Both the
second and the third earls of Northumberland fell in battle for the Red
Rose. Warkworth, according to the chronicle of John Warkworth, was one
of the castles which the Lancastrians retained after the defeat of
Towton in 1461, and ` vytaled and stuffed both with Englischemenne,
Frenschemenne, and Scottesmenne ; by the which castelles thei hade the
moste party of alle Northumberlond.'
N However, on the 8th of August of that year Edward IV.
appointed Robert Ogle steward and constable for life of the lordships of
Alnwick, Warkworth, and Prudhoe, and all other manors and lands that had
belonged to the late earl of Northumberland,
N and on the 10th of August, 1462, the king granted the castle
manor and lordship of Warkworth to his brother George, duke of Clarence.
N In the following December, Warkworth was the headquarters of
the king-making earl of Warwick, from which he directed the sieges of
Bamburgh, Alnwick, and Dunstanburgh, then in the possession of the
Lancastrians. ` My lord of Warwyk,' writes John Paston the youngest to
his brother John Paston the younger from Newcastle on the 10th of that
month, lythe at the castyll of Warcorthe, but iij myle owt of Alnewyk,
and he rydyth dayly to all thes castelys for to overse the segys ; and
if they want vataylys, or any other thyng, he is redy to pervey it for
them to hys power. The kyng comandyd my lord of Norfolk for to condyth
vetaylys and the ordynans owt of new castyll on to Warcorthe castyll, to
my lord of Warwyk ; and so my lord of Norfolk comandyd Syr John Howard,
Syr William Peche, Syr Robert Chamberlyen, Rafe Ascheton, and me,
Calthorp and Gorge, and othyr, for to go forthe with the vytalys and
ordynans on to my lord of Warwyk ; and so we wer with my lord of Warwyk
with the ordynans and the vytalys yesterdaye.'
N The Lords Crumwell, Grey of Codnor, and Wenlock, were at
Warkworth with the earl of Warwick at about this time,
N nor does it appear that Warkworth ever fell again into the
hands of the Lancastrians.
On the 27th of May, 1464, Warwick's brother, John
Nevill, Lord Mountagu, the victor of Hexham, was created earl of
Northumberland.
N Warkworth may have been practically entrusted to Mountagu in
his capacity of warden of the Marches, for on the 7th of December
(1464-1469), under the style of 'the earle of Northumberland and Lord
Mountague, wardin,' he writes 'at my castle att Warkworth' to Sir
John Mauleverer, desiring him to cause Thomas Wade and Richard Croft to
cease threatening to beat or slay the servants of Sir William Plumpton.
N
On the 27th of October, 1469, Henry Percy, the
eldest son of the third earl of Northumberland, swore fealty to Edward
IV. at Westminster, and was consequently released from confinement in
the Tower.
N The following spring the duke of Clarence engaged with the
earl of Warwick in a conspiracy for the restoration of Henry VI. ; and
on the 2nd of March, 1470, Warkworth and other forfeited estates of the
Percies which had been granted to them appear to have been resumed by
Edward IV.
N John Nevill is said to have surrendered his title of earl of
Northumberland, and on the 25th of March he was advanced to the
marquisate of Montagu.
N The next day the custody of all hereditaments which had
belonged to the third earl of Northumberland, and had recently been
possessed by the duke of Clarence and earl of Warwick, was entrusted by
Edward IV. to Sir Henry Percy,
N and he was soon afterwards appointed warden of the East and
Middle Marches.
N In the September of the same year the restoration of Henry
VI. was actually effected, and while it lasted Sir Henry Percy naturally
bore his father's title. The battle of Barnet, 14th April, 1471,
replaced Edward IV. on the throne ; but though Percy had, owing to the
complications of his position with regard to the marquis of
Mountagu, who had turned Lancastrian, passively, at any rate, aided
Edward's return, he was not styled earl of Northumberland by the
Yorkists till August, 1471.
N
That same month Sir Henry Percy, the lord's
cousin, arrived at Warkworth on his affairs in the company of Sir John
Pikering and Robert Foster. The earl's household followed, and remained
at the castle during November and December. Roger Widdrington was then
constable and John Smothing, janitor.
N The next year the earl appears to have married Maud Herbert.
It was deemed prudent to settle Warkworth and other manors on the young
countess, and her chaplain took seisin of it in July. Every preparation
was made for the young couple taking up their abode on the banks of the
Coquet. The mill was improved, the barn-yard was covered with houses for
the lord's corn, the fishery was taken into hand, and many pastures and
meadows formerly let were now reserved. The gutters of the castle were
cleaned,
N the walls of the slaughter-house repaired, and John Frost
and his fellows roofed the lord's grange and the ox-house in six days,
at 4d. a day among them. A key was bought of Thomas Lorymer for `the
fish-house within the castle'; in this there were at Michaelmas one
hundred and seventy salt salmon, and one hundred and sixty salt grilse,
in the accountant's keeping. The earl's hounds
N were, by his order, held in readiness for him in December,
1472. The straw of the tithe corn was used as litter for the oxen and
horses, and for `beds in the castle.' The household, however, brought
their own beds with them.
