Castle is stormed with no blood or battle cry

Aug 14 2008 by Brian Daniel, The Journal

A CASTLE has been won after a 12-year battle – but no blood has been shed in the fight. Instead of wielding swords and battle axes, the row has been a modern-day clash of pens and paper in a bureaucratic ding-dong.

Norham Castle in north Northumberland will now fall within the boundaries of the parish that shares its name, instead of being officially in neighbouring Horncliffe.

The apparent anomaly dated to Victorian times when the lines of the two councils were drawn.

But the battle to ‘move’ the castle began 12 years ago when people in Norham made the demand. Their rivalry with Horncliffe is regarded as the parish equivalent of Newcastle versus Sunderland.

Villagers decided to throw a party in the castle grounds to mark its capture, but kept it quiet to dispel accusations they were rubbing Horncliffe’s nose in it.

Invitations were sent out to their old rival in the spirit of friendship, but no one from Horncliffe came.

The castle is an important part of border history and was the scene of a siege by the Scots led by Robert the Bruce in 1318, which lasted almost a year.

Ironically, Norham’s campaign to win back the castle was started by Neil Robertson, who was born and raised in Horncliffe.

Mr Robertson, 82, of Cross View, moved to Norham, where his grandfather had lived, in 1986 and was chairman of its parish council until five years ago.

He said: “There has been a friendly rivalry between Norham and Horncliffe for years, like Newcastle and Sunderland or Hawick and Galashiels. Norham Castle dominates the village and has been central to its history for centuries.

“It was not within the civil parish boundary of Norham, it was in the civil parish boundary of Horncliffe. This seemed ridiculous.

“We set about changing the boundaries. It was putting something right which did not seem to be right.”

Last night, George Miller, vice-chairman of Horncliffe Parish Council, said his authority accepted that the castle should be in Norham parish.

He said: “The parish never likes losing anything of rateable value, but logically we accepted it was Norham’s castle, not Horncliffe’s castle.”

Mr Miller was unaware there had been a party and said he would have gone.

The anomaly in the parish boundary is thought to be the result of Victorian mapmakers choosing to base the division on the old Longridge Estate, which included not only the castle, but Morris Hall, and Norham East Mains and West Mains farms.

With most of the estate in Horncliffe, it was decided that all of Longridge would be in that parish, despite the monument sitting at the entrance to Norham, a mile and a half from Horncliffe village.

Norham Council, led by Mr Robertson, lobbied Horncliffe Parish and Berwick Borough Councils to have the boundary realigned.

The matter was referred to the Government, which announced earlier this year that the castle, hall and farms would join Norham parish.

Doug Ewart, current chairman of Norham Council, said: “It is the first time Norham Castle has changed hands without anybody being killed. It was a pretty hairy place to be at one time, I think.”

Violent history

NORHAM Castle was originally founded when Bishop of Durham Ranulf Flambard gave orders for its construction in 1121, in order to protect the property of the bishopric in north Northumber- land from incursions by the Scots.

Built at a strategic crossing point on the River Tweed, the castle’s location on the border with Scotland led several armies to its walls. It successfully withstood sieges of 40 days in 1215, almost a year in 1318 led by Robert the Bruce and seven months in 1319.

In 1523 the castle finally did fall to Scottish cannon, only to be returned three weeks later when the Scots were defeated at the Battle of Flodden.

By the end of the 16th Century the castle was in a very poor state of repair. In 1603, when James VI of Scotland also became James I of England, Norham’s position on the border with Scotland lost its strategic importance and the castle was left to fall into ruin.