Harbottle
Encyclopedia
Harbottle is a village and civil parish
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
in Northumberland
Northumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
, England about 10 miles (16.1 km) south-east of the Scottish border, nestled among the Cheviot Hills
Cheviot Hills
The Cheviot Hills is a range of rolling hills straddling the England–Scotland border between Northumberland and the Scottish Borders.There is a broad split between the northern and the southern Cheviots...
and inside Northumberland National Park
Northumberland National Park
Northumberland National Park is the northernmost national park in England. It covers an area of more than 1030 km² between the Scottish Border in the north to just south of Hadrian's Wall. It is one of the least populated and least visited of the National Parks...
. The village is the site of Harbottle Castle
Harbottle Castle
Harbottle Castle is a ruined medieval castle situated at the west end of the village of Harbottle, Northumberland, England west-north-west of Rothbury overlooking the River Coquet...
built by order of Henry II
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
. Now in ruins, the castle was constructed by the Umfraville
Umfraville
Umfraville, the name of an English baronial family, derived from Amfreville in Normandy. Members of this family obtained lands in Northumberland, including Redesdale and Prudhoe, from the Norman kings, and a later member, Gilbert de Umfraville , married Matilda, daughter of Malcolm, earl of Angus,...
family to protect against invaders from Scotland.
The National Gazetteer (1868) comments as follows:
HARBOTTLE, a township in the parish of Alwinton, W. division of Coquetdale ward, county Northumberland, 8 miles W. of Rothbury, and 24 W. of Morpeth, situated on the river Coquet. Here was anciently a strong castle, the seat of the lords of the marshes. It was built anterior to 1075, and was twice taken by the Scots, in 1173 and 1314, after the battle of Bannockburn. Queen Margaret retired here in 1518, on her marriage with Lennox. The English Presbyterian church is a stone structure, and was rebuilt in 1854. There are parochial and Sunday schools. The former has an endowment of £16 per annum, for the education of 12 children. At the E. end of the village on the banks of the river Coquet, is Harbottle Castle, the seat of Percival Fenwick Clennell, Esq. A cattle fair is held on the 19th September.
Governance
Harbottle is in the parliamentaryBritish House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
constituency of Berwick-upon-Tweed
Berwick-upon-Tweed (UK Parliament constituency)
Berwick-upon-Tweed is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...
.
Landmarks
The Drake Stone is ancient landmark in Harbottle: a massive sandstone boulder believed in times past to be endowed with supernatural powers.The Castle
Harbottle Castle is a ruinous medieval castle situated at the west end of the village overlooking the River CoquetRiver Coquet
The River Coquet runs through the county of Northumberland, England, discharging into the North Sea on the east coast of England at Amble. Warkworth Castle is built in a loop of the Coquet....
. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument
Scheduled Ancient Monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a 'nationally important' archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorized change. The various pieces of legislation used for legally protecting heritage assets from damage and destruction are grouped under the term...
and a Grade I listed building
Brython
The Britons were the Celtic people culturally dominating Great Britain from the Iron Age through the Early Middle Ages. They spoke the Insular Celtic language known as British or Brythonic...
and that in Saxon
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
times there was a stronghold on the site held by Mildred, son of Ackman. The present castle was built about 1160 by the Umfraville
Umfraville
Umfraville, the name of an English baronial family, derived from Amfreville in Normandy. Members of this family obtained lands in Northumberland, including Redesdale and Prudhoe, from the Norman kings, and a later member, Gilbert de Umfraville , married Matilda, daughter of Malcolm, earl of Angus,...
family at the request of King Henry II
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
on land awarded to them following the Norman Conquest, presumably as a defence against the Scots
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
. Not long after its erection, in 1174, it was taken by the Scots and was then rebuilt more strongly. In 1296 it was besieged
Siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit". Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of constant, low intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static...
by Robert de Ros
Robert de Ros
Sir Robert de Ros, or de Roos of Helmsley, , was the grandfather and ancestor of the Barons Ros of Helmsley that was created by writ in 1264. In 1215, Ros joined the confederation of the barons at Stamford...
and some 40,000 men, but the siege was withheld. In the 1310s Robert the Bruce
Robert I of Scotland
Robert I , popularly known as Robert the Bruce , was King of Scots from March 25, 1306, until his death in 1329.His paternal ancestors were of Scoto-Norman heritage , and...
captured the castle. It was restored in 1336, but in ruins again by 1351. It was repaired at the end of the 14th century and in about 1436 the castle passed into the hands of the Tailleboys. It was for a long time the residence of the Warden of the Middle Marches and used as a prison.