N
During the two following
years, Ralph Bayllye, the castle grieve, thrice rode to Rock, Embleton,
and Blyth to buy corn for the household. William Thomson and John Walker
received 8d. for cleaning the great hall and the donjon.
L A rope
L was purchased for ringing the bells of the chapel, and an
ell of linen cloth for mending the conduit of water ;L
the bucket was pulled up
L and repaired. Thomas Tumour began making a ` siphorum 'N
of ash and other necessary jars for the various offices
of the household in April, 1474. The earl remained at Warkworth till the
December of that year. Thirty salt grilse were left in the larder,
twenty of these being rotten and of little value, were given as the
lord's alms to the poor.L
On the 18th of April, 1475, the earl, being at Warkworth, received
William Johnson, a Scot, to be an English subject.N
On the 22nd of August, 1477, he bestowed there an annuity of £4 on
Thomas Alnwick, a young scholar of the schools of Oxford, and on the
28th of the same month, one of 40s. during pleasure, on George Swan,
tumbler.
N Two years later Godwin Lampleugh (probably Gawen Lampley of
Warkworth, who had been one of the last to stand by Henry VI. at
Bamburgh in 1464)
N appears as constable of the castle. Smothing was still
janitor, John Bonour was gardener of the lord's garden, and Thomas
Barker was chaplain. Twelve beasts provided for the household were
grazing in the park with three horses belonging to the countess and `the
cow of the lord's eldest son,' then little more than a year old, having
been born, perhaps in the castle, on the 13th of January, 1478.
In 1480 John Strodir was employed to buy oxen and sheep for
the earl's expedition into Scotland with an armed force in August. This
advanced no further than Jedburgh. Wine was taken from Warkworth to
Alnwick 'against the coming of the sister of the king of Scotland,' an
incident in the weary diplomacy of the period. James Bell, one of the
earl's trumpeters, received 15s. a year ; Robert Spencer, the porter at
the outer gate, was paid 2d. a day. Stone was brought from Birling
quarry for the repair of the castle and for new work. Five waggon-loads
of fuel from Acklington park were consumed at the lord's foundry in
casting brass for the use of the household. Oats
and peas were ground at the mill for the lord's hounds, and by his
verbal order to the vicar of Warkworth, a woman named ` Bondeland,' who
died there on the 1 st of January, was buried at the cost of 3s. 4d.
Early in the reign of Henry VII. trees were felled at Shilbottle for the
works of the castle. Lancelot Hesylrigge, the constable, paid by the
lord's directions 10s. 8d. for making anew fourteen feet of glass in the
windows where most required ; 13d. was laid out in iron for the bands
and `les gelnewes';
N the glazier provided 4 pounds of solder and 100 `glassenayle.'
A tiler and his man repaired the stone roof of the porter's lodge, and
the roofs of the house over the well and of other houses in the castle.
They covered `the lord's stable within the castle,' and cleaned the
gutters and leads of all the towers. A great cleaning of the hall and of
the chambers of the lord and the lady, and other chambers and houses
took place, in anticipation of the earl's arrival in August, 1480.
L
White straw was brought for the beds, and rushes for
strewing in the hall and chambers.
Alarm at the appearance of Lambert Simnel and the expiry of
the truce with Scotland perhaps caused the special allowance of 6s. `
for watching within the castle' made to Heselrigge as constable by the
earl's orders; 6d. was expended on one great lock with a key for the
door of a chamber within the castle called ` Crake ferguse '; 17s. 4d.
was paid for carpenter's work, and building the walls of the ` slaughter
howse' and roofing, and plastering it. In August, 1487, the earl was at
Newcastle in attendance on Henry VII., who had come north himself to
punish Simnel's adherents. Thirty salmon were supplied from Warkworth
for the use of the earl's foreign household on this occasion.'
General repairs of the castle and of the buildings belonging to it
outside were carried on in 1488. Three rods of new paling were erected
between the stable and the ox-house. A new gable was put in at the west
end of the stable, and thirty thraves of white straw were used for
covering it. Ten ` sersins' of bent were bought for 10d. for the purpose
of being strewn in the chambers of the castle. Edward Ratclyff was now
constable, Smothing being still janitor. The earl was at Warkworth in
October, when he ordered Henry
Ellergyll, the vicar, to be paid £6 4s., which he had disbursed in
connection with the foreign household ; 4s. 2d. was paid for the
carriage of a pair of organs from the castle to Newminster abbey.
