Westhall

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Westhall

West Hall is a country house in the village of Belford in the English county of Northumberland . That with battlements reinforced house is now in private hands and is used as a farm. English Heritage has listed the house as a second-degree historic building.

history

Westhall, just northwest of the village of Belford, is accessible via a driveway from Wooler Road . It is a fortified house that was surrounded by a moat ; it is mentioned in a 15th century document as Castrum de Belford . The current country house was built in 1837 in a neo-Gothic style .

moth

It is thought, however, that there was a moth called Belford Castle in Westhall much earlier . However, the historian Philip Davis has strong doubts:

There are still earthworks , modern farm on the site of a possible moth from the 11th century. Got a tower in the 15th century. 15th century moat around the tower mentioned in Pastscape. The 1415 list mentions a castle owned by the D'Arcy family; it later fell to the Conyers and then to the Forsters and Dixons before being sold to William Clarke in the 18th century. Even if the existence of the later tower suggests that this was a property of higher status, the proximity of a strong natural location and an existing prehistoric warehouse at Chapel Craq with a medieval chapel above it suggests that this was not a mansion. Philip Davis says, “I can't see a reason to build a moth when there was a more dramatic, more defensible, yet easy-to-enter property nearby. If there was an 11th or 12th century castle in Belford, I mean the remains of the chapel indicate where it was. ”

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Westhall Courtyard Wall and Attached Outbuildings, Belford . British Listed Buildings. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
  2. ^ Robert Hugill: Road Guide to Northumberland and The Border . Andrew Reid Cie. Ltd, Newcastle upon Tyne 1931. p. 81.
  3. ↑ Monument No. 7690 . Pastscape. Historic England. English Heritage. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
  4. ↑ Belford Castle . North of the Tyne. Retrieved November 28, 2016.

Coordinates: 55 ° 36 '3.6 "  N , 1 ° 50' 16.8"  W.