NZ 170855/Ruin/Access

In 1070 William Bartram’s Father was given Mitford and it is probable that the earthwork forification was begun then. It was described as the "oppidum" of William Bertram in 1138 when it was attacked by the Scots. In 1215, when much of the surviving stonework must have existed, having been seized by the Flemish troops of King John the barony was taken from Roger Bartram and given to Hugh de Balliol. A garrison commanded by Philip de Ulecotes withstood a siege here by Alexander II of Scotland in 1216. In 1315 it was the headquarters of a group of bandits responsible for kidnappings and the holding of prisoners to ransom led  by Sir Gilbert de Middleton. The Castle was taken by a ruse by a band of men under the leadership of Sir William Felon and Sir Thomas Heton in December 1317 and the de Middleton brothers Gilbert and John were captured and later executed at London in Jan 1318. The Castle then was dismantled and was described as wholly burned in 1327. it is uncertain if it was ever restored. Excavations in 1938 uncovered the remains of a mid C12 chapel and an earlier burial ground. The Castle's stones were used to build the Jacobean mansion house whose ruin still stands. There is considerable architectural information in The Gatehouse.