More information : Medieval tower incorporated in a mid 17th century manor house. Stone-built, with slate roofs. Restored in the early 20th century but damaged by fire in the 1980's. Now a public house. Listed Grade II*. (1)
Ponteland's tower was occupied in 1325, and burnt in 1388. It was bought and restored in 1580. A Jacobean manor house was built, incorporating the tower, about a century later, and lived in until 1788. It is not known when it became a public house, nor why it is called the Blackbird. (2)
Also known as Errington Pele. (3)
The ruins of a Pele Tower stand in the garden of the Blackbird Inn at Ponteland. The earls of Athol lived in the tower in the 14th c.
The Scots successfully raided it is 1388. It was rebuilt by Mark
Erington at beginning of 17th c. (4,5)
The renovated remains of the tower are now incorporated in the public house situated at its southern extremity. It consists of a rectangualr building of two storeys 11.4m N-S and 6.6m E-W, with typical 17th c features. See photograph. No evidence that this was ever called "Ponteland Castle" (except on O.S. maps) can be found. (6)
Condition unchanged. (7) |