Staward Peel, Haydon Bridge

Staward Peel stands at Haydon Bridge, United Kingdom; its medieval fortifications were erected by English lords of the area, while an earlier shrine on the same spot has been linked to Roman activity.

A small shrine is recorded at the site around 1271, and that shrine has been described as possibly originating in the Roman period. In 1316 Anthony de Lucy of Langley established a timber pele here and garrisoned it with fifteen men-at-arms and fifteen hobelars, marking the location’s role in local defence during the early fourteenth century.

In 1326 King Edward II annexed the western portion of the Lucy estate, a tract that included Staward Pele. Following that annexation, tenders were called to remove the timber structure and replace it with a larger, more defensible complex. Thomas II de Featherstonehaugh carried out construction of a full-scale stone castle on the pele’s footprint.

Ownership changed in the later fourteenth century when Philippa of Hainault purchased the property in 1373 from John Darci le Cocin and Nicholas de Swinburne; the castle then passed to Edmund, Duke of York. From 1385 the Dukes of York let the property to Hexham Priory, a tenancy that continued until the Dissolution of the Monasteries. After that period the crown took possession and in 1603 transferred the site to the Earl of Dunbar.

In 1613 King James I granted Staward to Lord Howard of Walden, who subsequently conveyed it to John Sanderson of Healey. The estate changed hands again in 1664 when George Bacon of Broadwood Hall purchased the premises for £450. A lintel at nearby Staward Manor House bears George Bacon’s initials alongside those of his wife Cecilia Robson, dated 1668, linking the family to the locality. By 1759 a plan recorded the ruins as they then stood. The structure was demolished sometime before 1856. In 1947–48 a Roman altar, which had been built into the upper part of the ruins, fell and was later moved to Low Staward Manor.

Over time the site has been referred to as Staward Peel or Staward Pele, reflecting alternate spellings used in historical records.