BOTHAL CASTLE

Northumberland

This handsome and solid Castle stands overlooking the River Wansbeck.  It was originally a motte and bailey Castle dating to around 1150 when it was founded by Richard Bertram.  In 1343 Robert Bertram received licence to crenellate and the great Gatehouse was built where the motte once stood.  After the Battle of Neville Cross (1346) Robert Bertram captured the Earl of Wigtown and William Douglas, but he allowed the Earl to escape and spent the next year in the Tower of London.

Robert was eventually restored to his property and died in 1362 passing the Castle to his daughter, Helen, who married Robert Ogle.  Their son, Robert, didn't inherit until the death of Helen's fourth husband in 1405 whereupon he immediately passed the Castle to his second son, John, who assumed the old family name of Bertram.

One day after Robert died in 1410 his eldest son, also Robert, aggrieved at having been passed over in favour of the younger John, arrived at Bothal and laid siege to the Castle for four days, eventually taking it and occupying it for some months before being forced to leave.  When John Bertram took possession of the Castle it was in a sorry state and the family spent the next thirty years repairing it.

The Castle passed through a succession of owners between the departure of the last Ogle (around 1628) and various towers and sections of wall were destroyed in the early 1800s when "restoration" work was carried out.

The Castle is private, but permission to view can usually be obtained by writing beforehand.

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