Hylton Castle

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Hylton Castle is a ruined castle located in the North Hylton area of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England. Originally built from wood by the Hilton (later Hylton) family shortly after the Norman Conquest, it was later rebuilt in stone in the late 14th to early 15th century. The castle underwent major changes to both its interior and exterior in the 18th and 19th centuries, whilst also being neglected in between. It remained the principal seat of the Hylton family until the death of the last "baron" in 1746.^[1][2] Since then, the castle was held by various owners but eventually left unmaintained and unoccupied and is now a ruin.^[1]

Today the castle is owned by English Heritage and the surrounding parkland is maintained by a community organisation.^[3] As of 2008, a survey is currently being carried out to determine the future of the site.^[4]

Contents 1 History 1.1 Early history 1.2 18th century 1.3 19th century 1.4 20th century 1.5 Chapel 2 Exterior 2.1 Façades 2.2 Roof 3 Interior layout 3.1 Ground floor 3.2 First floor 3.3 Second floor 3.4 Third floor 3.5 Mezzanine and roof 4 Heraldry 4.1 West façade 4.2 East façade 4.3 Chapel 5 The castle today 6 See also 7 References 8 Sources 9 Further reading 10 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Early history

The Hylton family had been settled in England since the reign of King Athelstan, when Adam Hylton gave to the Monastery of Hartlepool, a pyx or crucifix, weighing twenty-five ounces in silver and emblazoned with his arms - Argent, two bars Azure.^[5][6] Upon the arrival of William I, Lancelot de Hilton and his two sons, Robert and Henry, joined the Conqueror's forces, but Lancelot was killed at Faversham during William's advance to London.^[6] For their gratitude, the king then granted the eldest son, Henry, a large tract of land on the banks of the River Wear.^[6]

The first castle on the site, built by the above Henry de Hilton, was likely to have been built from wood around 1072. The castle was later re-built in stone by Sir William Hylton (1376-1435) as a four storey, gatehouse-style, fortified manor house, similar in design to Lumley and Raby.^{[7][8][9][10][11][2]} It was first mentioned in an inventory of 1448 as 'a gatehouse constructed of stone' and although no construction details survive, it is believed the stone castle was built sometime between 1390 and the early 1400s, due to the coat of arms featured above the west entrance (see Heraldry below).^[12][8] Although called a gatehouse, it belongs to a type of small, late 14th century castle, not dissimilar to Old Wardour, Bywell and Nunney castles.^[13] However, it has also been suggested that a much larger castle, in addition to the gatehouse, was due to be erected by Sir William, but disbanded.^[14]

The inventory taken on Sir William's death in 1435, mentions a hall, four chambers, two barns a kitchen and the chapel, in addition to the castle, indicating the existence of other buildings on the site at that time.^[8] Apart from the castle and chapel, the other buildings were probably all of timber.^[12] Few alterations were made to the castle until the gatehouse featured in another inventory taken in 1559 as the 'Tower' when floors and galleries were inserted to subdivide the great hall.^[8].^[13]

The eccentric Henry Hylton, de jure 12th Baron Hylton left the castle to the City of London Corporation on his death in 1641, to be used for charitable purposes for ninety-nine years. It was later returned to the family through Henry's nephew, John Hylton, de jure 15th Baron Hylton.^[3]

[edit] 18th century

Early in the 18th century, John Hylton (d. 1712, the second son of Henry Hylton, de jure 16th Baron Hylton) gutted the interior to form a three-storeyed block (one room on each floor).^[13] He also inserted large, alternating, pedimented sash windows in the Italianate style and added a three-storeyed north wing to the castle (as seen in Bucks' engraving of 1728).^[8][13] A doorway to the new wing was also added and approached by a semi-circular staircase. Above the doorway was a coat of arms, believed to be the one created to commemorate the marriage between John Hylton and his wife, Dorothy Musgrave, now located above the doorway to The Golden Lion at South Hylton, on the opposite side of the Wear.^[15][16][17]

After 1728, Hylton's second son, John Hylton, de jure 18th Baron Hylton later added a complimentary south wing (its foundation wall still extant), crenellations to both wings and removed the new door on the north wing.^{[15][13][14][8][13]} After 1728, he also changed the circular bartizan on the north end of the west front, to an octagonal turret and removed the portcullis from the west entrance.^[8]

