{{Short description|Ruined castle in Cornhill-on-Tweed, Northumberland, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} '''Heaton Castle''' (anciently '''Heton''') in the parish of [[Cornhill-on-Tweed]], [[Northumberland]], England, is a ruined historic castle near the Scottish border.
It is situated in an elevated position above the south bank of the [[River Till, Northumberland|River Till]], 4 miles north-east of [[Coldstream]] and 9 miles south-west of [[Berwick-upon-Tweed]], and 2 miles south-east of the [[River Tweed]], the historic border with Scotland.. The castle was [[slighting|slighted]] in 1496 by King James IV of Scotland, but remnants survive as parts of the walls of outbuildings of a farm now known as '''Castle Heaton'''.{{cn|date=December 2024}}
==History== The castle was the seat of the de Heton family,{{cn|date=December 2024}} which as was usual took its name from its seat. It passed in about 1250 to a branch of the prominent de Grey family, who in 1415 rebuilt it as a quadrangular castle.{{cn|date=December 2024}}
[[James IV of Scotland]] set miners to work to slight or demolish Heaton Castle on 24 September 1496, and gave his stone masons, led by John Cochrane, a bonus to work through the night. James IV brought the pretender [[Perkin Warbeck]] with him into England. They stayed some nights at Ellemford on the [[Whiteadder Water]], and the invasion is known as the "Raid of Ellem". James IV brought his cannon to Heaton, and a horse was killed pulling a gun into position.<ref>Thomas Dickson, ''Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland'', vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1877), pp. cxli-ii, 299–301, 321.</ref> One record of the invasion mentions the "siege of Heaton", in Latin, "obsidione de Hedtoun".<ref>George Burnett, [https://archive.org/details/exchequerrollsof11scot/page/140/mode/2up ''Exchequer Rolls of Scotland: 1497-1501'', vol. 11 (Edinburgh, 1888), pp. lx, 141]</ref>
===Description in the 16th century=== In 1541, Heaton Castle was described in a survey as "ruinous" but a later report identified "a vault that a hundred horses may stand in".{{cn|date=December 2024}} By 1550, the ruins had been adapted "to form bases for large bastle type building with stone vault".{{cn|date=December 2024}} The only remains surviving are two buttresses against the north-east wall of a stable-block, together with "probable remains of a turret and rampart", and the long barrel vault.{{cn|date=December 2024}} In the 1580s, attempts at rebuilding and repair were made, but the project failed when the Grey family became involved in a dispute with the Crown concerning funding.
The remaining building with the long vault has some characteristics of a [[Bastle house]], and has been compared to [[Akeld]] Bastle.<ref>Clare Howard & Rebecca Pullen, ''Castle Heaton, Cornhill-on-Tweed: An Investigation of the Vaulted Building and Adjacent Earthworks'' (English Heritage, 2014), pp. 17, 23.</ref>
==The Grey family== [[File:Grey (of Heaton Castle, Northumberland) arms.png|thumb|Arms of Grey of Heaton and Howick: ''Gules, a lion rampant a bordure engrailed argent''. These arms were adopted in lieu of the ancient arms of Grey borne by all other branches of the family descended from [[Henry de Grey]] (1155-1219) of [[Grays Thurrock]], Essex: ''Barry of six argent and azure''[[File:Grey.svg|right|50px]]]] The Grey family of Heaton was descended from Hugh de Grey, a younger son of [[Henry de Grey]] (1155-1219) of [[Grays Thurrock]] in Essex, a courtier of King [[John of England|John]], whose ancestry is traceable back to [[Anchetil de Greye]] (c.1052 - post-1086), a Norman soldier and follower of [[William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford]] one of the great [[magnate]]s of early [[Normans|Norman]] England and one of the very few proven [[companions of William the Conqueror]] known to have fought at the [[Battle of Hastings]] in 1066. The descent of the de Grey family of Heaton is as follows:
*Sir [[Thomas Grey (of Heaton)|Thomas Grey]] (d.1344), 3rd in descent from Hugh de Grey, was an eminent soldier in the Anglo-Scottish wars in the reigns of [[Edward I of England|Edward I]] and [[Edward II]]. He married Agnes de Bayles. *Sir [[Thomas Grey (chronicler)|Thomas Grey]] (d.1369), son, "The Chronicler", who wrote the English [[chronicle]], the ''[[Scalacronica]]''. He married Margaret de Presson,<ref>King, Andy (2005). "Scaling the Ladder: The Rise and Rise of the Grays of Heaton, c.1296-c.1415". In Liddy, Christian D. North-east England in the Later Middle Ages. Woodbridge: Boydell Press. pp. 57–74</ref> the daughter and heiress of William de Presson<ref>{{Harvnb|King|2005|p=68}}.</ref> of Presson, near [[Carham]] in Northumberland. *Sir Thomas Grey (1359-1400) of Heaton and of [[Chillingham Castle]], who married Joan de Mowbray (d.1410), sister of [[Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk]],<ref>{{Harvnb|King|2005|p=69}}.