Wark on Tweed Castle

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Earthwork remains of an early C12 motte-and-bailey castle, refortified in 1157-61 and in the early C13 when an octagonal shell keep was raised on the motte and a curtain wall, with towers and a gatehouse were constructed. In the south east corner the outer ward replaced the early bailey defences. Probably dismantled in 1549. the visible remains of the castle largely relate to C16 building phases as the medieval castle was partly demolished and re-built on numerous occasions. The Inner Ward consists of a mound 11m high with a base diameter of 50m which appears to be a simple motte but must be, in fact mainly the remains of an artillery platform, 'the ring' of 1543, enclosing a masonry tower of earlier date. the top of the mound has been disturbed by excavations in 1862. The curtain wall of the Middle Ward survives as a bank 1.4m high running down the north slope of the mound and as a bank 3m high with visible masonry on the east slope.

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Wark on Tweed Castle

Copyright Walter Baxter and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons license.

 

Wark on Tweed Castle

Copyright Walter Baxter and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons license.


Name Wark on Tweed Castle 
Alternative Names Carham; Carrum; Werke Sup Twedam 
Historic County Northumberland 
Civil Parish Carham 
Type Timber Castle Masonry Castle Artillery Fort 
Confidence Certain 
Remains Earthworks 
Listed Grade 2*
Scheduled Ancient Monument Yes
Ordnance Survey Reference NT823387
Eastings 382390
Northing 638720
Images of England Reference237980
PastScape Reference1143
Historic Environment Record N688

Multi Map

StreetMaps

Books

  • Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Keepdate Publishing) p36-9
  • Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern) p102-3
  • Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p196-7
  • Jackson, M.J.,1992, Castles of Northumbria (Carlise) p120-2,125
  • Rowland, T.H., 1987 [reprint1994], Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p7, 10, 16-8
  • King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p343
  • Colvin, H.M., Ransome, D.R. and Summerson, John, 1982, The history of the King's Works Vol4: 1485-1660 (part 2) (London) p688-94
  • Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p313
  • Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p335-7
  • Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker) [Listed twice as Wark and as Carham] p339
  • Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p166-7
  • Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p852-3
  • Sanders, I.J., 1960, English Baronies. A study of their origin and descent 1086-1327 p149
  • Pevsner, N., 1957, The Buildings of England: Northumberland (London, Penguin) p311
  • Hugill, R.,1939, Borderland Castles and Peles [1970 Reprint by Frank Graham] p216-8
  • Vickers, Kenneth H. (ed), 1922, Northumberland County History (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Vol11 p44-74
  • Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
  • Tomlinson, W.W., 1897, Comprehensive Guide to Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p554-6
  • Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p426-8
  • Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p331-69
  • Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol3 (London) p347-8
  • Hartshorne, C.H., 1858, Feudal and Military Antiquities of Northumberland and the Scottish Borders (London: Proceedings of the Archaeological Institute at Newcastle) Vol2 p31-6 [history]
  • Scott, W., 1814, Border Antiquites of England and Scotland Vol2 121-3

Antiquarian

  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/nhumbeng.html#nhumb24]
  • Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p344

Journals

  • King, Andy, 2007, 'Fortress and fashion statements: gentry castles in fourteenth-century Northumberland' Journal of Medieval History Vol33 p378 [slight]
  • Kenyon, J.R., 1981 'Early Artillery Fortifications in England and Wales: a Preliminary Survey and Re-appraisal' Archaeological Journal Vol138 p221
  • Kenyon, J.R., 1977, 'Wark Castle and its artillery defences in the reign of Henry VIII' Post-Medieval Archaeology Vol11 p50-60
  • Nivet, H., 1976, ‘Wark Castle and Coldstream' Transactions of the Hawick Archaeological Society p24-5
  • Bennet, 1965, History of the Berwickshire Naturalists Club Vol37 p29-34
  • Brown, R, Allen, 1959, 'A List of Castles, 1154–1216' English Historical Review Vol74 p249-280 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p90-121] http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-8266%28195904%2974%3A291%3C249%3AALOC1%3E2.0.CO%3B2-P
  • Brown, R. Allen, 1955, 'Royal Castle-building in England 1154-1216' English Historical Review Vol70 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press)] pp19-64
  • Hunter Blair, C.H., 1944, 'The Early Castles of Northumberland' Archaeologia Aeliana [ser4] Vol22 p155-60 [plan]
  • Hunter Blair, C.H., 1935-7, History of the Berwickshire Naturalists Club Vol29 p76-103
  • Hardy, 1890-1, History of the Berwickshire Naturalists Club Vol13 p78-80
  • Mearns, 1863-68. History of the Berwickshire Naturalists Club Vol5 p61-6

Primary Sources

  • 1584 Commissioners Report [http://homepage.mac.com/philipdavis/numblis9.html]
  • 1541 Survey of the East and Middle Marches [http://homepage.mac.com/philipdavis/numblis4.html]
  • 1415 list of Northumberland Castles [http://homepage.mac.com/philipdavis/numblis2.html]
  • Rickard, John, 2002, The Castle Community. The Personnel of English and Welsh Castles, 1272-1422 (Boydell Press) [lists sources for 1272-1422] p375-6

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The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English Heritage and other individuals and organisations. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commerical purposes. I do not receive any income from this site and I fund it myself. The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others. This site is based upon the databases collated and maintained by Philip Davis who kindly gave permission for its use.