Liddel
Liddel lordship in Cumberland was a
separate entity to the Scottish barony of Liddel to the
north which was centred around Hermitage castle.
The history of the English barony seems to have begun soon
after the conquest of the district by King William Rufus
in 1092. In 1212 it was recorded that Ranulf
le Meschin (d.1129), as lord of Carlisle,
created 2 border
sub-lordships or baronies before 1120. One of these was at
Burgh by Sands and the
other was based on Liddel (Lydale).
These were to protect the land north of Carlisle
which had only been
added to the English realm in 1092. Burgh
by Sands was given
to Ranulf's brother in law, Robert Trevers, while Liddel was given to
Turgis Brundos. Presumably Turgis founded Liddel castle,
although no similar castle seems to have been built by Trevers in Burgh
by Sands.
Turgis had been succeeded by his son, William Brundos, by September
1129. He took the surname Rosedale and made a grant to St
Peter's
Hospital, York. This consisted of his land of Kershopefoot
(Cresope) which ran:
from
the ditch of the Galwegians and the stream running from
there into Liddel and on the other side of the ditch straight to the
high moor and so by the watershed on the moor as far as the old route
to Roxburgh
and as that way falls into Kershopefoot
from above the shealings
which were Eadulf's. If
this pasture
proved insufficient the churchmen were to take further land from his
forest as well as wood for building...
This grant was confirmed by
William's son, Turgis.
William was dead before 1164, by which time he had founded a priory at
Rossendale in Yorkshire as was confirmed by his son, Turgis
Rosedale. Turgis seems to have died young by
1167. Before his death he made a grant of
‘the
religious house on the Lidal
with all its adjacent lands' as well as the church of Kirkandrews (Kirchanders)
to Jedburgh abbey. Kirkandrews is currently on the north
bank of the Esk, unlike the rest of Liddel barony. Also
around
this time an unidentified Guy
Rosedale with the consent of his son, Ralph, granted 42 acres of land
between the rivers Esk and Liddel at the junction of these rivers with
the right of fishing from Liddel ditch to the church. As an
acre
is 208'9" square it seems likely that 42 acres covers the area cutting
off the river at about the northern part of Canonbie. It
therefore appears that either in opposition to these grants, or to
augment them, Ranulf Soulis (d.bef.1172), between 29 November 1160 and
20 September 1164, granted the Jedburgh monks the church of the Vale of
Liddel. This he augmented with Doddington church (near
Barton,
Northamptonshire) and half a ploughgate at Nesbit (Nesbith,
Northumberland). This suggests that Liddel church stood near
the
junction of the 2 rivers, possibly at Canonbie, although its site is
often given as near the alleged Scottish Liddel castle at
Castleton. In 1275, when the diocese of Glasgow was taxed, a Castleton (Cassiltoun)
vicarage was recorded in Tevidaill deanery and was assessed at
£4. Considering that St Martin's church in Liddesdale was
not mentioned the implication is that Castleton and St Martins were one
and the same place. In
1220 the abbot of Jedburgh agreed with the bishop of Glasgow
‘that the vicarage of Liddel St Martin should remain as the
charter of the bishop had fixed it' and that the chaplain and prior
there should yield canonical obedience to the bishop. Before
1165 when granted by Soulis the grant included:
the
church of St Martin of the Valley of Liddel, with one carucate of land
from above Fulwde,
to the east head, then up to the western head as far as Nordereden, and
afterwards across to Potterelampard,
and likewise the wood of Potterelampard,
and the plane around the Dividt
and likewise Dena
in the higher ground to the east, and with all his other appurtenances,
as Chaplain Osbert held it the best...
The English Liddel, presumably with its castle, passed to Nicholas
Stuteville (d.1218),
presumably on the death of Turgis Rosedale in 1167. Sometime
before 1120 Robert Stuteville had married Erneburga Brundos, a daughter
of the first Turgis Brundos of Liddel. Consequently by 1173,
Liddel had
devolved upon Nicholas (d.1213+), the second son of Robert Stuteville
of Cottingham (d.1186) and lord of Brinklow castle.
He
therefore found himself in the front line of the war between kings
Henry II
(d.1189) and Henry III
(d.1183), in which the king of Scots
took the side of the Young
King Henry (d.1183), while Nicholas supported his
father, King Henry II
(d.1189). As a result:
whilst
besieging Carlisle, William the
Lion... went in person with the remaining part of his army
through
Northumbria, wasting the lands of the king and of his barons and took
with his arms the castle of Liddel, which belonged to Nicholas
Stuteville...
