More information : A list of 1415 mentions, (1) and a survey of c. 1715 refers to, remains of a tower at North Middleton [NZ 060851]. (1-2)
Nothing resembling a tower exists in the present village, and its site cannot be distinguished from other minor depopulation remains scattered around the perimeter. (3)
North Middleton has not existed at any time in the Wansbeck Valley. Dodds suggests the explanation for the reference to a tower there is that the original settlement was plain Middleton. Later, as buildings appeared on the hill to the North, they were grouped together and gained the title North Middleton to differentiate the two settlements, but as North Middleton grew to prominenece, the new `North' prefix was dropped and the older settlement gained the prefix `South', which remains. This suggests that Middleton Hall occupies the site of the tower, although ther is nothing there to indicate a pele. (4) |