When the 18th and last "baron" died without male heirs in 1746, the castle passed to his nephew, Sir Richard Musgrave, who took the name of Hylton. It was sold by an Act of Parliament in 1755.^[8][3] The new owner was to be a Mr. Wogan who returned from the East Indies to buy the castle for £30,550, but the sale never went through.^[5] It was instead bought by Lady Bowes, the widow of Sir George Bowes of Streatlam and Gibside.^[18][7][5] No record of her or any of her family ever taking up residence exists and the castle later passed to her grandson, John Bowes, 10th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne.^{[19][7][5][20]} At this time, a stucco decoration (long since disappeared) to the wine and drawing rooms was also added by Pietro La Francini, who worked for Daniel Garrett.^[13] William Howitt's Visits to remarkable places (1842) notes the rooms had "stuccoed ceilings, with figures, busts on the walls, and one large scene which seemed to be Venus and Cupid, Apollo fiddling to the gods, Minerva in her helmet, and an old king".^[19] Garrett probably designed the Gothic porch installed in the west entrance and the Gothic screen and single-storey, bow-fronted rooms installed to close off the east entrance, as he also worked for Lady Bowes on Gibside Banqueting House.^[13][2][19]

[edit] 19th century

After a long period of remaining empty, the castle slowly began to decay, until in 1812, when Simon Temple (a local businessman) leased the castle from the Strathmores and made it habitable.^[2] He also re-roofed the chapel (allowing it to be used for public worship again), added battlements to the wings and also cultivated the gardens.^[19][2] However, his failed business ventures prevented him from completing his work and in 1819, the castle was bought and lived in by a Mr. Thomas Wade.^[2][19]

By 1834, the castle was unoccupied again.^[19] In 1840, an advert was placed in the Newcastle Courant by Revd. John Wood for "Hylton Castle Boarding School" and the census taken the following year show Wood, his family, pupils and staff as living on the estate.^[21][3] The school does not seem to have existed for long as Howitt also commented in 1842, that it was "a scene of great desolation...the windows for the most part, all along the front, are boarded up...the whole of this large old house is now empty...and in the most desolate state".^[19] However, he does go on to say the kitchen was occupied a poor family.^[19] By 1844, the chapel was alos used as a carpenter's workshop and according to the Durham Chronicle in January 1856, the castle was burnt down whilst in the occupation of a farmer, Mr. Maclaren.^[7][19]

In 1862, the castle was put up for sale by the Strathmores and purchased by William Briggs, a local timber merchant and ship builder.^[22][13][23] Briggs set about to change the appearance of the castle to what he believed to be more 'authentic[ally] medieval.'^[13] He demolished the north and south wings, gutted the interior and added one, two and three-light cusp-headed windows.^[19] Briggs also replaced the Gothic porch with a more 'severe' Gothic doorway (three-bayed with cinquefoil arches) and an overhead balcony.^[13] To carry out these changes to the west front, he also moved the stone-carved Hylton banner from above the west entrance to the front, left-flanking tower.^[13] The interior walls of the four-vaulted ground floor rooms were demolished, the whole floor was raised three-and-a-half feet and two reception rooms were formed.^[24] At the east end of the former central passage, dog-leg stairs were constructed leading to the first floor, requiring removal of the oratory and rendering the main staircase inaccessible from the ground floor.^[13][24] The side walls of the great hall were also removed to create a large salon and a big bay window was added to the south façade, where the entrance to the south wing would have been.^[24] The rooms above were kept untouched, except that a new entrance to the family/chaplain's room had to be formed via the main staircase.^[24]

Alongside the medieval masonry, Biggs alterations are those as is seen today (albeit in ruins).^[13] Briggs' son, Colonel Charles James Briggs (father of Sir Charles James Briggs) inherited the castle in 1871 and built the nearby St Margaret's church.^[23][25]

[edit] 20th century

After Colonel Brigg's death in 1900, the castle passed into the hands of the Monkwearmouth Coal Company about 1908 and from there to the National Coal Board.^[23][3] Due to the expansion of Sunderland in the 1940s, the castle became surrounded by housing estates (including Castletown), was vandalised and had the lead from its roof stolen..^[23] In 1950, due to local pressure and the threat of demolition, the castle and chapel was taken into the care of the Ministry of Works.^[8][3] Due to the advanced decay of the 19th century alterations, the ministry removed all internal partitions and consolidated the shell to reveal the remaining medieval masonry.^[8][11] They also appointed a full time custodian and replaced the missing lead roof with roofing felt to make the site waterproof.^[3]

