Etal Castle

Etal Castle
Northumberland
The exterior of the gatehouse
Etal Castle
Coordinates	55°38′53″N 2°07′16″W / 55.648°N 2.121°W / 55.648; -2.121
Site information
Owner	Joicey family, English Heritage
Condition	Ruined
Site history
Materials	Sandstone
Events	Anglo-Scottish border wars

Etal Castle is a ruined medieval fortification in the village of Etal, Northumberland, England. It was built around 1341 by Robert Manners, and comprised a residential tower, a gatehouse and a corner tower, protected by a curtain wall. The castle was involved both in local feuding and the border wars between England and Scotland. There was a battle between the rival Manners and Heron families outside the walls in 1428, and in 1513 it was briefly captured by King James IV of Scotland during his invasion of England.

The castle passed into the hands of the Crown in 1547 and was garrisoned as part of the border defences, but fell into disrepair and was abandoned as a military fortification after 1603. In the 18th century it ceased to be used as a domestic dwelling and became ruinous. In the 21st century the castle is owned by the Joicey family, but managed by English Heritage. Open to the public, it is protected under UK law as an ancient monument and a Grade I listed building.

Etal Castle was built around 1341 by Robert Manners in the village of Etal, after Robert was granted a licence to crenellate by King Edward III in order to defend the location against the Scots. The Manners family had owned the manor since at least 1232.

The earliest part of the castle was its residential tower. This tower may have been built around 1341 on the site of an older, unfortified house owned by the family on the same site, incorporating part of the structure into the new, crenellated tower. Alternatively, the central tower may have been built at some point between the late 13th and early 14th centuries, complete with crenellations, in which case the licence from Edward III served only to allow Manners to extend the perimeter fortifications. By the 1350s, the castle was surrounded by a manor which included mills for corn and fulling, lime kilns and coal mines.