Memorials of old Durham

by Unknown

Barnard Castle, once a residence of the princely house of Baliol, has for long years been a ruin.

Originally erected by Bernard de Baliol, son of Guy de Baliol, Lord of Bailleul en Vimeu in Picardy, and founder also of Baynard’s Castle in London, it passed on the attainder of his descendant John Baliol, sometime King of Scotland, in 1296 to Bishop Bek. A few years later Edward I. severed the Durham fees of Bruce and Baliol from the control of the Palatinate and granted Barnard Castle to the Beauchamps. By marriage the estate passed to the Nevilles, and by marriage again to the Crown. Later it passed to the Vanes, who hold it still. The castle, which was of some size and great strength, stands in a commanding position above the River Tees. A great portion of the remaining buildings dates from Norman times. One of the towers is still known as the Brackenbury Tower, evidently deriving its name from the family of the famous Constable of the Tower of London. The castle is also associated with Richard III., whose badge of "the hog" occurs in one of the rooms.

Not far from Barnard, Streatlam Castle stands in a valley between that town and Raby. It has remained the property of the descendants of the owners in the twelfth century to this day, although it has passed by marriage successively to the Traynes, Boweses, and Lyons. The existing castle includes some portions of the structure erected by old Sir William Bowes. This Sir William is stated on the death of his young wife Jane, daughter of Lord Greystock, under the age of twenty, to have gone to the wars in France, where for some years he was Chamberlain to the Regent, the Duke of Bedford. Sometime about 1450 he pulled down the older castle at Streatlam, and erected a new one from designs he had brought from France. His arms are on the north front of the castle, which has been altered frequently since his time. A good portion of it was pulled down by William Blakiston Bowes, who died in 1721, leaving his alterations incomplete.

Raby Castle, one of the finest baronial piles in the North of England, and for many centuries the great seat of the princely house of Neville, would require, to deal with it in justice, more pages than a volume of limited space can afford. A few of its leading features must, however, be mentioned. Portions of the present building were erected by Ralph, Lord Neville, one of the commanders at Neville’s Cross, who died in 1367. His son John carried on the work, and in 1378 obtained a licence from Bishop Hatfield to embattle and crenellate his manor-house at Raby. In aspect the castle consists of buildings forming a rough square, with towers projecting from three of the corners, the whole enclosing a courtyard. The four outer sides face the cardinal points. Some distance from the main building, a wall 30 feet high with a deep moat on its outer side entirely enclosed it. The main entrance is guarded by a large tower thrown forward in a flanking position, rendering the approach exceedingly difficult to an opposing force. This building is known as Clifford’s Tower. At the south end of a curtain wall running southwards stands the Watch Tower, which has, however, been considerably modernized. Adjoining the great gatehouse,

Streatlam Castle.

which is the work of at least two builders, is the tower which Leland says bears the name of Joan, wife of the first Earl of Westmorland. East of Joan’s Tower is another stretch of curtain wall now containing the drawing-rooms, and terminating at Bulmer’s Tower, an interesting building in shape an irregular pentagon. On the upper story of this tower is the badge of the builder, a large Old English b, doubtless like the bull, their other badge, derived from the Bulmers.

A block of modern buildings adjoining the Bulmer Tower adjoins a tower, from which a corridor enters the great hall, 90 feet long and 35 feet wide. Close to the hall is the kitchen, which has been preserved in all its original quaintness. Over a passage leading from the east side of the great hall is the chapel. A short curtain wall connects this portion of the building with the Mount Raskelf Tower, evidently named after a manor owned by the Nevilles in Yorkshire. It is rather curious to observe that the Christian names Ralph and Henry, which occur so frequently in old northern families, are the predominating names respectively of the great houses of Neville and Percy.

Walworth Castle, a large, picturesque old house, was erected by the Jenisons in or about the reign of Queen Elizabeth. The north front, flanked by two projecting wings, has a centre three stories high terminating in a balustraded parapet. The south front has a circular tower at each end. The windows were originally decorated with fine old painted glass of heraldic design, which has been almost entirely destroyed in modern times. Some fragments have, however, been gathered together and are preserved in a window in the corridor. Here King James I. was entertained and slept on his progress to the South in 1603.