Ford Castle Portcullis Gate, Armoury Tower and Forecourt Walls to Ford Castle is a Grade I listed building in the Northumberland local planning authority area, England. First listed on 10 March 1988. Castle gate complex. 3 related planning applications.
Ford Castle Portcullis Gate, Armoury Tower and Forecourt Walls to Ford Castle
- WRENN ID
- waiting-entrance-storm
- Grade
- I
- Local Planning Authority
- Northumberland
- Constituency
- North Northumberland MP: David Smith (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 10 March 1988
- Type
- Castle gate complex
- Address
- Ford Castle Portcullis Gate, Armoury Tower and Forecourt Walls to Ford Castle, TD15 2PX
- OS grid reference
- NT 944 374
- Coordinates
- 55.63069, -2.08965
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
Ford Castle's portcullis gate, armoury tower, and forecourt walls were built in 1791 by Nisbet of Kelso for Sir John Hussey Deleval. The structure incorporates early masonry, possibly from the 16th or 17th century, and is constructed of ashlar with Welsh slate roofs, facing south.
The portcullis gate features a very tall pointed arch adorned with alternating bands of vermiculate rustication. The impost blocks and large keystone are finished with glacial rustication, and an imitation portcullis is set within the arch. This arch is framed by a castellated screen wall with similarly rusticated quoins, two arched niches with quatrefoils above, a modillion cornice, and pierced quatrefoils in the parapet.
The castellated walls on either side of the gate rise approximately 15 feet. To the right, there is a square interval tower with quatrefoils in the parapet.
The armoury tower is located in the south-west corner and features a boarded door on the ground floor with a cambered lintel, along with blocked Gothick windows above. Inside the forecourt, there are small gate lodges on either side of the gateway, each with one tall storey and a single room. These lodges have 4-centred-arched doors with incised ogee arches on the lintels and apsidal north walls.
Inside the armoury tower, there is a 19th-century hooded fireplace with embossed tiles featuring medieval patterns.
Local climate
Ford Castle Portcullis Gate, Armoury Tower and Forecourt Walls to Ford Castle receives an average of 840 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 57% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 82% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 32 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 59% of listed buildings. Of these, 20 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
Sign in or create a free account to unlock:
- Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
- No sale records on file
- Related listed building consents — 3 applications
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
Similar buildings
The closest matches to this building from all 493,000 UK listed buildings, by architecture, period and materials.
- 1 Ford Castle East Gateway, East Forecourt Wall and Handyman's Cottage
- 2 Ford Castle North Forecourt Wall and Gateway with Laundry and Service Wing Attached to Rear
- 3 Brancepeth Castle
- 4 Etal Castle Gate Tower, South Curtain Wall and South West Tower
- 5 Ford Castle Flagpole Tower and Forecourt Wall Attached to North
this building 1 similar nearby listed buildings