N In April, 1489, the earl was murdered in Yorkshire. Three
letters, evidently his, `written in my castell of Warkworth,' to his
cousin, Sir Robert Plumpton, are still extant. In that of the 15th of
June (1483-8), he asks Plumpton to reconcile his servant, Thomas Saxston,
and Richard Ampleford of Spofforth.
N On the 16th of July (1483-8), he attempts the ` peacifying
of a grudge depending betwixt' Plumpton and Sir William Beckwith.
N
The letter of the 31st July (1486-8), relates to matters
connected with the administration of the lordship of Knaresborough.
N
Thomas, earl of Surrey, who came north to avenge the earl's
death, was received at Alnwick by the boy of eleven, who become fifth
earl of Northumberland ; and there, too, this Henry the Magnificent
again entertained Surrey with the marriage train of Margaret Tudor in
August, 1503. The sum of 6s. 8d. had been laid out, however, in previous
work in preparing the castle of Warkworth for the lord's coming, and
70s. 4½d. was expended in the repair of ` a tenement by the gate of the
castle,' held by Thomas Buttery, the new porter. Christopher Thrilkeld
claimed his fee as constable in 1506, but failed to produce the letters
patent for his appointment. In the year of Flodden, John Heron, then
constable, bought 26 pounds of gunpowder for the store of the castle,
and executed certain repairs, involving the outlay of 33s. 10d. Heron
was fined £7 for various trespasses by the earl's commissioners in
1517, and finally was ` exonerated ' from occupying his office at Lady
day, 1519. A new ` scutell,' called a ` bocket,' was made at the cost of
3s. 8d. for drawing the water from the well.
L A stone wall on the north side of the castle had recently
fallen down for want of repair ;L
13s. was spent on labourers taking the stones and sand from its
foundations, and 5s. each was given to the master masons of the towns of
Berwick and Hexham for their advice as to its repair.
L Two masons were engaged to point out to the labourers how
they should put the ashlars in one place and the fragile stones in
another for their preservation until the wall was reconstructed.
L The repairs were continued under the new
constable, Thomas Horsley ; in 1523 two thousand stones, called `
conyers and achillars,'
N were brought from Birling quarry, and a lime kiln was built
near the castle. During the following year, William Davye, the cattle
grieve, set sawyers, carpenters, and tilers to work at the great hall
and 'the houses called the counting house, the brew house, and the draw
well.' Some dispute seems to have arisen about this time, and Edward
Radclyffe to have been appointed constable in Horsley's stead. On the
16th of June, however, the earl gave a verbal order at Petworth that
Radclyffe's fee should be respited, and John Dent of Newcastle was fined
100s. for breaking the arrest of various persons who had been
apprehended by Horsley. At any rate, Horsley was again constable later
in the summer, when he had one ` le staier ' made, and ` the great hall
within the castle ' ` emundated ' against the coming of the duke of
Norfolk (as commissioner to negotiate the truce with Scotland, which he
concluded at Berwick on the 4th of September). John Laicock, plumber,
received £6 7s. 1d. for covering the roofs of all the towers and other
buildings. Edward Wharriour and Thomas Patenson cleared and ridded' the
` ground work ' of the stone wall, and William Mason was paid the large
sum of £6 6s. 8d. for mason work. Three loads of timber were brought
from Shilbottle wood to make windows for the chapel in the donjon.
N
There seems nothing to show that the fifth earl of
Northumberland, who so carefully regulated his baronial establishments
at Wressil and Leconfield, was ever much at Warkworth himself. It became
the favourite residence of his son, the sixth earl, Henry the Unthrifty,
during his tenure of the office of lord warden of the Marches. In 1528
Thomas Horsley the constable was allowed 45s.10d. for the maintenance of
the hostages given by the men of North Tyne as security for their good
behaviour. On the 3rd of September, 1529,
the earl wrote from the castle to the duke of Norfolk to say that he had
put to death all the Scots of Teviotdale that came into his hands except
three, and that the proclamation he had just made was well observed in
the Marches, ` appearing thereby unto me that they dread more the pain
of money than their lives.
N The next year he here confirmed the charters of Hulne priory
on the 4th of August,N
and on the 3rd of December, 1531, granted to his chaplain Sir George
Lancastre ` myn armitage bilded in a rock of stone within my parke of
Warkworth.
N His ` chariotman ' Richard Stevinson bought that year a
quarter of oats for 3s. 4d. from Thomas Symson of Acklington for the
horses of his chariot at Warkworth.
N He released, at Hackney, on the 26th of March, 1532, the
abbot and convent of Alnwick from the obligation imposed on them by the
second earl in 1427 of maintaining a chantry priest in Warkworth castle
and from the penalties they incurred for not having done them in his
grandfather's, his father's, and his own times.
N William Hepel took a cart load of tents from the castle to
Shilbottle wood in August, 1532. The household returned to Warkworth in
September. John Williamson, the controller, bought seventeen loads of
hay from the tenants of Thriston for the lord's horses at 2s. 4d. a
load. The tenants of Birling led four loads of slates for a new roof of
the buildings over the gate.
