Craster Tower

Craster Tower stands near the fishing village of Craster in Northumberland. It is an 18th-century Georgian mansion built around a 14th-century pele tower. The pele tower was once four storeys high but now has three. The walls at basement level are two metres thick. The tower’s only surviving medieval window is still visible. The Craster family has owned land here since about 1278. In 1415 the pele tower belonged to Edmund Craster. The house was enlarged in 1666 with a two-storey manor. A stable block was added in 1724. In 1769 George Craster built a five-bay Georgian mansion beside the tower. The tower’s basement has a barrel vault supporting the upper floors. Thomas Wood Craster modernised the property in 1838 with architect John Dobson. The estate was sold in 1965 and later bought back by Oswin Craster and his cousins. Today the tower is divided into three residential apartments.