CHILLINGHAM CASTLE

Northumberland

Glorious Chillingham, famed for its wild white cattle (the only such in England), is all the more incredible when it was considered, in 1956, to be "impossible to save" by the Historic Buildings Council.

The Castle was started around 1344 by Thomas de Heton, and work was continued by his successors, building a Castle of the quadrangular plan, with a gatehouse and corner towers.  In 1387 the Castle was held by Alan de Heton when it was attacked by Sir Henry Heton, William Lilburn and Robert Manners who took the Castle and locked Alan in a tower.  The King ordered his release, but the Castle's occupiers refused.  A force led by Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland and John Neville (of Raby Castle) arrived at Chillingham but what subsequently occurred is unclear - all that is clear is that Alan de Heton didn't survive to see 1388.

In 1536 the Castle was attacked and the opportunity was taken thereafter to rebuild it.  Between 1558 and 1625 the Castle was reconstructed again to make it more habitable.  Yet more rebuilding was undertaken in the early-mid 1700s by the second Earl of Tankerville and again in the 1870s.  In the 1920s work was done to uncover some of the older works but by 1933 the Castle was no longer a residence.

In 1956 the survey was undertaken which resulted in the "impossble to save" comment.  In 1976 a remark was made to Lady Tankerville that she should sell the Castle for commercial use.  She replied she would sooner see it crumble to dust than be put to such a use.

In 1981 Berwick Council served an emergency repairs notice on the owners and in 1982 the Earl of Tankerville finally sold the Castle to Sir Humphrey Wakefield who has undertaken a massive reconstruction project which has given us the tremendous building we can visit today, which is open to the public during the summer months.  If you're lucky, you might just get a glimpse of those wild Chillingham white cattle.

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2024