Bertram Anderson and Burradon Tower House

Adjacent to Burradon Farm house, which is about six miles north of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, stands a ruinous tower house. It is not easy to spot until you are almost standing beside it as it is hidden and shaded by large and ancient sycamore trees. It is known locally as the pele tower.

It is a typical tower house, if not slightly small. It was described by Pevsner as tiny. The external measurements are, twenty-five feet three inches by twenty feet six inches. The tower is three storeys in height, with an entrance facing east; this is a low, round arched doorway, with a crude attempt at decoration on its lintel stones. On entering the tower, above your head, is a parapet with spaces to fire arrows, or other missiles through (machicolations), to repel any unwelcome visitors. The ground floor is described as being a slightly pointed vault, with a small slit at the north end giving light and ventilation.

The first floor is reached by a newel (spiral) staircase. A square headed door leads into an apartment nineteen feet three inches by sixteen feet two inches. A fireplace has been added to this room sometime after the original building of the tower. This, on its lintel, bore the initials L.O. (Lancelot Ogle), the date 1633 and between the initials some floral decoration and two shields. This was still visible in 1940, But Robert Hughill noted in 1970 that no traced remained. The chimney and breast have now since disintegrated. In the south wall a large window was put in around the same time as the fireplace. This had fallen out previous to 1876, but the remaining sill shows it to have been a large window for this class of tower. It is believed there may have been a similar window to the west. It is also thought that the second floor was similar to the first.

The relevant pages of the Northumberland County History, by HHE Craster, attribute the building of the tower to Bertram Anderson who came into possession of a portion of Burradon township in 1548. The evidence for why the construction is attributed to Anderson is not given. I wanted to find out if he really was the builder and why it was erected?

The period from 1296 to the early 17th century was a one of turmoil and strife in Northumberland. War with Scotland and internal reiving made this a relatively lawless, unsafe county, although the worst areas were in the wilds of Tynedale and Redesdale. Anybody who had the means to build himself a defensible dwelling did so. A survey was undertaken in 1415 and seventy-six defensible structures were listed, from the mighty Alnwick Castle to the tower of Weetslade "by the sea" of which no trace remains. According to Peter Ryder in "The Buildings of England:Northumberland" towers were becoming old fashioned by the mid-16th century.  Incorporating defence into a building, where affordable, remained a "wise provision". Towers became fashionable in South East Northumberland from the mid 14th century onwards. They were the dwellings of the minor gentry and often referred to as pele towers. However there were many classifications of defensible buildings and the fashion for their construction changed over time and particular region of the Border area.

Some towers were part of a larger establishment. Some stood alone. Others were adapted over time with a more habitable wing being added to the tower in more peaceful times after the Union of the Crowns in the early 17th century. Stronghouses were being built in the place of towers. If Burradon tower was constructed c1550 it was one of the last and possibly the most southerly? Burradon Tower was not mentioned in the survey of 1415. The earliest mention of the tower in documentary sources is in 1569.

During the the 12th century the lands of Burradon were divided into two portions. The Ogle family from the village and castle of Ogle, twelve miles North-West of Burradon, were put in possession of one half. The Ogles did not reside at Burradon, but sub-granted their Burradon lands to Peter Graper.

Graper was a wealthy and successful merchant of Newcastle. He was the mayor of Newcastle between 1304 and 1306. He is listed as paying a tax known as the Lay Subsidy for his property in Burradon in 1296 and 1312. Around the year 1440 a descendant of Peter Graper's, Alice, married Robert Orde. The lands were then inherited through the Orde family, although in two Inquisitions Post Mortem of the period 1428-1441 they were only valued at between 20-26 shillings because of the barrenness of the soil due to war and Scottish destruction. This suggests that the Orde family were not residing at Burradon (they owned many other properties and estates throughout the area) or that there were many tenants farming the land.

It was in 1548 that Bertram Anderson was conveyed the lands of Burradon by his uncle, George Orde. The www.historyofparliamentonline.org website gives this information on Bertram Anderson:

He was born around 1505 the 1st son of Henry Anderson and Ann Orde, daughter of Robert Orde of Orde. (Orde is a village in the very north of Northumberland near Berwick.) His father, Henry, was Sheriff of Newcastle in 1520, MP for Newcastle in 1529 and Mayor in 1532. Born c 1484 he died a rich and successful man trading in "coal, ships, merchandise and plate". It was thought Henry came of a minor merchant family that had not been settled at Newcastle for more than a generation.

