Bothal Castle

Bothal Castle stands beside the River Wansbeck in a small Northumberland village of the same name. The river runs between Morpeth and Ashington, and the castle is a Scheduled Ancient Monument as well as a Grade I listed building. Its name comes from Old English and once meant simply a dwelling. Fortifications were built here before the Norman Conquest and were remodelled many times. A gate tower and parts of the curtain wall survive from the medieval period. The castle passed through notable families across the centuries. King William Rufus gave Bothal to Guy I de Balliol in 1095, and later it went to the Bertram family. In 1343 Sir Robert Bertram turned his manor into a castle with an impressive gatehouse. Through marriage it passed to the Ogle family in the 14th century, and in 1591 to the Cavendish-Bentinck family. King James stayed for two nights in 1617 on his way to Scotland. The building remains a private residence of the Cavendish-Bentinck family. Restoration work was carried out in the 19th century and the castle is in excellent repair. The Welbeck Estate Office is also housed within the castle. Though not open to the public, the exterior and surrounding grounds show the layers of its long history.