N
Writing to Henry VIII. from the castle on the 22nd of
October, the earl tells the king that Mark Ker had openly promised the
earl of Murray before the king of Scots ` that within five days after he
wolde burne a toune of mine within thre myle of my poore house of
Werkwourthe where I lye, and gif me light to put on my clothes at
mydnyght.' Thirty light horsemen despatched by Ker to Whittle on
Shilbottle Moor found no fire there, and they had forgotten to bring any
flints or tinder with them. They seized a poor woman near her travail,
and shouting, ` Where we cannot give the laird
light, yet we shall do this in spite of him,' dealt her three
mortal wounds on the head.
N Northumberland made a raid to Dunglas near Dunbar, the like
of which had not been seen in winter for two centuries.
N The Scots threatened a formal invasion, and though they did
not carry this out, the whole council repaired to the lord warden at
Warkworth on February 21st, 1533. On the 3rd of March the earl went to
Alnwick abbey ; two loads of his ` betri '
N and other stuffs were carted there, and even some lime.
N
The ` Scotteshe imbassetours' (Sir James Colvile of East
Weems and Master Adam Otterburn of Auldham, who concluded a truce at
Newcastle on the 1st of October) passed some time at Warkworth ; Robert
Horsley, the castle grieve, paid the wife of William More 20d. for
horse-bread
N and oats for them. Between the 2nd and the 29th of the month
William Fynche the miller (who seems to have been of considerable
assistance to the earl in his pecuniary straits) delivered 68 gallons of
beer to Robert Errington, the under butler,
N at 3d. a gallon by tally. Extensive preparations were,
however, made for brewing at home. A falce botom' was fixed in the
brew-house ; two vats and twelve hogsheads were bought from Edward
Baxster of Newcastle, and a cooling vat from Thomas Weghtman of Eshet. A
master mason named Blayerde was employed to take down the fire-place
L in the great chamber in the donjon and make it anew. Divers
tables, `fisnames,'
N and pictures of saints were taken from Warkworth to Topcliff
by Robert Hayle. The six nags of the lord, two horses of Thomas Wharton,
thirty-three horses of the lord's servants, and four horses of his `
trumpettes' were allowed to run summer and winter in Acklington park.
N
In May and June, 1534, George Chamber, William Vase, Edward
Skelton, John Crawster, and six other masons, with eight labourers, were
employed in taking down and rebuilding the stone wall between the
Montagu tower and the great gateway.
N Sly, the smith, got 2d. for mending the key of the great
gate, and new keys were furnished both for the great gate and
the wicket. Robert Mylne made a new drawbridge
L with timber from Acklington park for the sum of 6s.
8d. Two frames were sawn for the armoury and the back of it trussed up ;
a forge was placed there. New joists were put in the old chamber over
the porter's lodge ;L
the lord's chamber was provided with a double door, and a `freestone'
was set up in the larder. A bed and a `writing-bourd' were made for the
controller's clerk. The roofs of the great barn, the `dungeon' and `the
house where the tents lay,' were attended to. A thorn hedge was made for
keeping the ` boscus ' in the college of Warkworth ; the roof of the
hay-house
N there was repaired, and Thomas Monk received 4d. for putting
whins in the windows of the college. Afterwards George Harrison, Edward
Sanderson, and Thomas Winslow were employed by contract to take the wood
out of the college up into the hall of the donjon. Robert Wharriour and
William Patenson were absent fourteen days riding to Topcliff with `
disgisingstuf.'
In 1534-1535, John Theobald, farmer of a portion of the
demesne, received 3s. 4d. for expenses in connection with the horses of
the 'imbacetours' of Scotland.' John Lyon, the farmer of the common
oven, claimed 33s. 10d. ` for the board of the lord's servants and
prisoners.'
A short time before his death at Hackney, on the 29th of
June, 1537, the unhappy earl gave his estates to Henry VIII., much in
the same way as Agricola constituted Domitian his co-heir. He seems to
have hoped that some day they might be restored to the family of his
brother, Sir Thomas Percy, who had been attainted and executed for his
conduct subsequent to the Pilgrimage of Grace.
