Cotherstone Castle

Cotherstone Castle stands in the village of Cotherstone beside the River Tees, about five kilometres north-east of Barnard Castle in County Durham. Built around 1090 as a motte and bailey castle, it was later rebuilt in stone in 1200 and licensed the following year. Today only an earth mound, a ruined wall fragment and traces of a probable fishpond remain. The site lies on private pasture land with no public path across it. The castle’s earthworks show how the original wooden defences were later strengthened with stone. The castle’s licence of 1201 marks one of the earliest recorded stone castles in the region. Its motte and bailey design reflects Norman military settlement after the Conquest. The surviving ruins include part of the curtain wall and the raised mound that once supported a wooden tower. Archaeologists have also identified traces of a fishpond, suggesting the castle had its own water supply. These features help historians piece together how the stronghold functioned in the 12th and 13th centuries. Visitors can view the remains from the lane that borders the pasture. The earth mound rises gently above the flat riverside meadows, giving a sense of the castle’s original size. The ruined wall fragment stands near the mound’s edge, showing the thickness of the stonework. From this spot the River Tees flows past on one side while farmland stretches on the other. The quiet setting contrasts with the castle’s turbulent past as a border stronghold.