Bertram Anderson already had the advantage of having been born into one of the great "municipal, commercial and parliamentary families of the City of Newcastle". He became a successful businessman in his own right, growing the already large family trade as a merchant adventurer and leasing coal mines around the Tyne. He played a leading part in the development of the coal trade. The period around 1548 was his most busy, productive and ambitious. The historyofparliamentonline continues:

"Anderson used the wealth from trade to build up a considerable landed estate starting in 1548 when his uncle conveyed him estates. It was in keeping with his emergence as a landholder that he became a shire official as well as a municipal one. His enhanced status is also reflected in the parliamentary return on which the merchant of 1554 becomes the gentleman of 1558."

It would seem the purchase of the one half of Burradon was to gain greater status and influence. The building of the tower was perhaps not all about status though. He would have needed a base to conduct his gentry affairs. The question still remains why he built such a "tiny" tower? Was he just being pragmatic as to how often he would reside there? It wasn't a main residence, but was it enough of a status symbol? Was it perhaps all he could afford to spend at the time? In 1553  Bertram Anderson is described as "of Burradon" in a list of border commissioners drawn up in this year, so why does he not refer to himself as "gentleman" until 1558? Had the tower not been built at this stage and he didn't feel fully established as a country gent?

Bertram was Sheriff of Newcastle in 1543, Mayor three times between 1551-64, Governor of the Merchant Adventurers in 1551 and MP for Newcastle between 1553-63. This is from "Men of Mark Twixt Tyne and Tweed":

"And possibly the person named in Nicholson's Border Laws as Bertram Anderson of Burradon one of the overseers of the watch from the Tyne to Hartford Bridge... All the honours that his fellow townsmen could bestow upon him, all the riches that successful trading wins were his... In the prime of his life he was smitten down with death... Laid in St Nicholas Church (Newcastle) with his wife and father"

There was of course a very extensive house and estate in Newcastle called Anderson Place built by Robert Anderson in the 16th century near the ruins of a Franciscan priory. This was bounded by modern-day Pilgrim Street and Blackett Street. It is not clear, despite the best efforts of some very distinguished genealogists, whether this was built by family members of Bertram Anderson. The house and grounds were purchased by Sir William Blackett in 1675.

Anderson Place, Newcastle

In 1559 Henry Anderson, son and heir of Bertram Anderson, re-conveyed the Burradon lands to John Orde, son of George.

1563 - Bertram Anderson leased from the crown, for twenty-one years, the tithes of corn of Burradon,

1569 - A deed, produced in a later disputed court case, showed that John Orde conveyed to Oliver Ogle, a junior branch of the knightly family, the tower and moiety of the "manor" of Burradon. This took the form of a mortgage for eighty pounds over fourteen years. After the final payment was made Ogle was to hold the premises for thirty-two years as a tenant and farmer to the mortgagor (until c.1615).

In the 1570s the Ogle family took over residency of the tower and various generations of that family continued in possession until the mid-17th century. In fact, they eventually purchased both portions of Burradon. In the later 17th century the tower became the home of a succession of tenant farmers, although still in the possession of the Ogle family resident at Causey Park, near Morpeth. At a later stage a farmstead was attached to two sides of the tower. In 1833 T.M. Richardson noted in his descriptive text of a survey of Burradon that the tower was being used as the farm offices. The farmstead was demolished c.1860 leaving the tower once again alone and isolated.

There is a tradition within the community that a tunnel runs under Burradon Tower. Its eventual destination is unknown. In 1914 a group of engineers based at Gosforth Park, according to an elderly local resident, discovered this tunnel. It was found to be caved in at not a great distance along its length. Tunnels running from towers are not unheard of, but are not well documented. An area of intrigue for some further study, perhaps.

N.C.H IX
R. Huggill, Borderland Castles and Peles
N. Pevsner, The Buildings of England: Northumberland
Tyne and Wear HER 312
Internal Photos of the Tower from a former Farm Resident

The Witches of... Northumberland

Trawling through the dark recesses of my memory recently I recalled reading some time ago about a witch having been executed at Seaton Sluice. I never did get around to investigating this more fully, so today was the day.