In 1515 Margaret Tudor
Margaret Tudor
Margaret Tudor was the elder of the two surviving daughters of Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York, and the elder sister of Henry VIII. In 1503, she married James IV, King of Scots. James died in 1513, and their son became King James V. She married secondly Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of...
, the widowed queen of James IV of Scotland
James IV of Scotland
James IV was King of Scots from 11 June 1488 to his death. He is generally regarded as the most successful of the Stewart monarchs of Scotland, but his reign ended with the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Flodden Field, where he became the last monarch from not only Scotland, but also from all...
and sister of Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
, having been banished by the regent, the Duke of Albany, came to the castle with her second husband, the Earl of Angus
Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus
Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus was a Scottish nobleman active during the reigns of James V and Mary, Queen of Scots...
. While there, a daughter was born, who was also called Margaret
Margaret Douglas
Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox was the daughter of Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, and Margaret Tudor, Queen Dowager of Scotland...
. Margaret was to become the mother of Lord Darnley
Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley
Henry Stewart or Stuart, 1st Duke of Albany , styled Lord Darnley before 1565, was king consort of Scotland and murdered at Kirk o'Field...
, the second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, and grandmother of James VI of Scotland and James I of England
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
. Further building work took place between 1541 and 1551 and more repairs were made in 1563.
In 1605 James I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
granted the castle and manor to George Home
George Home, 1st Earl of Dunbar
George Home, 1st Earl of Dunbar, KG, PC was, in the last decade of his life, the most prominent and most influential Scotsman in England. His work lay in the King's Household and in the control of the State Affairs of Scotland and he was the King's chief Scottish advisor...
, Lord Treasurer of Scotland, but thereafter the castle fell into decay and much of its masonry was used in other buildings. A survey of 1715 reported the castle to be ruinous once more. Today only earthworks and some standing masonry remains.
Following the abandonment of the castle as a residence the name was reused: Harbottle Castle is a 19th century mansion house situated at the east end of the village. Stone from the derelict mediæval castle was used in the building of a 17th century manor house. The manor was acquired by Percival Clennell in 1796 and in 1829 the house was replaced on the site with a two storied five bayed mansion designed by architect John Dobson
John Dobson (architect)
John Dobson was a 19th-century English architect in the neoclassical tradition. He became the most noted architect in the North of England. Churches and houses by him dot the North East - Nunnykirk Hall, Meldon Park, Mitford Hall, Lilburn Tower, St John the Baptist Church in Otterburn,...
. The house is protected with Grade II listed building status.
Gallows
A 19th-century document authored by the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne describes the location and history of gallows near Harbottle:The Harbottle gallows occupied an elevated site on a high ridge
of moorland stretching between the villages of Harbottle and Holy-
stone, about 800 feet above the sea-level, one mile south of Harbottle
castle, the border stronghold of the potent Umfravilles. This hill is
yet known as 'Gallow Edge.' How Gilbert de Umfraville, lord of
Redesdale and Harbottle (circa 1300), exercised his almost regal
powers within his franchise there, we gather from the charges brought
against him in the Hundred Rolls. One of those charges shows the
swift and savage manner in which capital punishment was inflicted by
that cruel and unscrupulous baron. Thomas de Holm was taken
within the franchise, but he escaped from the dungeon of Harbottle
castle, and fled for refuge to the altar in Alwinton church, where,
before the coroner, he forswore his country; but Simon Smart and
Benedict Grey, porter of Harbottle, beheaded him at 'Simonseth'
(Simonside near Rothbury, beyond his franchise) in the body of the
county, and took his head thence, and hung it on the gallows at Har-
bottle.
Surname
The "Harbottle" surname refers to the occupation of the Harbottles during the Middle Ages (Dark Ages). It means "House of the Hirelings" which means they were hired to fight battles and wars for kings, queens and other such people.See also
- Harbottle CastleHarbottle CastleHarbottle Castle is a ruined medieval castle situated at the west end of the village of Harbottle, Northumberland, England west-north-west of Rothbury overlooking the River Coquet...
