NY 664645/Ruin/Access

C19 house incorporating the ruined remains of a medieval L plan tower house, for which Thomas de Blencansopp was give a licence to crenellate in February 1340 and repeated in May. To the north and west are the remains of an outer ditch 15M wide and there is a steep slope to the east. In 1415 John de Blenkinsopp had a castle of Fortilicium here in good repair but his decendant of the same name transferred to Bellister c1490 and by 1541 the roof of the tower was decayed. Mentioned in 1541 as “At Blenkinsoppe ys a toure of thinherytaunce of John Blenkinsoppe & is decayee in the roofe & not in good rep'ac'ons.” It was ruined by 1727 when the Coulsons of Jesmond aquired the estate by marriage. The house was enlarged and partly rebuilt in Tudor style between 1877-80. It later became a hotel but unfortunately burned down in 1954. Some of the ruins were demolished in the 1960s because they were dangerous, and more was demolished after 1986. Today, part of the building is still in use but the rest is a ruin. Some medieval walls survive from the tower and the outer wall; in east wall of the main building there is a wall 1.4m thick, and in the service court buildings there is a wall 2m thick. There are probably more medieval remains buried beneath the ground surface