The remains of a formal Elizabethan garden were uncovered by Channel 4's Time Team in 1994.^[26]

[edit] Chapel

A chapel dedicated to St Catherine of Alexandria is known to have existed on the site since 1157, when the Prior of Durham agreed to allow Romanus de Hilton to appoint his own chaplain for the chapel, subject to the prior's approval.^[27] However, de Hilton was not to neglect his annual contribution of twenty-four sheaves of oats for every draught ox he owned, to the nearby monastery at Monkwearmouth and was also required to attend the mother church of St Peters for the feasts of the Nativity, Easter, Whitsuntide and SS Peter and Paul.^[27] In 1322, there was a chantry dedicated to the Virgin Mary and there were three chantry priests in 1370.^[10]

The chapel (on a small hill to the north east of the castle) was later rebuilt in stone in the early 15th century and modified from the late 15th to late 16th century, when a perpendicular, five-light east window and transepts were added.^[8][13] Bucks' engraving of 1728, shows a short nave and a large six-light west window.^[28] Bucks' engraving also shows that the chapel was disused by this time, as it had no roof.^[8] The west façade was later demolished and the chancel arch was built up to form a new one with Gibbs surround.^[28] A bell-turret was also added c.1805.^[28] On the north and south sides of the chapel are two transeptal, semi-octagonal bays.^[28]

Although repairs to the chapel were carried out by the last Baron Hylton and the successive owners in the 19th century, it too fell into disrepair until, like the castle, it was taken over by the State in 1950.^[8]

[edit] Exterior

[edit] Façades

The west façade of the castle has square towers flanking the central bay, with others at the south west and north west, all topped with octagonal, machicolated turrets.^[13] The north and south façades are relatively simple. The east façade has a central projection in the centre rising a storey above the parapet, to form a tower.^[29] The tower's south angle is splayed to accodomate the main staircase and only the corbels of its parapet survive.^[29] The screen closing off the east entrance also has a three-bay cusped arcade on the ground floor and three ogee arches on the shafts above.^[29]

[edit] Roof

The roof was originally covered with sheet lead and adorning the roof are stone warriors and other figures, similar to those of Raby, Alnwick and the gates of York.^[30][13][7] Originally there were four figures on each corner turret and bartizan; only five have survived.^[30] Between the central towers once stood a sculpture of a knight in combat with a serpent (of which only fragments survive), believed to pertain to the tale of the Lambton Worm.^[30][31] The parapet is also machicolated (except the north façade's) and continued between the central towers by a carved-foliage arch (originally with cusping which fell in 1882), instead of corbels.^[13][14] Another feature of the roof were shallow stone troughs on the battlements which fed scalding oil or water into the machiocaltions.^[30] In a small chamber in each turret or bastion, a brazier was kept burning to bring the liquids to a suitable temperature.^[30]

[edit] Interior layout

Below is a layout plan, by floor, of Hylton Castle, prior to the changes made by John Hylton (d. 1712).

[edit] Ground floor

The ground floor, accessed directly from the outside courtyard, led into a portcullis-protected, vaulted passage, which was eleven feet wide and extended the depth of the building. On either side of the passage were two vaulted rooms. The room nearest the entrance on the right was a guardroom or the porter's room, which also housed a well; the back right room, with a latrine located in the south west turret (accessed via a passage) was for an official.^[29][11] The other two rooms to the left were used to house staff or storage.^[29][11]

[edit] First floor

The first was floor was accessed via the main staircase, which is situated in the east tower.^[29] The first room encountered was the great hall, which rose three floors. To the viewer's immediate left was a kitchen (with clerestory lighting), and further on to the left was a butlery and pantry with latrine.^[29] To the viewer's back right was small passage containing a private staircase and the entrance to the oratory (its roof vaulted with an east window) in the east tower.^[29][32][1] The oratory was entered via a five-and-a-half high pointed-arch doorway and contained an altar and piscina, of which only an ornamental niche remains.^[29][32] There was also a fireplace on the north wall of the great hall and behind the north wall was the great chamber containing a fireplace, latrine and a window seat.^[29][11] To the west of the hall was a window, to which the portcullis must have been raised up in front of.^[29]

[edit] Second floor

The kitchen, oratory and great chamber rose two floors, therefore only the minstrels' gallery was accessed via the main staircase on this floor. However, the butlery and pantry was single-storeyed, but held the butler's chamber (with latrine) above it, accessed either via a staircase in that room or via the gallery.^[11]