Presumably Nicholas soon regained the castle after his father helped
captured King William I
(d.1214) at the battle of Alnwick in
July
1174. Nicholas died soon after 1213 and was succeeded by his son
Nicholas who died in 1220, holding Liddel. He was succeeded by
his second son, another Nicholas who died in 1233 as lord of Cottingham
and Liddel. Sometime before his death, he had leased Liddel to
his nephew, Eustace Stuteville (d.1241). This appears to have
happened before William Valognes of Panmure died in 1219, as it was
recorded that he had held Liddel for his nephew, Eustace
Stuteville. Since then Liddel had gone to Earl Sear Quincy (d.3
November 1219), and after his death to his son Earl Roger Quincy
(d.1264).
Eustace achieved his majority in early 1223 and took full possession of
Liddel. However, he died heirless in the Holy Land the same
year. Before 29 May 1229, Joan Stuteville (d.1276), the
daughter of Nicholas Stuteville (d.1233), had married Hugh Wake
(d.1241) without the king's licence. With this marriage the
barony and castle eventually passed to the Wake family as per a fine of
10,000m (£6,666 13s 4d) on 2 February 1241.
Therefore on 2 January 1242, King
Henry III granted custody of
Eustace's lands, including Liddel castle, to Joan until their children
were of lawful age. Joan remarried before Michaelmas 1244 to
Hugh Bigod (d.1266) and died before 6 April 1276, when she was recorded
as lady of Liddel barony which in Cumberland
consisted of such places as
Easton, Arthuret,
Stubhill, Brackenhill, 6
burgages in Carlisle and the forest of Liddel which included various
assarts or closes, as well as a fulling and a water
mill. She also held other places in Yorkshire.
On Joan Stuteville's death in 1276 her barony of Liddel passed to her
eldest son, Baldwin Wake (d.1282). On his death 1282 a
Cumberland jury found
that the barony of
Liddel was held in chief by cornage and that the lord should answer to
the sheriff of Cumberland for
the king's use, while the tenants should make suit at the lord's court
of
Stubhill every 3 weeks and suit to the mills. The park was
without deer, while Nichole forest was 7 leagues in length of
which 4 leagues were 3 leagues wide and the other 3 only 1
league. Thankfully a description of Liddel castle was also
given. This consisted of:
the
site of a
castle containing these houses, viz. a wooden hall with 2
solars and
cellars, a chapel, a kitchen, a byre, a grange and a wooden granary
which threatens [to collapse], but might be repaired for 5m
(£3 6s 8d).
Further the manor was not extended as
more was needed to keep up the estate than it generated in
revenue. Also listed were the knights' fees and serjeanties
owing to Liddel. The whole manor was worth £295 16s
2d, while
the goods and chattels found at Liddel were worth £46 13s
3d.
Baldwin's son, John Wake, was prominent in the Scottish wars and was
present at the battle of Berwick on 27 April 1296. He died young
before 10 April 1300 when he was just 31. The inquisition
post mortem carried out that June showed that Liddel barony was now in
a poor way. The castle, including its park, was now worth
nothing ‘on account of the war' and much of the land was
‘wasted and burned by the Scots'. At Stubhill it
was recorded that the ‘tenants have been slain by the Scots
and the town burnt'; Easton was worth nothing ‘because it is
burned and no one inhabits it'; the value of Arthuret was reduced from
£23 15s 4d to £13 13s 10d, while Kirklinton's value
was reduced from £8 9d to £3
4½d. Quite clearly the war had been devastating to
Liddel barony. Worse, the barony was now the inheritance of
Thomas, the son of Baldwin Wake and he was only 2 years old.
Consequently, on 20 September 1300, Simon Lyndeseye was ordered to take
custody of John's lands ‘of Lidel and le Ermitage... for the
maintenance of himself and his men who are in the king's service in
Scotland'; saving to Joan, John's widow, her reasonable
dower. This instruction in itself is interesting as it shows
that the Wake's barony of Liddel now included Hermitage
in Liddesdale. Subsequently this was found on the Scottish
side
of the border. Supposedly Hermitage replaced the other castle
of Liddel.
On 10 November 1300, the original
order was expanded, ordering Simon to keep:
Hermitage castle,
the mote of Lydel
and the lands in the valley of Liddel both in England
and Scotland belonging to the late John Wake saving the dower of his
widow, Joanna.
