Preston Tower

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Details:

Admission:	£2, Kids 50p
Town:	Chathill
County:	Northumberland
Postcode:	NE67 5DH
Telephone:	01665 589227
Website:	http://www.prestontower.co.uk
Opening Times:	10-6 (or dusk)
Opening Days:	All

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Description:

The Preston pele tower, which is owned by Major Tom Baker Cresswell, was built between 1392 and 1399, when warfare between England and Scotland was endemic. At the time of Agincourt (1415) it was one of 78 pele towers in Northumberland. Its owners included Sir Guiscard Harbottle, who was slain fighting against James IV at the battle of Flodden in 1513, the conflict that brought Mary, Queen of Scots to the Scottish throne.

Although the rest of England was enjoying peace and prosperity by the sixteenth century, in the Border country raiders, or ‘reivers’, still constantly crossed back and forth in the disputed hinterland. Instead of comfortable Tudor manor houses, the seats of Border families still needed thick walls and tunnel-vaulted rooms to defend themselves and their livestock.

Following the Union of Scotland and England in 1603 under Mary’s son James, peace finally came to the Borders. Half the tower was pulled down at this time and the stone used for farm buildings on the estate. The present tower is what remains of the original structure.

The House

A previous house on the site was burned down in 1782. The estate was bought by Edmund Craster, who built the present house in 1802. On his death the house passed to his kinsman Mr Atkinson, from whom it was bought by A.J. Baker Cresswell in 1861 for his son Henry. Henry added the East Wing in 1862 and installed the clock in the Tower.

The front door was originally on the south side of the house. It was moved to the north side in 1830 and altered again in 1915 when G.G. Baker Cresswell added an entrance hall and moved the front steps to their present position as an ornament.

The Gardens

The gardens around the house provide a peaceful and attractive setting for the pele tower. There are three short walks in the grounds and nearby woodland that allow visitors to see some of the interesting trees and shrubs in the grounds, which include tulip trees, walnuts, and a Gingko biloba. Of the many shrubs, it is the umbrella-shaped cockspur thorn by the car park that gets the most attention. This is a North American hawthorn with branches growing sideways and thorns about two inches long.

The Woodland Walk will take you through beech woods to a secluded spring. Water is pumped from the spring to a tank in the tower, and thence to the house.

Sharp-eyed visitors may be lucky enough to catch sight of one of the red squirrels living in the grounds and woodland around Preston. Northumberland is one of the last strongholds of the red squirrels, which have been driven out elsewhere by their larger cousins, the grey squirrels.

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