North Berwick Witches from a contemporary pamphlet

An internet search revealed this from the Wallsend Local History Society website, which in turn is a facsimile of the Monthly Chronicle: North-Country Lore and Legend from April 1888:

We can therefore only give a plain, unvarnished, prosaic account of the affair, as it used to be told, doubtless with much more pith than we can put into it, by that extraordinary humorist and mystery-man, Sir Francis Blake Delaval.
At what definite period the witch adventure took place it is impossible now to tell. Sir Francis died in 1771, and already in his clay it was "once upon a time," and "one of the Lords of Seaton Delaval," without further specification as to when and to whom it occurred. The adventurer, whoever he was, is said to have been returning home from Newcastle after nightfall... 

The whole story is quite lengthy, but to summarise, Lord Delaval forced his way into Wallsend Church to find a bunch of "old hags" involved in a ceremony involving a naked young girl lying on a table and some knives. They fled, but Delaval managed to capture one, tie her up and transport her to Seaton Delaval. She was tried and found guilty of witchcraft. Her punishment was to be burned alive on Seaton Sluice beach. But there's more... Standing ready to be burnt at the stake she was granted a last request. To quote again:

...the witch requested to have the use of two new wooden dishes, which were forthwith procured from the neighbouring hamlet of Seaton Sluice. The combustibles were then heaped on the sands, the culprit was placed thereon, the dishes were given to her, and fire was applied to the pile. As the smoke arose in dense columns around her, she placed a foot in each of the utensils, muttered a spell, cleared herself from the fastenings at the stake, and soared away on the sea-breeze like an eagle escaped from the hands of its captors. But when she had risen to a considerable height, one of the dishes which supported her lost its efficacy from having been, by the young person who procured them, dipped unthinkingly in pure fresh water; and so, after making several gyrations, the deluded follower of Satan fell to the ground. Without affording her another chance of escape, the beholders conveyed her back to the pile, where she perished amidst its flames.

Sir Francis Blake Delaval

Now, in our enlightened times we wouldn't take this tale at face value. But could it, in fact, be based on a real event?

The 1735 Witchcraft Act, which made it illegal to accuse anybody of possessing magical powers is described in a Wikipedia article:

The law was "a heavy-handed piece of Enlightenment rationalism", designed by supporters of the new rationalist theories who believed that, contrary to popular belief at the time, "witchcraft and magic were illusory", and the law was therefore designed to "wean" the public out of a belief in them.

The peak of the witch hunts in Europe was between 1580 and the 1630s. There was "widespread hysteria that malevolent Satanic witches were operating as an organized threat to Christendom."

From the Special Collection of Newcastle University we learn:

Witch-hunters were often employed by a town council or minister when there were suspicions that witchcraft was taking place. Accusations of witchcraft were often based on limited evidence. In 1649, Newcastle upon Tyne employed a famous Scottish witch-hunter who was paid according to the number of witches he caught, meaning that it was in his best interests to find as many examples of black magic as possible. The local magistrates encouraged people to report suspicious behaviour, which provided an excellent opportunity to settle old grudges. In total, thirty women were brought to trial and twenty-seven were found guilty. The methods used to determine whether a woman was a witch were primitive and inconsistent. In the Newcastle trials a Lieutenant-Colonel Hobson expressed his doubts over the methodology used and demonstrated that the evidence was flawed:

…therefore he would try her; and presently in the sight of all the people, laid her body naked to the waist, with her clothes over her head, by which fright and shame, all her blood contracted into one part of her body, and then he ran a pin in her thigh, and then suddenly let her coats fall, and then demanded whether she had nothing of his in her body, but did not bleed, but she being amazed, replied little, then he put her aside as a guilty person, and child of the devil, and fell to try others whom he made guilty.

Lieutenant Colonel Hobson, perceiving the alteration of the foresaid woman, by her blood settling in her right parts, caused that woman to be brought again, and her clothes pulled up to her thigh, and required the Scot to run the pin into the same place, and then it gushed out of blood, and the said Scot cleared her, and said she was not a child of the devil.

In the Gateshead parish-books (1649) the following entry occurs:—"Paid at Mrs Watson's, when the Justices sat to examine the witches, 3s. 4d.: for a grave for a witch 6d.: for trying the witches £1, 5s."

"So soon as the witch finder had done in Newcastle, and received his wages, he went into Northumberland, to try women there, where he got of some three pounds a-piece; but Henry Ogle, Esq. laid hold on him, and required bond of him, to answer the sessions, but he got away for Scotland, where he was apprehended and cast into prison, indicted, arraigned, and condemned for such like villainy exercised in Scotland, and upon the gallows he confessed he had been the death of above two hundred and twenty women in England and Scotland, for the gain of twenty shillings a-piece."— Cardiner, p. 116, Newcastle Ed. of 1796.

