Aydon Castle Main Buildings And Courtyard Walls

Fortified Manor House at Aydon

This is an exceptionally well-preserved fortified manor house of exceptional interest, situated on the edge of a steep valley side near Corbridge. The main buildings and courtyard walls are listed Grade I.

The castle was built in phases over more than a century. The earliest parts, dating to around 1280, comprise a solar and east wing constructed in good-quality squared stone. A hall, replacing an earlier structure, was built slightly later. The north-west range and courtyard wall are probably associated with the licence to crenellate granted to Robert de Raymes in 1305. The north-west range was remodelled in the early 14th century, and an outer bailey was added in the later 14th century. Minor alterations occurred in the 16th, 17th, and 19th centuries. The 13th-century parts are built of good-quality squared stone, with later additions in coursed rubble with stone dressings. Stone slate roofs cover the buildings.

The original 13th-century buildings are arranged in a cruciform plan. The north-west range and courtyard lie north of the hall. An irregular outer bailey extends to the north and west, with a gateway to the north-west and an apsidal tower at the north corner.

The 13th-century parts feature a chamfered plinth and an eaves string with stone drain spouts. Stepped clasping buttresses appear on the south and east sides, and a garderobe projection projects from the south-east corner of the east wing. Early 14th-century crenellated parapets crown the buildings. Doorways to the hall block are shouldered-arched; the door to the solar undercroft is dated 1653 and bears the initials WC HC (William and Henry Collinson). Ground floor windows are mostly chamfered loops, though some 19th-century sash windows have been inserted. An external stone stair on the north side of the hall rises to a landing with a balcony supported on moulded corbels; two chases of former canopies are visible in the stonework above. The hall doorway has a double-chamfered pointed arch with a moulded hood. The hall and solar have 2-light windows with twin lancet lights under pointed arches with moulded hoods; the solar's north window has a quatrefoil in the spandrel enclosing a bearded mask. The east wing has single-light windows, with the eastern window having a foliage hoodmould with stops. Two projecting stacks on the east side of the solar have upper parts rebuilt in the 20th century. A stack on the south side of the hall has a semicircular top with pointed vents and a pyramidal cap at eaves level. The north-west wing has scattered fenestration, with several doorways having shouldered heads and 2-light windows; a doorway on the north bears a lintel inscribed 1657 WC.

Interior features include good contemporary fireplaces in the 13th-century solar and solar basement, with a simpler fireplace in the hall basement. A barrel vault in the north-west range is probably a 17th-century insertion. A stone-walled screens passage in the hall is a later medieval replacement of timber partitions; a chamber to the west and a room above have fireplaces with 16th-century Carnaby arms. A chamber in the east wing contains a wall cupboard, sink, and garderobe; further cupboards and sinks appear in the north-west (kitchen) range. The 2-light windows in the hall and solar have window seats. The 17th-century hall roof has principal-rafter trusses with collars. The north-west range has a roof with curved principals, perhaps dating to the 16th century.

The courtyard wall features a segmental-pointed gateway and a crenellated parapet with arrow loops in the merlons. A square-headed doorway in the north-west range gives access to the wall walk.

The building is unique in the county and has aroused scholarly controversy regarding its original planning—whether it was conceived as two dwellings, as the duplication of functions on ground and first floors suggests.