N
Sir James Laybourne, with Thomas Holt and others, proceeded
to Warkworth in August to take possession on behalf of the Crown. They
reported :
| The castell of Warkworth ys
a verey propre pyle, strongly buylt alle of stone, standing
opon the see syde, nye unto the towne of Warkworth, and iij
partes of the same invyroned wt the water of
Cokett, having an innerwarde and an outerwarde, and a fayer
strong dongeon towre in the myddes thereof, wt
many goodly towres and other edyfyces, and moche propre
lodgyng and howses of offyce and other necessarye rowmes in
the same, properly devysed and veraye commodyously sett
forth, and alle covered wt leade, excepte the
halle stables and other buyldynges, whiche be covered wt
sclatte, and ys in metely good state of reparations, and
Cuthbert Carnaby nowe occupyeth as constable of the said
castell by letters patentes of the said late erle for terme
of his lyff, albeyt Thomas Horseley makyth clayme to the
same offyce by reason of a former grante. |
On the 20th of the
month, Robert Southey, who was one of the party, wrote to inform
Cromwell that after most diligent search they could find nothing of
value at Warkworth belonging to the late earl, `except chapel stuf, 200
almain rivetts with as many bows and 400 halberds, ready to be conveyed
away.' These Southey placed in Alnwick castle in charge of the abbot of
Alnwick by indenture, till the king's pleasure was known.
N
A further survey was made in the spring of 1538 by Richard
Bellysys, Robert Collingwood, and John Horsley, who were commissioned to
see what repairs were requisite for 'gud sure holdyng and keeping' five
of the king's castles in Northumberland :
|
THE VIEU OF
THE CASTELL OF WARKWORTH.
N |
The wich castell is a very propere howse and has within
it a gudly draw well, a payre of yron gaytts and a postern
gayt of yron. And the said castell is in good reparacion
saveynge this thyngs followynge.
Fyrste, ther is a new wall at the est syde of the
gaythouse wych wall is not fully fynessyd and by estimacion
xxli wolde fynesse it.
It. ther is a fayre kychynge, wich wantts a part of the
coverynge, and a fother and a half of leyde wold amend it
sufficyantly. For the plumber's wages xviijs.
It. ther is a fayre brewhowse and a bakhouse coveryd
with sclatts and two fayre stabylls with garners a bove
thame, coveryd also with sclatts, wich howsse must be
poynntyd with lym, and amendyt with sclatts in dyvers places
liijs iiijd.
It. ther is a marvellus proper dongeon of viij towres;
all joyned in on howse togethers and well coveryd with leyd,
saveynge on
N of the said viij towres which must have for
mendyng of fylletts and webbes
N half a fother of leyd. For the plumber's wages
xijs.
It. the gret tymbere
N the dynynge chamber and a littyll chamber over
the gaytts wher the erle lay hymself : mych of thes thre
chambers royffs must be new castyn, the leyd of thaym. For
it raynes very mych in theym. And two fothers of leyd to the
leyds, that is of the said royffs wold amend theym
sufficyantly ; and for the charges of plumber's wages vjli.
It. for makynge of a horsse mylne xli.
|
Sum totale xlli iijs iiijd. |
| And over and
above the said |
} |
|
| sum ther must
be |
iiij fother
of leyd |
| for the said
castell |
|
|
The constable of Warkworth was then Cuthbert Carnaby,
esquire, who, with his servants, Leonard Myres, Robert Kellett, and
Robert Davison, and George Carr, keeper of Warkworth park, attended the
muster held at Alnwick on the 17th and 18th of April, 1538.
N He was also the king's receiver, and as
such laid out £15 17s. 7d. that year on the repair of divers
towers, the great stable and other buildings within the castle, as also
on the embattlement of the south wall and the repair of the great barn.
L
About this time John Leland, the Antiquary Royal, made his
tour through the North of England. 'Werkeworthe castell,' he tells us, 'stondythe
on the southe syde of Coquet watar, it is well maynteyned and is large,
it longed to the erle of northomberland it stondithe on a highe hill the
whiche for the more parte is includyd with the ryver, and is about a
mile from the se, ther is a plety (sic) towne, and at the towne
ende is a stone bridge withe a towre on it.'
N
The sanitary condition of prisoners in the dungeons of
mediæval castles must have been terrible in the extreme. On the 8th of
December, 1538, the council of the North write from York to Henry VIII.
: ` Dyvers of the prisoners latelye takene by Sir Reynolde Carnabye,
knight, and ymprisoned within youre castell of Warkworthe be there dede
of the plague. And amongis others oone Jerrye Charleton, alais
Jerrye Topping, the oonlye accuser of John Herone of Chipchas, and of
suche others the murderers of Roger Fenewike, late murdered in Tynedale,
is yet leying, and is indicted of sundrie robries.'
N
Cuthbert Carnaby accounts in 1540 for the expenditure of £4 18s. Iod. on
repairs to the castle.
N In 1541 the sum of 116s. 2d. was laid out on repairs to
divers edifices within the castle and to the 'dongeon,' being the wages
of bricklayers, slaters, and carpenters, together with the ` emundacion
' of the dongeon ' against the arrival of the duke of Norfolk.