To aid him in this Simon was to spend £20 on
the walls, houses and buildings in castle. There then followed a clause to the sentence that could not have applied to Hermitage castle, but could to English Liddel castle. This ran:
also repairing the mote
and the ditches around, strengthening and redressing the same and the
peel and the palisades and making lodges within the mote if necessary
for the safety of the men at arms of the garrison...
This
strongly suggests that by this time Hermitage castle
was the major
fortress of the barony, while Liddel was merely a wooden
peel or motte (mote). The reasons why this was not Hermitage castle is simple. It is always difficult to correctly translate the medieval word mote when dealing with castle sites - does it mean moat, fishpond or motte? The mention of the mote
and ditches in this case quite obviously means motte and ditches as it
would be repetitious to say repair the moat and ditches. Further,
it would hardly be logical to make lodges within a moat or fishpond,
but within or on a motte makes perfect sense. It can therefore be
seen that this second clause must refer to the English Liddel castle,
which appears to have once had a motte.
On 12 September 1307, King
Edward II (1307-27) wrote to his sheriff of Roxburgh
informing him that both he and his deceased father, Edward I, had repeatedly asked
for Johanna the widow of John Wake (d.1282) to be given her dower in
the valley of Liddel and that the king now wished to do so.
He
therefore asked for the £32 of the issues [of Liddel], which Edward I
(1272-1307) had pardoned to William Soulis, to be sent to him so that
this could be given to Johanna. The sheriff replied that this
could not be done as Soulis was overseas and had no goods to be seized
in the district. Further, the poor tenants of Liddel had fled
into England with their goods for fear of the enemy.
Presumably Hermitage
castle had been lost to the English Liddel barony about the
same time.
On 10 April
1310, the king gave the ward of Liddel to John Segrave (d.1325)
allowing him to keep the issues of £513 18s 3d due for his
fees
while Warden of Scotland and for the value of horses he had lost in
fulfilling his duties. He was also given the dower of Johanna
Wake (d.1314) there. By June 1311 the government seem to not
have
known who was in charge of Liddel and so sent a message to the warden
of the ‘piel of Ledel'. It was some time
after 1307 and before 1315 that King
Robert Bruce granted John Soulis (d.1318) the barony of
Kirkandrews on Esk and the land of Brettalach
with their purtenances just as they had been held by John Wake
(d.1300). This would appear to have been an attempt to
reunite
both English and Scottish parts of Liddesdale.
Liddel castle would seem to have been within the district, between
Lochmaben
and Carlisle,
described in 1317 by William Dacre as so
utterly wasted and burned that there was neither man nor beast left in
it. By October 1319 Thomas Wake (d.1349) was of age and sent
65
men, presumably from Liddel, to help the 8,080 strong army besiege Berwick. About
November 1319 it became obvious from a letter to
the king that men loyal to Edward
II
held Liddel, but that his enemies
lay ‘about Hermitage'
which Edward II's men had intended to
ravage, but for the enemy being forewarned of their coming.
Further, the treacherous actions of Constable John Harclay of Carlisle
had led the best and richest men of Gilsland and Liddel to go over to
the Scots enemy, with more than 97 defecting from the barony of Liddel
alone. Finally, John le Mareschal and John Prendregest had
surrendered the peel of Liddel to the enemy and joined the
Scots.
By 1323 Thomas Wake had himself described as Thome Wake Domini de Lidel
on his seal. Possibly Liddel was returned to Wake after 30
December 1330, when King
Edward III (1327-77) wrote to the Scottish government asking
that Thomas be reinstated in his lands as had been agreed with the late
King Robert Bruce
(d.1329). On 24 February 1331, King David Bruce's
government replied that they would look favourably upon this and on 16
May 1331 a perambulation of the Northumberland border was ordered as
well as the redressing of offences in Cumberland.
Possibly this resulted in the splitting of Liddel lordship into an
English south and a Scottish north, although Thomas Wake (d.1349) was
still complaining on 22 April 1332 that his Scottish lands had not been
returned to him.
On 8 May 1340 Thomas was amongst those ordered
to:
put
down the evildoers who infest the passes and woods in Cumberland, make prisoners
of and rob and slay the king's lieges both Scots and English.
The castle or peel of Liddel was obviously back under English control
and was serviceable in 1346 when John
Burnard of Ardross
was wounded attacking it. The siege was described by the
local Lanercost
chronicler. On 6 October 1346, King David II led:
strong
and eager men, most ready for
war... 2,000 men-at-arms and 20,000 commonalty of the villages, who are
called Hobelers among them and of foot soldiers and archers it was
calculated there were 10,000 and more.... these invaded England with a
lionlike rush, marching straight upon the fortress of Liddel.
