Outer Bailey Walls And Attached Farmbuildings

The outer bailey walls and attached farm buildings of Aydon Castle date from the 14th century, with the farm buildings added in the early 19th century. The structure is made of rubble with stone slate roofs and forms an irregular pentagonal enclosure. The south curtain wall, located west of the main block, features a chamfered 17th-century doorway and remnants of four 14th-century windows, each with two shoulder-arched lights. The north end of the west curtain is canted forward and has a blocked shoulder-arched postern. The north-west curtain includes a segmental-headed gateway and corbelled-out garderobes flanking a projecting rectangular tower. A D-shaped tower at the north angle has been reduced to a barrel-vaulted lower stage, with a pointed-arched doorway leading to the bailey. The north-east and east curtains are significantly reduced.

The adjacent farm building, which is two storeys high and has three wide bays, features boarded doors between the bays and varied fenestration in old openings. The north end of this building is constructed against a ruined 14th-century wall, with a gap indicating a former gateway that connects to the north-west range of the main buildings. There is also a former cartshed next to the north-east curtain, which is a single storey with six bays, supported by square stone piers with chamfered caps that carry timber lintels and has a pent roof. A contemporary pent privy is located adjacent to the west end.