Westhall, Northumberland
Encyclopedia
Westhall is a privately owned castellated house at Belford
in Northumberland
, England
now in use as a farm.
, however, Davis, in particular, has strong reservations against it:
Belford, Northumberland
Belford is a village and civil parish in Northumberland, England about halfway between Alnwick and Berwick-upon-Tweed, a few miles inland from the east coast and just off the Great North Road, the A1...
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
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
now in use as a farm.
History
Westhall Farm, a little to the north-west of the town and approached by a lane from the Wooler road, is the site of a fortified house that was surrounded by a moat, mentioned in a 15th century document as the Castrum de Belford. The present house was built in 1837 in a castellated Gothic style.Motte and bailey castle
It has been suggested that Westhall is the site of a much earlier Motte and bailey castleMotte-and-bailey
A motte-and-bailey is a form of castle, with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised earthwork called a motte, accompanied by an enclosed courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade...
, however, Davis, in particular, has strong reservations against it:
Earthworks survive, modern farm on site of a possible C11 Motte and Bailey. Later received C15 tower (qv). Recorded as moat to C15 Tower in SMR and PastScape. The 1415 list mentions a castle here held by the D'Arcy family, it later passed to the Conyers, and then to the Forsters and Dixons, before being sold to William Clarke in the 18th Century. Although the presence of the later tower suggests this may have been a high status location the very nearby presence of a strong natural position and already existing Prehistoric camp at Chapel Crag (qv), which has a medieval chapel on it, would suggest this may not be the manorial centre. Philip Davis offers I can see no reason to build a motte when there is a more dramatic, better defended but still easily accessible site so close by. If there was a C11 or C12 castle at Belford I would suggest that the remains of the Chapel at NU10463449 suggest where it was located.