N
In spite of the recent plague among the prisoners, Warkworth must have
been considered exceptionally healthy. During the serious outbreak of
'a hot and dangerous ague ' at Alnwick in
1543, Lord Parr of Kendal, the brother of the last and most fortunate
wife of Henry VIII., then warden of the Marches, chose Warkworth on this
very account for his residence. ` As the place moost holsome and clere
from all enfections,' he writes from Newcastle on the 24th of May, ` I
ame determyned for a tyme to make myne abode at the kingis majestes
castell of Warkwourthe, but foure myles at the moost from Alnewik, the
whiche being somme thing decayed and out of reperation, I have partelie
caused to bee apperelled and put in redines, and my preparations to be
conveyed thiddre, whiche I doubte not shalbee fullie perfourmed and
furnished within thies eight daies ; whiche done, I entende to repaire
thiddre, and there to reside, and from thens to remove to the castell of
Alnewik, as the infections or infirmities there shall sease, and
thoccasions shall require.'
In preparing for Lord Parr's visit Robert Horsley, the
seneschal of Warkworth, laid out 15s. 2d. on the 'emundacion' of the
great hall, the kitchen, and divers chambers. It is curious that while
Norfolk in 1541 occupied the donjon, Parr in 1543 seems to have chosen
to reside in the range of buildings connected with the great hall.
Between the 17th of May and the 11th of August, a further sum of £40 was
spent on repairs to the houses, brew-houses, towers, and buildings
within the castle, Parr himself vouching for the items of this
expenditure. In addition to this, £12 12s. 9d. was employed under his
directions between the 7th of July and the 25th of October in paying
carpenters, masons, smiths, painters, and carvers, and for the repairing
of tents and pavilions.
Sir Ralph Eure, a brave young soldier, the son of the
deputy-warden Sir William, prays the earl of Hertford, in a letter dated
Warkworth, the 7th of June, 1544, that his father being ` somewhat
crosside may remain at home this time, and that he may conduct the
exploit' in his stead. He also would be glad if
his lordship could spare him `his trompyte,' and if it were
possible that he might have him on Monday morning by six or seven of the
clock, for ` it should be a grete encouragement for our men and a
discourage for the Scotts'
N Jedburgh and Kelso were burnt in this ` exploit,' but Sir
Ralph closed his brilliant career on Ancrum Moor in the following
February.
After Somerset's return to England from his victory at Pinkey
Cleugh, William, Lord Grey of Wilton, whom he had left as the king's
lieutenant on the Borders, wrote to him from Berwick on the 18th of
October, 1547, announcing his intention of removing to Warkworth till
the spring :
| I fynde
in the litle tyme that I have lyen upon thies frontiers such
a skarcyte folowing bothe of horsemeate and vittayles that
in case I lye here all this wynter with the men at armes and
demi launces, in the spring of the yeare when for service
sake we must perforce lye here it shall not be had to
furnyshe us. Wherfore I meane (yf your grace shalbe so
pleased) for this depe of wynter to remove to Warkworth
castle, and towardes the spring to repayre hither agayne. I
trust your grace woll not conceave that I move this for my
owne ease but for the reasonable causes aforesaid.
N |
Accordingly, beginning with the 20th of December, 1547, and
ending with the 20th of April, 1548, most of Lord Grey's correspondence
is dated from Warkworth castle.
N The administration of the Borders was in great financial
straits, but John Uvedale, the treasurer for the garrisons in the north,
was enabled to inform the Protector Somerset from Newcastle on the 15th
of December, 1547, that he had appointed £500 to be delivered by his
servant at Warkworth castle, and John Brende, the muster-master for the
northern ports, despatched a letter to the Protector from Warkworth on
the 9th of April, 1548, with the intelligence that ` the mariners had
been mustered by the lord lieutenant and paid by Mr. Uvedale.' In Sir
Robert Bowes' Book of the State of the Marches, Warkworth is mentioned
in 1550 as one of the royal castles going rapidly to decay on account of
no annual repairs being done to them. John Shafto was then constable.
Queen Mary having, on the 1st of May, 1557, created Thomas Percy, nephew
of the sixth earl, earl of Northumberland by a new patent, restored to
him Warkworth among other estates of his family. On the 20th of January,
1558, he informs the queen in a letter from Warkworth : `Yesterday I saw
six sail of ships pass towards Scotland, seeming to be those you
advertised me of.'' Writing thence again on the 30th of April, he gives
her an account of how he had
devised with his brother
on the Thursday previous to burn Langton in the Merse,
where the lieutenant of Scotland was then lodged, and of the fray with
Lord Home which arose from this raid.
N After the accession of Elizabeth, he concluded with the earl
of Bothwell a deed for abstinence of war at Warkworth on March the 29th,
N and he acknowledges from there, on the 13th of May, 1559,
the instructions he had received for settling certain articles about
Scotland in accordance with the Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis.