Sir William Douglas arrived with his army at the said fortress in the
morning and David in the evening, laying siege thereto on the aforesaid
day. For 3 days running they lay there in a circle, nor did
they during the said days allow any attacks to be made on the
threatened fortress. But on the fourth day, having armed
themselves before sunrise with spears, stones, swords and clubs, they
delivered assaults from all quarters upon the fortress and its
defenders. Thus both those within and without the fortress
fought fiercely, many being wounded and some slain; until at length
some of the Scottish party furnished with beams and housetimbers, earth
stones and fascines, succeeded in filling up the ditches of the
fortress. Then some Scots, protected by the shields of the
men-at-arms, broke through the bottom of the walls with iron tools and
many of them entered the said fortress in this manner without
opposition. Knights and armed men entering the fortress
killed all whom they found, with few exceptions and thus obtained full
possession of the fortress.
King David then had the garrison
commander, Walter Selby, executed
after watching his sons strangled before his eyes, without even
allowing him confession. Again, this chronicle evidence is
somewhat suspect, as one of Selby's sons was taken prisoner and held
for 8 years, although there is no evidence that 2 other sons were not
killed. After the slaughter of many of the garrison the
castle (municipium de
Lidallis) was thrown to the ground. Liddel,
despite being
destroyed, still remained in the hands of Thomas Wake (d.1349) as King
David's army was shattered and he himself captured just a month later
at the battle of Neville's Cross near Durham.
On Thomas Wake's death on 31 May 1349, an inquisition was ordered into
his lands. This found that the site of the destroyed castle
and
manor of Lydell was worth only 6d, while this and the fishery in the
River Esk was all in Cumberland
and this was held
in chief by homage and fealty and the service of rendering 56s yearly
at Carlisle
for cornage. He also had to do suit at the county
court every month. For this his sister, Countess Margaret of
Kent (d.1349), was heiress. She died that Michaelmas of the
Black Death and Liddel passed to her daughter, Countess Joan of Kent
(d.1388) and her descendants. Before this happened
‘the
castle, lands and lordship of Liddel both in England and Scotland' was
given as dower to Blanche Plantagenet (d.1380), the widow of Thomas
Wake (d.1349). On 20 May 1357, this was granted to John of
Gaunt
(d.1399) with revision to the king after his and Blanche's
death.
In 1380 it was recorded that the entire barony ‘with its
members, vills, hamlets and
parcels is worth nothing at present because it has been utterly ravaged
by the Scots'. Despite this, the government of King Richard II
(1377-99) demanded back ‘the valley of Lydel
entirely'.
Therefore they still seemed to think that all Liddesdale belonged to
England. The castle was never refortified.
Description
The castle lies on the edge of a steep scarp dropping to the Liddel
Water which marks the border between England and Scotland.
The river has eroded away the northern section of the site, leaving an
odd looking site set on a 160' high bolder clay cliff. In
this respect it is somewhat similar to the Scottish Liddel castle,
but not really Hermitage
castle.
It is possible that the castle was begun as a motte and bailey, but
that the bulk of the motte, to the north-west of the site, may have
collapsed and been washed away by the river. River erosion
has probably accounted for the destruction of between a quarter and a
half of the entire site. Despite the heavy damage to the
mound, it still stands some 20' above the inner ward bailey which
protects the vulnerable south and east of this possible
motte. Against this being a motte is the fact that there is
no surviving ditch between it and the inner ward. What it
might have been is therefore open to question.
The inner bailey has a fine rampart up to 12' high and a deep ditch, in
places up to 14' deep externally. The ward was some 200' in
diameter. The ditch surrounds the entire ‘motte'
and inner bailey. Beyond this to the south was an outer
bailey which would have been kidney shaped if its northern part
survived. This was defended by a rampart some 5' high and
protected by a ditch to the west only some 3' deep were there was a
counterscarp. The ground to the south seems to have a much
denuded ditch which perhaps covered the powerful inner ward
counterscarp.
Within the inner ward are the turf covered foundations of a building
about 25' by 16', standing only some 3' high and orientated more
north-west to south-east than east to west. This may well
have been the stone footings of the castle hall mentioned in 1282,
rather than a chapel. Its thin walls certainly seem to
preclude it from being the towerhouse mentioned in the
district. Probably this was at Highmoat which lies less than
half a mile to the south-west.
Copyright©2022
Paul Martin Remfry