Twizel Castle |
| Hob Uid: 1384 | |
Location :
Northumberland
Duddo
|
| Grid Ref : NT8829043400 |
| Summary : A medieval tower house incorporated into a ruined 18th century folly. The ruins comprise a roofless rectangular building of ashlar and squared stone, 29 metres by 9.5 metres, standing two storeys high with two wings on the north side and circular towers at each corner. Internally, there are four vaulted rooms along the south front, all of fine ashlar construction. The wings and towers are part of an incomplete 18th century folly, built over 50 years from about 1770 by Sir Francis Blake with the assistance of Nesbit of Kelso. It originally stood five storeys high and was stone or brick-vaulted throughout as a precaution against fire. At the core of the building is a medieval house with walls about 1.5 metres thick whose structure is partly revealed in the collapse of the north wall. Several pre-folly features are visible in the north wall and include blocked windows, a chamfered doorway and original north east angle quoins. |
More information : [NT 88294340] Twizel Castle [TI] (1)
Twizel Castle, a ruin of a monster-folly begun about 1770 and never finished. (2)
See G.P. AO/66/42/4. (3)
Twizel Castle, 18th century folly, Grade 1. (4)
Additional bibliography. (5)
Listed Grade II and Scheduled. (6,7)
The tower house was extant in 1415, but badly damaged by the Scots in 1496 and 1544. A 1561 survey reported that only a quarter of the tower and its adjacent barmkin survived. The tower was incorporated into the 18th century mansion at Twizel which was unfinished, and is now regarded as a folly. (8) |