[edit] Third floor

The rooms on the north and east sides of the third floor were accessed via the private staircase.^[11][32] The rooms were two family rooms, one above the oratory and a larger one above the great chamber.^[11][32] The larger one had a fireplace and latrine and was probably the baron's bedroom; the smaller room was either the chaplain's quarters or a family room.^[11][32] Both were connected via a lobby at the top of the private staircase.^[11][32]

The room on the south side (separated by the other rooms due to the hall's height) was accessed via the main staircase. This room also had a fireplace and latrine and was probably used by guests.^[11]

[edit] Mezzanine and roof

Above the small family/chaplain's room on the third floor, was the Servant's Room with a corner fireplace and two windows on the mezzanine floor, which was accessed via the main staircase.^[33][11] Above that on the roof level, was the Warder's Chamber which contained a stone-hooded fireplace, beamed ceiling, two very small windows in the east wall and a latrine.^[33][11] There was also four closet-chambers in the turrets on the roof, used by staff.^[11]

[edit] Heraldry

The castle and chapel are adorned with heraldic devices and shields of arms, providing information as to when the castle was constructed.

[edit] West façade

Above the main entrance on the western façade of the castle, there are twenty-one shields of arms. Why they are they has not been proven, but they are believed to show the poltical alliances of the early Hyltons as the arms of the king and nobles and knights of Northumberland and the County Palitanate of Durham are shown. In relation to the diagram below, the shields are:^[34]

1. England and France quarterly - The banner of Henry IV of England 2. Percy quartering Lucy - Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland 3. Percy (unquartered) - Sir Henry "Hotspur" Percy (son of the above) 4. A Lion rampant debruised by a bend - Sir Peter Tilliol 5. Within a bordure two Lions passant - Felton of Edlington 6. Azure, three herons Argent - Sir William Heron 7. A lion rampant - believed to be Robert III of Scotland 8. Quarterly, Argent, two bars Azure and Or six annulets Gules (Hylton quartering Hylton of Swine) - The Westmoreland branch of the Hyltons. 9. Argent, a fesse Gules inter three popinjays Vert - Sir Ralph Lumley (later Baron Lumley) 10. A Lion within a bordure engrailed - Sir Thomas Grey (or his son)

11. Or and Gules quarterly, over all on a bend three scallops - Sir Ralph Evers (Eure) 12. Azure, a chief dancette Or - FitzRanulph of Middleham 13. Argent, two bars, and three mullets in chief - Sir William Washington (ancestor of George Washington) 14. Argent, a fesse inter three crescents Gules - Sir Robert Ogle 15. William de Ros, 7th Baron de Ros 16. Ermine, on a canton Gules an orle Or - Sir Thomas Surtees 17. Defaced - believed to be Lambton 18. Ermine, three bows Gules - Sir Robert Bowes (ancestor of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon) 19 Thomas Weston, chancellor to Bishop Skirlaw 20. Walter Skirlaw (Bishop of Durham 1388-1406) 21. Argent, two bars Azure - Sir William Hylton

The west face of the castle. (click image for numbering)

Although it was necessary for Briggs to move the Hylton banner to make way for a new entrance, it can be seen from this colour version of Bucks' engraving that the shields were previously placed not as they are today (particularly Weston and Skirlaw's). Briggs is believed to have re-arranged the shields, disrupting their original heirarchical arrangement.^[11] Nevertheless, the arms give a date for the construction and completion of the castle as between 1390 and the early 1400s, due to the following reasons:

• The Earl of Northumberland quartered his own arms with those of his second wife, Maud Lucy, after their marriage in c.1384.^[11]
• Sir Henry "Hotspur" Percy didn't quarter his own arms with those of Lucy, until he inherited the Honour of Cockermouth from his stepmother in 1398.^[35]
• The arms shown of Henry IV are those he adopted c.1400, after simplyfing the French quarters (see Armorial of Plantagenet)

[edit] East façade

The east façade of the castle features a slanted shield containing the Hylton arms (Argent, two bars Azure) and a white hart (male deer), lodged, chained and collared with a coronet, Or. The hart is possibly the badge used by Richard II of England (indicating construction began before Richard's deposition in 1399) or an earlier crest used by the family after it was granted by William I of England in reward for the services of the previously mentioned Lancelot de Hilton.^[3][36] A "Moses head" (the crest of the Hylton arms) also features on the east façade.^[37][36]

