Mr Tate on Harhottle Castle. 4^9 



Harbottle Castle, according to a letter addressed by Richard 

 de Umfreville, in 1221, to the Chief Justiciary of England, was 

 built by Henry II., whose reign extended from 1154 to 1189 ; 

 but the erection must have been in the early part of that 

 reign, probably about 1160. This was a great era for castle 

 building ; at that time Wark Castle was rebuilt by the King, 

 and Prudhoe and Mitford were erected by their respective 

 owners. Built at the royal expense, on the estate of a 

 vassal, there must have been special reasons for the erec- 

 tion of Harbottle Castle ; and so we are told that this castle 

 was useful, both in times of peace and of war, situated, as it 

 was, in the midst of the great waste near the marches of 

 Scotland ; and that the King had raised it there as a help 

 to the whole county of Northumberland, and to the bishop- 

 rick of Durham. 



Not long after its erection, it suffered from hostile attacks, 

 and was taken by William the Lion, when, in 1174, he 

 made a destructive inroad into Northumberland ; but Odenel 

 de Umfreville, its owner, turned the tide of war by his gal- 

 lant defence of his other castle, Prudhoe, and compelled the 

 Scots to return northward, to be ignominiously defeated be- 

 fore the walls of Alnwick Castle, where the Scottish King 

 was taken prisoner. 



As Richard, the son of Odenel, had joined the nobles who 

 resisted the tyranny of King John, his Northumberland 

 estates were confiscated in 1216, and given to Hugh de 

 Baliol ; but Henry III., five years afterwards, restored them to 

 Umfreville. Harbottle Castle had been injured and weakened 

 by the Scottish attacks, and Richard de Umfreville began to 

 repair and fortify it j but in such a manner as to excite sus- 

 picions of his fidelity. The King, therefore, commanded the 

 Sheriff" of the county to summon twelve knights to view the 

 castle, and to reduce the fortifications to the state they were 

 in previous to the war;* but, against this command, Umfreville 

 remonstrated, and urged, as reasons for its preservation, that 

 it was useful, both in time of peace and war, and had been 

 built by Henry II. ; and this remonstrance saved it from 

 demolition ; for it was so strong in 1296, that after the Scots 

 had besieged it two days, and found they could not take it, 

 they abandoned the siege, and marched on through Redes- 

 dale and Tindale to fvards Hexham, burning and wasting the 

 country, and committing horrid cruelty on the inhabitants. 

 Again was the castle threatened with destruction in 1322 ; 

 * Rot. Lit., Claus. 4, Hen, III., p. 436. 



