LANGLEY CASTLE

Northumberland

This very handsome building is often described as the biggest pele tower in Britain - but that is really doing it down, it is far more a small keep than a big pele tower.  Today it operates as a beautifully laid out hotel; where we had a very welcome cup of tea in sumptuous and appropriately decorated surroundings.

The Castle was built in the early 1300s, probably by Anthony de Lucy (the family coat of arms sits above the entrance).  It is first recorded when it passed to Gilbert de Umfraville in 1368. Like all the Umfraville properties the Castle then passed to the Percys, and like all the Percy properties it was confiscated after Earl Henry rebelled against Henry IV in 1403.  For some reason the King took some special exception to Langley Castle which he burnt and left a roofless shell before passing it to the Duke of Bedford along with the other Percy estates.

Again, as with all their estates, the Percys regained the Castle in 1416; although once more a peculiar quirk meant that the Castle itself was not fully restored to the Percys until 1441.  It was bequeathed to Henry VIII by the 15th Earl in 1537 but was given back again 20 years later.

The 18th Earl sold it to Sir Reynold Carnaby who in turn sold it to the Radcliffes in 1632.  They became Earls of Derwentwater in 1688 but lost all their lands as a result of their involvement with the first Jacobite Rebellion of 1715.  It became part of the Greenwich Hospital (!) in 1735.

In 1882 it was purchased by the antiquarian Cadwallader J. Bates who restored it beautifully and today it is operated as a hotel.

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