[edit] Chapel

Above the south window: Hylton quartering Vipont and Stapleton. Supporters, two stags. Over the north window: the same arms without supporters, but with the Moses crest. On the west front, five shields, Hilton quartering Vipont and Stapleton; supporters two Lions, no crest; twice repeated. Hilton and Vipont quarterly; the Crest without supporters; twice repeated: and Hilton quartering Vipont and Stapleton, with the stags for supporters.^[37]

[edit] The castle today

The castle and chapel have been Grade I listed buildings since 1949 and form a Scheduled Ancient Monument under the care of English Heritage, who took over the site in 1984, although Sunderland City Council own the land. In 1999, the Friends of Hylton Dene group was formed by residents of the estates around North Hylton "with the aim of co-operating with Sunderland City Council, Durham Wildlife Trust and other agencies to actively involve the local community in the development and upkeep of Hylton Dene and Castle". In December 2007, the group was awarded £50,000 by the Heritage Lottery Fund to carry out a survey for the future for the site.^[38]

There have been four organised International Reunion[s] of Hylton Families over the past few years; most notably on 4 July 2004, when around fifty American decendents of the Hylton family visited the castle to present a flag featuring featuring the Hylton blazon.^[39] The flag now flies from the recently installed flagpole, provided by English Heritage.^[39]

The castle is also said to be haunted by the spirit of the Cauld Lad of Hylton.

[edit] See also

• Baron Hylton
• Cauld Lad of Hylton

[edit] References

[edit] Sources

• Emery, Anthony, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales, 1300-1500 (Cambridge), volume 11, 1996, p.107-9 ISBN 052149723X
• Pettifer, Adrian, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge), 1995, p29-30 ISBN 0851157823
• Waterson, Edward & Meadows, Peter, Lost Houses of County Durham, 1993, p.42, ISBN 0951649418
• Pevsner, Nikolaus, (revised by Williamson, Elizabeth), The Buildings of England: Durham (London, Penguin), 1983 (revised edition), p.470-3 ISBN 0300095996
• Fry, Plantagenet Somerset, Castles of the British Isles (David & Charles), 1980, p.246, ISBN 0715379763
• Hugill, Robert, The Castles and Towers of the County of Durham (Newcastle; Frank Graham), 1979, p.58-65, ISBN 0859831066
• Whittaker, Neville, Old Halls and Manor Houses of Durham (Frank Graham), 1975, p.83-84, ISBN 0859830470
• Timbs, John & Gunn, Alexander, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales, 1872, volume 3 (London) p282-97
• Sykes, John, Local Records of Northumberland and Durham, 1866, volume 1, p.220
• Billings, Robert William, Architectural Antiquities of the County of Durham, 1844 p.47-48
• Surtees, Robert, History and Antiquities of Durham (London), 1816-40 [1972 reprint] p.20-4 and plate, ISBN 0854098143

[edit] Further reading

• Salter, Mike, The Castles and Tower Houses of County Durham (Malvern), 2002 ISBN 1871731569
• The Time Team Reports [Series 2], 1995, p29-33
• Jackson, Michael, Castles of Northumbria: Gazetteer of the Medieval Castles of Northumberland and Tyne and Wear (Medieval Castles of England) (Carlise), 1992, p143-4 ISBN 0951970801
• Corfe, Tom (ed), 'The Visible Middle Ages' in An Historical Atlas of County Durham, 1992, p28-9 ISBN 0902958143
• King, David James Cathcart, Castellarium Anglicanum: An Index and Bibliography of the Castles in England, Wales, and the Islands (London: Kraus), 1983, volume 1, p136 ISBN 0527501107
• Harvey, Alfred, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co), 1911
• Mackenzie, Bt., Sir James Dixon, Castles of England (Heinemann), 1897, volume 12, p343-6
• Boyle, John Roberts, Comprehensive Guide to the County of Durham: its Castles, Churches, and Manor-Houses (London), 1892, p546-52
• Turner, Thomas Hudson & Parker, John Henry, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford), 1859, volume 13, part 2, p206
• Billings, Robert William, Illustrations of the County of Durham: ecclesiastical, castellated, and domestic (London), 1846 p.42-44
• Brayley, Edward Wedlake and Britton, John, Beauties of England and Wales; Durham, 1803, volume 5, p150-2
• Hutchinson, William, The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham, 1785-94, volume 2, p638-40

[edit] External links

• Hylton Castle information at English Heritage
• The Friends of Hylton Dene

Coordinates: 54.92262° N 1.44453° W