N
By direction of Earl Thomas, George Clarkson made a survey of
Warkworth in 1567,
N which furnishes a full and most valuable account of the
state of the castle :
The
castell of Warkworth ys situate one the ryver of Cockett,
one the sowth syde of the same ryver ys one litle mount
partly mad by nature of the ground with the course of the
said ryver one the west syde and on theast and north sydes
with moytes casten and mad by men's worke, and one the sowth
part ys the waye and passadge to and from the sayd castell
by two severall wayes, one of the weh two
passadges were good to be mad use, that is the waye that
goyth towardes the sowth by the loyninge were most expedyent
thendes of the said loyninge strongly ditched casten or made
wth stone wall, and the hye streate to be made to
goo thorow the demaynes and the same casten in a loyning
there wth a stronge quickwood hedge casten of
eyther syde the stones of thold cawseye taken awaye and a
cawseye newly made wthin that ground of the saide
demaynes viz. from the northende of a medowe close called
Tybbettes close
N eastward to one hye waye that goyth to the gate
of the demaynes, and alonge the same waye to the sayd gate wch
might be done wth small chardges, and that done,
the parke wold not onely be on that syde well inclosed the
dear have feadinge nighe the gate of the sayd castell but
also yt shold be a great strength to the sayd parke, castell
and groundes joyninge upon the same a better passadge than
that that nowe ys in all respectes, and hurt to no person,
so that the same were well and orderlye done or made.
The buyldinge of the sayd castell one the sowthe parte, is
thre towres, viz., the gatehouse towre in the midle therof,
wch is thentrye at a drawe bridge over a drye
moyte, and in the same towre ys a p'son and a porter lodge,
and over the same a fare lodginge called the counstables
lodginge, and in the courtayne betwene the gatehouse and
west towre in the corner beynge round of diverse squares
called Cradyfargus is of
N a fare and comely buyldinge a chappell and
diverse houses of office one the ground and above the great
chambre and the lordes lodginges all wch be nowe
in great decaye aswell in the covertour beynge lead, as also
in tymbre and glas and wthowt some help of
reparacions it will come to utter ruyne.
Turnynge north from that southwest corner in that courtayne
streatchinge to another litle towre called the posterne
towre ys : thold hall wch was verie fare and nowe
by reason yt was in decay ys vnrooffed and the tymbre taken
downe lyinge in the sayd castell in the same square a
buttrye, pantrye, and ketchinge, wch are now also
in utter decay and at thentrye into the hall for the porche
therof ys raysed a litle square towre wherin is two chambres,
and on the foresyd in stone portrayed a lyon verie
wrokemanly wrought and therfor called the lyon towre the
same ys covered wth lead and in good reparacions.
Thother towre called the
posterne towre is two lodginges under wch goith
owt a posterne and the saine ys covered wth lead and in good
reparacions.
N
In thest syde of the great hall was ane ile sett owt wth
pyllers woh yet standeth and is covered wth lead.
ffrom the gatehouse towre to the towre in theast corner
called . . . . .
N ys no buyldinges but onely a courtayne wall fare
and of a neuve buyldinge and in yt towre ys a stable one the
ground and thre lodginges above the same ys covered wth lead
and in good reparacions.
Turnynge ffrom that towre towardes the doungeon north is a
nother litle turrett in the wall, ys sett upon that
courteyne wall-stables and gardners over the same covered wth
slate and in good reparacions.
Over the courte from the sayd towre called the posterne towre
to the sayd turrett is the fundacion of a house wch
was ment to have been a colledge and good parte of the walls
were builde, wch if yt had bene finished and made
a parfit square the same had bene a division hetwene the
sayd courte the lodginges before recyted and the doungeon.
The buildinge that was mad of the sayd collidge is now taken
awaye savinge that certayne walls under the ground thereof
yet remayne, and at theast parte therof is now a brewehouse
and bakhouse covered wth slaite and in good
reparacions.
In the sayd courte ys a drawell wch seruethe the
holle house of water.
The doungeon is in the north parte of the scyte of the sayd
castell sett upon a litle mount highyer then the rest of the
courte . . steppes of a grease
N befor ye enter to yt, and the same is buyld as a
foure square and owt of evrye square one towre all wch
be so quarterlye squared together, that in the sight evrye
parte appeareth fyve towres verie fynelye wrought of mason
worke and in the same conteyned aswell a fare hall kytchinge
and all other houses of offices verie fare and aptely
placed, as also great chambre chapell and lodginges for the
Torde and his treyne.
In the midle therof is a peace voyd wch is called
a lanterne, wch both receyveth the water from
diverse spowtes of the lead and hath his conveyance for the
same, and also gevith lighte to certaine lodgings in some
partes, and on the parte of the same at the toppe ys raysed
of a good hight above all the houses a turrett called the
watch house upon the toppe wherof ys a great vyewe to be had
and a fare prospect aswell towardes the sea as all pties of
the land.
In the north parte of the sayd doungeon ys portrayed a lyon
wrought in the stone very workmanly.
