Coupland Castle

Coupland Castle stands in the village of Coupland, six kilometres north-west of Wooler in Northumberland. It is a Grade I listed tower house built after 1584 with later additions. The main block rises three storeys high and carries a small projecting tower up its south wall. The entrance is marked by the date 1594 cut into the door jamb. Rubble stone of mixed types forms the walls beneath a slate roof. The tower carries traces of its owners across four centuries. A fireplace bears the initials GW 1615 MW, thought to be George and Mary Wallis. An upper spiral staircase was designed for a left-handed defender, and a ghost reputedly haunted the Court Room until an exorcism in 1925. In 1713 Sir Chaloner Ogle bought the property; he had earlier commanded HMS Swallow against the pirate Bartholomew Roberts at the Battle of Cape Lopez in 1722. Visitors find the tower’s three storeys and attic open to inspection. The 19th-century extension adds a two-storey house of three bays adjoining the tower. A three-bedroom cottage and a lodge sit within the estate, along with a series of outbuildings. The surrounding village of Coupland offers quiet lanes and views across the Northumberland countryside.