696. Carved Roman stones are visible in its masonry, most likely taken from the nearby fort. Listed Grade I, the site remains a private residence of the Blackett family and is not open to visitors. It bears witness to the typical evolution of Northumberland's border towers, which changed from defensive refuges into comfortable gentry houses after the pacification of the border, over more than six centuries of continuous occupation.