Elsdon : The Tower House
Elsdon Tower stands in a prominent position at the north end of the village, where the ground rises up to form a knoll. The site thus overlooks the green and dominates the village. This is one plausible site for any pre-Norman estate centre.
The documentary history of the site is a little perplexing. The first tower on this site was probably built in the 14th century. It is included in a list of fortifications in Northumberland compiled for Henry V in 1415 where it is said to be in the hands of the rector, but it does not figure in Sir Robert Bowes and Sir Ralph Elleker's survey of Border fortifications undertaken in 1541, even in a 'much decayed' form.
This has led to the suggestion that the original tower must have been demolished and the extant structure largely erected later in the 16th century. More recent examination of the surviving remains has supported a 16th century date for the tower as it stands, though perhaps containing elements of an earlier phase. However, the tower's absence from the 1541 survey is not necessarily significant.
No other fortification in Redesdale is listed, neither towers such as Otterburn nor smaller bastle houses, pelehouses or stonehouses, as figure in other districts, and it would appear that the surveyors either did not dare venture into valley or had no detailed information relating to the fortifications there. Instead, having covered Coquetdale, they proceded via sites around the headwaters of the Wansbeck such as Wallington, The Fawns, Kirkwhelpington and Carry Coats, and thence into North Tynedale.
A further complication is introduced by an entry in the Patent Rolls dated 6th June 1432 granting a commission to Robert de Umfraville 'chivaler' (lord of Redesdale between 1421-36) to repair his castles at Harbottle, Elsdon and Otterburn. Robert was empowered to arrest and take the stonecutters, wallers (murarios) and other workmen required to repair the three castles located 'upon the march by Scotland, which are great fortalices and useful to the adjacent country' (Cal Pat R 1429-36, 219), and was instructed to pay the conscripted workmen promptly and reasonably.
This entry poses a number of problems. If the 'castle of Elsdon' is a reference to the tower, it would appear to signify that the Umfravilles had taken control of the building at some point after 1415, when it was in the hands of the rector. This may have been authorised on strategic grounds. An alternative possibility is that this denotes an attempt to refortify the old earthwork castle, perhaps by erecting a timber 'pele' (palisaded enclosure) of the kind commonly used in the Anglo-Scottish wars, although this is perhaps less likely.
A vivid impression of living conditions in the tower between 1762 and 1765 is again provided by the Rev. Dodgson (cf. Tomlinson 1888, 306):
The vestibule of the castle is a low stable, and above it is a kitchen, in which there are two\little beds joining to each other. The curate and his wife lay in one, and Margery, the maid, in the other. I lay in the parlour, between the two beds, to keep me from being frozen to death, for, as we keep open house, the winds enter from every quarter, and are apt to creep into bed to one.
Hodgson provides more detail regarding its 18th century aspect and the subsequent remodelling carried out by Thomas Singleton, the rector between 1812 and 1842:
Till Mr Duten's death (in 1812), the first floor consisted of a dark vault spanned by one arch, in which, in former times, the rector's cattle were housed at night; a circular stone staircase still leads to the upper rooms, on the first of which was a kitchen and servant's apartments, flagged with stone; and above these another room, fitted up as a lodging-room and study, the bed being in a large recess, with closets on each side, one of which served as a wardrobe, and the other for more general purposes: in 1810, it contained the Greek and Latin authorities for Mr Dutens's 'Discoveries of the Ancients attributed to the Moderns,' … very methodically arranged. ….. Formerly, there were two low rooms above, each containing four chambers, one partly destroyed by the heightening this; and the other is the present garret. Mr Singleton has converted the dark damp vault into a comfortable drawing room, 27 feet by 15, besides a recess 7 feet deep, cut through the wall to the window. The old kitchen and room, which was Mr Mitford's parlour, are two bed-rooms; and the floor above is occupied by a bedroom, dressing-room, and library. To the old building Mr Singleton has added a vestibule and kitchen; a dining room, 26 feet by 14; and bed-rooms above these: besides a back kitchen, pantry, and other offices.
See The Medieval Buildings of Elsdon for a full description by Peter Ryder.