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Brackenhill Tower NY 445695 Brackenhill Tower at Longtown near Carlisle is an exceptional example of a fortified Border tower house. Experts say that what makes it even rarer is that it's a Scottish-style tower sitting on English soil and is pretty much intact - even if it is in a precarious position. With 5ft thick walls of Cumbrian sandstone and 19th Century additions, it now sits rather forlornly among prefabricated buildings on a dairy farm. Restoration of the tower is an opportunity to highlight the fascinating history of these cattle thieves and mercenaries who terrorised the border country after years of bloody conflict left it in a state of lawlessness. Brack…

Not being learned on these matters, was Camelot another name for Tintagel, or are these two separate places ? If you're interested Duncan, I've got a number of old postcards of Tintagel Castle scanned. Let me know. AJR :wink2:

Triermain Castle Ordnance Survey Map Reference NY 595669 Also sometimes known as Gilsland Castle, Triermain stands on the border of Northumberland and Cumbria and lies about 60m to 70m south of the B6318 road, west of Gilsland. King Edward III granted a licence to Roland de Vaux to crenellate his residence here in 1340. Sir Walter Scott drinks moat*#@er tells in his The Bridal of Triermain of the quest of Sir Roland de Vaux – how he wakes Gyneth, daughter of King Arthur, from her long sleep of 500 years, and then marries her. The remains lie on a low mound in a field, with traces of a ditch 6m wide. The castle once had four towers enclosing a courtyard and moat, and…

Holdgate Castle Ordnance Survey Map Reference SO 562897 Alternatively known as Holgate and Stanton Holdgate, the castle is named after Helgot, who was given it after the Norman Conquest and was an under-tenant of Earl Roger, one of William the Conquerors' favourites. His motte and bailey castle here is one of the few Shropshire castles mentioned in the Domesday survey of 1086. Herbert Fitz Holgot entertained Henry I here in 1109. The castle was sold during the reign of Edward I and passed to Robert Burnell. It is he who is credited with building the D-shaped tower projecting from the back or north-west face of the present farmhouse. Above : Holdgate Castle 13…

Cheney Longville Castle Ordnance Survey Map Reference SO 417848 The manor of Longville was at one time held by the Burnells, but the Cheneys were in possession from the early 14th century onwards. Within the fork of the roads at the top of the village are traces of what may be an 11th or 12th century earthwork castle. In 1395 Richard II licensed Roger Cheney to crenellate the existing castle. It passed to the Plowdens by the 17th century, and to the Beddoes in the 18th century. Above : Cheney Longville Castle gateway on the north-west side (August 2000) The pair of cannon balls at the castle may be relics of the Civil War, but no assaults on it appear to hav…

Broncroft Castle Ordnance Survey Map Reference SO 545867 Standing on the Clee Hills near Tugford, Broncroft Castle remains one of the few inhabited castles in Shropshire. The ruinous circular structure in front of the present castle is thought to be a dovecote, or possibly a corner tower of the castle owned by Roger Tyrell in the early fourteenth century. Sir Simon Burley replaced it in 1382-86 by a new castle. Burley was one of the chief captains of King Edward III's son, Edward the Black Prince. He was a tutor to the Prince’s son, who in 1377 succeeded to the throne as Richard II. Because of his influence with the new King, who was still a minor, Burley was unp…

Ennor Castle Ordnance Survey Map Reference SV 914102 Ennor Castle stands on the island of St. Mary's, the largest of the Isles of Scilly. It is the oldest of the Scilly castles (excluding those of Prehistoric age), and lies on the southern side of the island, in what is now known as Old Town. The name "Ennor" is a Cornish name, meaning "the land", and originally this referred to most of Scilly, the islands being ruled from this place. The castle is situated at the back of Old Town Bay, standing on a natural granite outcrop. This Norman castle, first mentioned in 1244, was the island's main defence in the Middle Ages. Apparently erected by the Earls of Cornwall, th…