The castell is envyroned one thre partes wth the
said ryver and of the north parte in an angle wthin
the sayd water is situate a towne called the borowgh of
Warkworth and the parishe churche and at the northend
thereof a bridge over the water and a litle towre buyld on
thende of the ssyd bridge, wher a pare of gates ys hanged
and nowe the sayd towre ys wthowt rooff and
cover, and wthowt amendement will in short tyme
utterlye decay . yt shall be therefore very requisite that
the towre be wthall spead repared and the gaites
hanged upe wch shallbe a gret savefety and
comoditye for the towne. |
| |
Clarkson goes on to point out the poverty of the burgesses of
Warkworth, and the necessity there was to benefit and help them, in
order that they might be able to provide lodgings, for `the gret resort
ys alwaye of gentlemen as also of others of meane degre to his lp. which
wilbe rather the more tyme of his lp's abode in the castell of
Warkworth.'
Two years after Clarkson completed this survey, Earl Thomas
joined the earl of Westmorland in the unfortunate rising of 1569. While
the earls marched south with the intention of re-establishing the
ancient faith, secret warning was given to Northumberland's servants to
be ready in defensive array at an hour's notice. Great numbers of
persons were put into Alnwick and Warkworth castles to keep them
forcibly, as was suspected, against the queen's peace.' Sir John
Forster, warden of the Middle Marches, consequently made a proclamation,
dated November the 18th, before the gates of both castles ordering every
person to depart and leave the castle immediately under pain of being `
taken knowen and used as a traytour against her majestie.'
N `If Alnwick arid Warkworth were taken it would be,' he
pointed out to the earl of Sussex in a letter from Alnwick, the 25th of
November, 1569, `a great stay to this country and the earl would have no
retreat here.'
N It was with some difficulty that he obtained possession of
them, by reason that they were garded with a good number of armed men of
the earl's servants and tenants.
N He was anxious that both Alnwick and Warkworth should be
attached to his charge of the Middle Marches.
N He subsequently mentions among other Jesuits who had taken
refuge in Scotland `one Shepparde that said masse in the earl of
Northumberlande's castle at Warkworthe.'
N
On the 19th of May, 1570, Edmund Hall and William
Hombertson, the royal commissioners for enquiring into the estates of
those compromised in the rising of the previous year, were at Warkworth.
N ` The castle of Warkeworth,' they report, 'ys wythin fyve
myles of Alnewyke towarde the southest wythin one quarter of a myle of
the sea . and ys very well buylded all of stone and covered wyth lead .
and is scytuat upon the topp of a hyll on the south and est of the ryver
of Coker ;
N the hall and other houses of offyce late taken downe by
therle of Northumberland meanyng to reedify the same ageyn whiche ys
undone and no provysion remaynyng there towardes the same buyldyng.'
Thomas Radcliffe, earl of Sussex, the president of the
council of the North, fixed his residence at Warkworth castle in the
summer of 1570. On the 15th of August he wrote from there to Lord
Herries charging him with maintaining Leonard Dacre and conspiring with
him against Elizabeth.
N The next day he announced his intention of proceeding to the
west Borders to avenge himself on those who were openly supporting the
English refugees.
After
wasting Annandale and sacking Dumfries he was again at Warkworth
on the 8th of September. Lord Hunsdon was with him on the 10th. From the
14th
N to the 16th he was engaged there in the tangled diplomacy of
Scottish affairs, negotiating at the same time with the duke of Chatelherault
and the party of the queen of Scots and with the earl of Lennox and the
supporters of the young king. He was still at Warkworth on the 28th.
N
Lord Hunsdon, the first cousin of Queen Elizabeth and one of the noblest
and bravest men ever employed on the Borders, may have noticed, during
the time that he was at Warkworth with the earl of Sussex, the way in
which Sir John Forster was plundering the castle. He wrote the following
spirited protest against Sir John's destructive avarice, to Burghley,
which that statesman has docketed ` April, 1572 ' :
| I knowe not what awtoryte ys commytted to Sir John Forster, of th' erle
of Northumberland's lands and howsys, nor what therof he hathe purchasyd
; and therfor, when any complaynts come too me, I can say nothinge. But
he taks upon hym too have the rule of all, and so comands what he lyst
; and thys I assure your lo. that ytt ys grete pytty too see how
Alnevyke castell and Warkworth are spoyled by hym and hys. And yf sum
order be nott taken for the stay therof, whensoever hyr majestie shall
have occasyon too send any lieutenant ynto thys cuntry, she shal be att
no smale charges to repayre the same. And for the abbey that stands yn
Hull parke, he bathe neythar lefte lede, glase, ierne, nor so muche as
the pypes of lede that convayd the water to the howse ; but he bathe
broughte ytt too hys owne howse, and as I am credabley informed, he
meanes utterly too deface bothe the uther howsys, Warkworth and Alnwyk,
which were grete pytty.
N |
|