Gardiner, in his "England's Grievance of the Coal Trade," printed in 1655, also gives a detailed account of this horrid affair.

So violent was the popular rage against these supposed wretches, who had sold themselves to the devil, that great numbers were burnt in Scotland; and in a village near Berwick, containing only fourteen houses, fourteen persons were punished by fire!

In 1590, in the Scottish village of North Berwick, the trials of more than one hundred suspected witches were held. One of the accused, Agnes Sampson was taken to Holyrood House and personally tried by the King. Under horrific torture she confessed and was executed. It is estimated from records that 3000-4000 witches were executed in Scotland between 1620 and 1680.

So did it really happen? Prior to 1604 and the passing of a witchcraft act of Parliament witches would have been tried in an ecclesiastical court of the parish church. Summary justice was often overlooked, but after this date witchcraft was tried at the Assizes which were held in Newcastle once per year by travelling judges directly accountable to the monarch. It was also common after this date for witches to be hung rather than burnt to death. A lord Delaval probably did not have the authority to carry out this death sentence unless it was perhaps at an early date. More investigation is needed on this one though...

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Update 12 November 2012

Ann left this comment:

Very interesting indeed. A few years ago I was told that "witches" were routinely taken onto the beach at Seaton Sluice,  tied  to stakes in the sand & left to drown. Haven't been able to find anything in the history books so would be interested to see any further revelations. I was told that in "olden times" a charnal house was located roughly where Astley Gardens now stands, but again have no evidence.  

 What more could I find out about justice, punishment and Seaton Sluice in former times?

The Stewartry Museum in Kirkcudbright, Scotland holds a document listing the accounts for the execution of  Elspeth McEwen, who was executed at Silvercraigs, a hillside overlooking Kirkcudbright, on August 24th 1698. A poor and old woman, she was condemned as a witch and sentenced to be burned to death. She was the last witch to be executed in Scotland after having being found guilty at a civil trial.

This was before the Act of the Union however, and England had its own legal system. The Wikipedia article "Witch Trials in the Early Modern Period" states: 

The sentence generally was death (as Exodus 22:18 states, "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live"). Nearly always, a witch's execution involved burning of their body. In England, witches were usually hanged before having their bodies burned and their ashes scattered. In Scotland, the witches were usually strangled at the stake before having their bodies burned—though there are several instances where they were burned alive.

A common perception regarding the execution of a witch, including mine, is of tying to a stake and being burned alive, but it seems this was not the norm. In fact, where this is the case the executions often gain some notoriety as in the case of the Belvoir Witches burned alive at Lincoln in 1617.  Campaigners are still petitioning the Government to have them pardoned. There were many different types of execution traditionally reserved for different types of crimes and different social classes. Pirates were sometimes hung in a gibbet and tied with chains at a place where the rising tide would submerge them. In the Wapping area of London there is a place known as Execution Dock where this practice was carried out. The pirate Captain William Kidd died here by this method in 1701. However, I can't find any mention of a witch being executed by this method.

Execution of William Kidd

The historian Ronald Hutton has calculated that between 300-1000 witches were executed in England and Wales. Only 228 were officially recorded.

Special places were traditionally reserved for executions and the Town Moor at Newcastle would appear to be one of these. They were often close to the gaol in which prisoners were held. However, the term gallows and gibbet can be used synonymously. It was sometimes the case where a body, after execution, was taken to a place and hung up on a gibbet. The place was sometimes in site of the crime scene, or a strategic place where the decomposing remains would act as a deterrent to passers-by. There is an example near Elsdon where a replica of Winter's Gibbet still remains as an eerie site on the hilltop. There are also many examples of fields named as Gallow's Hill on estate and tithe maps of the late 18th - early 19th centuries including one at Burradon, six miles north of Newcastle.

The story of the Seaton Sluice witch sounds like a one of mob rule and summary justice. The major landholding aristocracy had been handed powers to use capital punishment through their manorial courts during the Norman period. A huge range of offences were subject to capital punishment but at manorial level it was mostly stealing that carried this sentence. Major crimes were dealt with by justices of the peace or the central justices at the assizes.

From the 14th century until the early 17th century the unruly border area had some of its own separate laws and customs. Wardens were appointed to police and administer the area on behalf of the monarch. They had special powers to authorize capital punishment in certain circumstances. The Delavals, although a powerful family, were not wardens and could not carry out summary justice without fear of being held to account for any such actions.