</ref> and daughter of [[John de Mowbray, 4th Baron Mowbray]] (d.1368) by his wife and Elizabeth de Segrave, daughter and heiress of John de Segrave, [[Baron Segrave|4th Baron Segrave]] by his wife [[Margaret, Duchess of Norfolk|Margaret of Brotherton]] (c.1320-1399), [[suo jure]] 'Countess of Norfolk, in 1397 created [[Duchess of Norfolk]] for life, the daughter and eventual sole heiress of [[Thomas of Brotherton]], eldest son of King [[Edward I of England]], by his second marriage. In 1338 she succeeded to the Earldom of Norfolk and the office of [[Earl Marshal]]. His second son was [[John Grey, 1st Earl of Tankerville]]<ref>{{Harvnb|Richardson II|2011|p=254}}; {{Harvnb|Richardson III|2011|pp=206–7}}; {{Harvnb|Pugh|1988|pp=103, 187, 196}}; {{Harvnb|King|2005|p=68}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Pugh|1988|pp=103,187, 196}}</ref> (1384-1421), KG. *[[Thomas Grey (1384-1415)|Sir Thomas Grey]] (1384-1415), son, one of the three conspirators in the [[Southampton Plot]] against King [[Henry V of England|Henry V]] in 1415. In about 1408 he married Alice Neville, a daughter of [[Ralph de Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland|Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland]], by his first wife [[Margaret de Stafford]] (d.1396), a daughter of [[Hugh de Stafford, 2nd Earl of Stafford]]. *[[Sir Thomas Grey (1404–1426)|Sir Thomas Grey]] (1404-1426), who in 1412, at eight years of age, was betrothed to [[Isabel of Cambridge, Countess of Essex|Isabel]], then three years of age, only daughter of [[Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge]],<ref>{{Harvnb|Pugh|1988|pp=104, 187}}.</ref> and [[Anne de Mortimer|Anne Mortimer]]; they had one son.<ref>Burke's Peerage & Baronetage, 106th Edition, Charles Mosley Editor-in-Chief, 1999, page: 15, 1222</ref> At about this time the family abandoned Heaton and moved to its other estate at [[Howick, Northumberland|Howick]] in Northumberland. His descendants gained peerage titles including: Baronet Grey of Chillingham, Northumberland (1619); Baron Grey of Werke (1623/4); Baronet Grey of Howick (1746); Baron Grey of Howick (1801); Viscount Howick (1806); Earl Gret (1806). His most notable descendant was [[Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey|Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, 2nd Viscount Howick]] (1764-1845), KG, of [[Howick Hall]], Prime Minister and supposed inventor of the famous tea.
===History of the broader de Grey family=== The de Grey family was descended from [[Anchetil de Greye]] (c.1052 - post-1086), a Norman soldier and follower of [[William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford]], one of the great [[magnate]]s of early [[Normans|Norman]] England and one of the very few proven [[companions of William the Conqueror]] known to have fought at the [[Battle of Hastings]] in 1066. Anchetil de Greye is regarded as the ancestor of the noble [[House of Grey]], branches of which held many peerage titles in England, including [[Baron Grey de Wilton]], [[Baron Grey of Codnor]], [[Baron Grey de Ruthyn]], [[Marquess of Dorset]], [[Duke of Suffolk]], and [[Earl of Stamford]]. They{{clarify|date=January 2019}} married into the royal family.
Descendants of the branch seated at Heaton gained the peerage titles of: Earl of Tankerville (1419, 1695), Baronet Grey of Chillingham, Northumberland (1619); Baron Grey of Werke (1623/4); Viscount Glendale (1695), Baronet Grey of Howick (1746); Baron Grey of Howick (1801); Viscount Howick (1806), Earl Grey (1806) and Baronet Grey of Fallodon (1814). [[Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey|Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, 2nd Viscount Howick]] (1764-1845), KG, of [[Howick Hall]], Prime Minister, and supposed inventor of the famous tea, was a descendant of the Heaton branch.
==Present== In 2011 the estate of Castle Heaton (with Shellacres) was offered for sale at an asking price of £11.5 million,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/north-east-news/castle-heaton-shellacres-up-sale-4426752 |title=The (Newcastle) Journal, 1 July 2011 |access-date=19 November 2018 |archive-date=13 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200613174256/http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/north-east-news/castle-heaton-shellacres-up-sale-4426752 |url-status=dead }}</ref> a record for recent years in the North East.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20181120055221/http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/north-east-news/castle-heaton-shellacres-up-sale-4426752 The Journal, 1 July 2011]</ref>
==References== <references/>
==Sources== *{{Cite book |chapter = Scaling the Ladder: The Rise and Rise of the Grays of Heaton, c.1296-c.1415 |title = North-east England in the Later Middle Ages |last = King |first = Andy |editor-last = Liddy |editor-first = Christian D. |location = Woodbridge |publisher = Boydell Press |year = 2005 |pages = 57–74 }} *{{Cite book |title = Henry V and the Southampton Plot of 1415 |last = Pugh |first = T.B. |publisher = Alan Sutton |year = 1988 }} {{ISBN|0-86299-541-8}} *{{Cite book |title = Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, ed. Kimball G. Everingham |last = Richardson |first = Douglas |location = Salt Lake City |year = 2011 |edition = 2nd |volume = II |ref = {{sfnref|Richardson II|2011}} }}{{ISBN|1449966381}} *{{Cite book |title = Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, ed. Kimball G. Everingham |last = Richardson |first = Douglas |location = Salt Lake City |year = 2011 |edition = 2nd |volume = III |ref = {{sfnref|Richardson III|2011}} }}
==Further reading== *{{NHLE|desc=Remains of Heaton Castle circa 30 yards north-west of farmhouse|num=1304159}} *http://www.keystothepast.info/article/10339/Site-Details?PRN=N2338 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120015116/http://www.keystothepast.info/article/10339/Site-Details?PRN=N2338 |date=20 November 2018 }} * [https://research.historicengland.org.uk/Report.aspx?i=15266 Clare Howard & Rebecca Pullen, ''Castle Heaton, Cornhill-on-Tweed: An Investigation of the Vaulted Building and Adjacent Earthworks'' (English Heritage, 2014)]
==External links== *{{commons category inline}}
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[[Category:Castles in Northumberland]] [[Category:Grey family residences]] [[Category:Bastle houses]]