Prudhoe Castle Township, 1848

PRUDHOE-CASTLE, a township, in the parish of Ovingham, union of Hexham, E. division of Tindale ward, S. division of Northumberland, 12¾ miles (W.) from Newcastle; containing 126 inhabitants. Here was formerly a chapel, dedicated to St. Thomas. On an eminence sloping to the southern bank of the Tyne stood the castle of Prudhoe, the chief baronial seat of the Umfravilles from the Conquest until about 1381; it has been long in ruins, its ivy-mantled towers and lofty keep forming venerable monuments of its ancient grandeur and importance. The present possessors are the Percy family, of whom Algernon, only brother of the late Duke of Northumberland, was created Lord Prudhoe, Baron of Prudhoe Castle, in 1816: he succeeded to the dukedom in 1847. The Newcastle and Carlisle railway passes under the ruins. A rent-charge of £6 has been awarded as a commutation for the impropriate tithes.