An old postcard of Whitton Tower (aka Witton Tower) recently purchased.

 

Information based on details from "The Castles & Tower Houses of Northumberland" by Mike Salter.

 

For a long time this tower was the residence of the vicars of Rothbury before it was used as a children's hospital. The lower parts were built in the 14th century but the top part is said to be the work of Alexander Cook, who was rector in the 15th century.

 

The survey of 1541 survey refers to the presence of a barmkin. The tower itself has vaults within both the ground floor level and first floor level. This unusual case is probably due to the fact that the tower is built against a slope so that it is 18m high on one side but only 12.6m high on the other. This allowed separate entrances on each of two floors.

 

The thickness of the walling at ground level is approximately 2.1m thick, has a doorway on the north, and contains a well 4.5m deep. There is a hatch in the vault. The level above has an entrance on the east and a large mullioned window of three lights in the south wall, which was inserted at a later date. From here a doorway with a shouldered lintel leads to a spiral stair in the south-east corner, whichgives access to the second floor and roof. The parapet with raised embattled corners is of later date.

From Dodds, Bastions & Belligerants

 

Whitton township stands high up the southern bank of the River Coquet at Rothbury. Originally part of Rothbury Forest, it has belonged to the Rothbury rectors since 1201, granted as part of their salary - it contained arable and pastoral land and a few leased houses, all capable of swelling the rectors' coffers. Not surprisingly, the rectory was built here, in the form of a strong tower, during the fourteenth century.

 

It measured 46 by 33 feet externally and had walls eleven feet thick in places. Its original height is unknown as Alexander Cooke, rector between 1433 and 1474, increased this dimension while making other alterations and some repairs. His weather-beaten coat of arms still enhances his work.

 

Further repairs, alterations and extensions were made in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and a mansion was added by the Rev. C.G. Vernon Harcourt between 1822 and 1871. While doing this he renewed practically everything and incorporated the ground floor of the tower as a wing. In 1934 the Church Commissioners sold the building to Angus Watson of Newcastle who, with the cooperation of the Newcastle City Council, founded a children's convalescent home there as a useful memorial to his wife Ethel. This lasted until 1986, when it was put on the market.

 

The Rev. Thomas Sharp, Rothbury rector from 1720 to 1758, was one of the trustees appointed in 1737 to administer Lord Crewe's charity trust in Bamburgh. He was interested also in the 'occult science of astrology', which in those days had a touch of basic astronomy in it. To give work to Rothbury masons, and quite coincidentally to advance his hobby, he had a tall round observation tower built near his home. This 'Sharp's Folly' still exists. His son, John, was in his time rector of Hartburn, Archdeacon of Northumberland and, from 1758 to his death in 1792, the most active of all the Bamburgh trustees.

Another old postcard of Whitton Tower.

Whitton Tower is currently up for sale, at a price of offers over £600,000. I have cheekily asked to be send a copy of the sales particulars, explaining my interest in castles and tower houses, particularly of Northumberland. If I am sent them, I will scan the details and post them here.

It appears that the Whitton Tower is not part of the sales package. Just the adjoining rectory (which is a fine building).

The sales particulars have come through, so I have scanned them for here - page by page.

 

WhittonTower-SalesParticulars1.pdf

 

WhittonTower-SalesParticulars2.pdf

 

WhittonTower-SalesParticulars3.pdf

 

WhittonTower-SalesParticulars4.pdf

 

WhittonTower-SalesParticulars5.pdf

 

WhittonTower-SalesParticulars6.pdf

 

WhittonTower-SalesParticulars7.pdf

 

WhittonTower-SalesParticulars8.pdf

 

And the floorplans as a separate file attachment for those who want to have them.

 

 

Targer, I was not aware that the actual old tower did not form part of the property that was up for sale. I had assumed, perhaps incorrectly, that this was the area shown at the bottom of the floorplan. I will see if I can find out why the old tower is separate, and what is happening to that portion of the building.