Aydon Castle, Northumberland

We got to explore a 13th century fortified manor house that takes shape of a castle in mighty Northumberland and is a wonderful survival from the middle ages. It remains almost completely intact and is set in the beautiful woodlands with an interesting history to be explored, having been raided, burnt and changed hands many times throughout it’s years, so join us as we enjoy a walk around Aydon Castle.

To get an understanding of the origins of Aydon it was thanks to Robert de Reymes, a wealthy Suffolk merchant, who began construction of the house in 1296, at the end of an unusually long period of peace in the border regions. The building is naturally defended on one side by the steep valley of the Cor Burn, but was otherwise unfortified. Unfortunately for de Reymes, the building of his house coincided with a new period of conflict with Scotland which led to frequent Scottish raids throughout the area.

We take a very short walk into the beautiful medieval hall. This hall was the social centre for the whole building and the place where the lord would often appear in public, especially when he was to entertain guests. As you can see with the layout, the lord and his family would have sat at the far end with a table extending across the hall and lit by windows on each side.

More than likely the guests would have sat on tables stretching down the hall from either end of the lords table. Interestingly there was no fireplace here, but the warmth of this room would have come from a fire placed in the centre of the room on a stone hearth.

In 1305, Robert obtained a licence to crenelate his property and set about improving the defences with the addition of battlements and a circuit of curtain walls. This came to great use when on the 25th march in 1306 Robert the Bruce seized the Scottish throne, then on the 7th July 1307, Edward I of England died, which led to events spanning over years of misery for the northern counties of England. As the Scots first drove the English out and continued to loot, raid and burn everything in their path, it included Aydon. In 1311 and again in 1312, Corbridge and the surrounding area were raided by Bruce in person.

Aydon’s sizeable walls may have kept the enemy away on these particular occasions but in 1315 there was just no escape. In Roberts absence, the castle had been commanded by Hugh de Gales but was met with a battle from the Scots and eventually had to surrender with the result that the castle would be plundered and scorched. Aydon simply was not strong enough to resist a mighty invading army.

Two years later, Aydon suffered again, but this time through English hands and through trusted ally Hugh De Gales who was the same person who failed to defend it two years previous. Hugh and his followers seized Aydon in December of 1317 and ransacked the building once again but this time of their timber, linen, gold and silver and household goods. The castle went through many years of torment and terrible luck, constantly being attacked and it gained a reputation to be a unlucky place to have lived and became very difficult to rent, so a decision was made and the estate was put into the ministry of works care in 1966 and The English heritage took over and has since maintained it wonderfully.

Just outside the inner courtyard is into the castle orchard where the fruits and veg would have been planted ready for cooking up a storm for the lord and his guests; we also get to head outside around the curtain wall of the south side of the castle just to see the structure and it’s views. And they really don’t disappoint.

So we really hope we have interested and encouraged you to take a trip to Aydon castle, for us, it was one that really stood out from our time here in Northumberland and it’s quite unknown which is surprising considering it’s turbulent history, we think this is a must see and a must do when visiting northern England.

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Till Next Time!