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BORDER VILLAGES |
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belsay |
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Location: 87 068 795. |
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Going north from Newcastle on the Otterburn road you will pass through Belsay. You are very likely to notice the arcaded buildings on the left, one of the interesting features of this pretty village. The Middleton family dates back as far as 1160 and has long been associated with Belsay. During the reign of Edward II, Sir Gilbert Middleton, the head of the family at that time, rebelled against the king and wrought havoc over his own county. Only the castles of Norham, Bamburgh and Alnwick held out against him. He added to his long list of misdeeds by kidnapping and holding to ransom the bishop-elect of Durham. Order was eventually restored and Sir Gilbert was executed. The family lost all their estates but they eventually recovered them by a judicious marriage arrangement. When their interests were again threatened, this time by the border reivers, the Middletons had built for themselves a massive tower which would have well served as the keep of a castle. The towef!)is an exceptional one in size and strength and is reputed to be the biggest and best of its type in the whole of the Borders.
The relative Border peace of the early seventeenth century saw the addition of a Jacobean manor house to the tower and this remained the family home until the Hall was erected. As these two buildings - the tower and the manor house - are adjoining, it is interesting to see how the narrow defensive slits of the tower gave way, when peace was restored, to wide expansive windows of the manor. Around the 1830s the Middletons built for themselves the magnificent Hall which still stands today. From the windows of the Hall there was a splendid view of glorious Northumbrian countryside. But the westerly outlook was spoilt by the village so they simply had the whole village relocated to where it stands today. Traces of the old village are still visible on the high ground to the west of the Hall and all that remains of the village are two farms and a few cottages - and a few bumps in the ground. The Middletons held their Belsay estates until 1962 when they passed into the care of English Heritage. The quarry from which the building stone was taken is nearby and has been converted into an extensive unusual garden of great beauty. In the nearby farm of Bradford South is a barn which was a bastle house built by Gabriel Ogle in 1567. The original fire place still remains and the lintel is inscribed `G.0.1567.'
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Around and About
Morpeth Stamfordham Bolam
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