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Prudhoe
Castle - Corbridge, Northumberland (EH)
Prudhoe Castle commands the river crossing at Ovingham as well as the west-east road
from Carlisle to Newcastle, and looks north towards one of the Scottish invasion routes.
| This site was first occupied in the mid eleventh century with the
construction of a timber palisade. Defensive ramparts of clay and stones were added with
the arrival of Robert d'Umfraville at the end of the eleventh century. This was replaced
by a stone fortification and the building of the lower part of the gatehouse in the early
twelfth century in response to the Scottish King David's incursions and seizure of
Northumberland at the beginning of the Anarchy in 1138. |
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There is significant evidence of military activity around the castle during the
Scottish wars in the early fourteenth century. In 1307, Robert d'Umfraville IV, with
William de Ros were appointed to defend Northumberland against the King's enemies. Robert
was taken prisoner at the battle of Bannockburn in 1314 and was ransomed the following
year.
| The castle came into the possession of the Percys through marriage in 1398
but after the Percy rising of 1403 against the King, Prudhoe fell into Henry V's hands. It
passed to and from the Percy's during their rise and fall from favour and although still
in the hands of the Duke of Northumberland, it is currently managed by English Heritage. The gatehouse was built in the twelfth century with a drawbridge dividing the
barbican. The upper storey of the gatehouse was converted to a chapel in the thirteenth
century. |
Gatehouse viewed from the barbican.
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