Featherstone Castle

Featherstone Castle stands beside the River South Tyne, five kilometres south-west of Haltwhistle in Northumberland. The Grade I listed mansion began as a 13th-century hall house with a three-storey pele tower added in 1330. Its medieval owners, the Featherstonehaugh family, held the site through battles between England and Scotland. A Roman fortification lies only five kilometres north, part of Hadrian’s Wall built in 122 AD. The tower survived in good repair until the 17th century, when Sir William Howard enlarged the property. The house was remodelled again in the early 18th century and altered further between 1812 and 1830. In 1825, labourers near Wydon Eals uncovered log-coffins from the early medieval period. During the Second World War the estate housed Camp 18, a prisoner-of-war camp for seven thousand German officers. After 1948 the camp was dismantled and a memorial plaque was placed at its former entrance in 1982. Today the castle serves as a residential conference and activity centre for young people. Its rectangular layout centres on a courtyard with towers at each corner. The surrounding grounds include traces of the wartime camp. Visitors walk through medieval fabric and later additions while views extend across the South Tyne valley.