Wark Castle

Wark Castle Keep, Northumberland
Photo © Walter Baxter, 29 October 2006

This large keep on the motte of Wark Castle is now mostly rubble, barely defining the line of the keep walls below a blanket of scrub. The castle dates back to the early 12th century. There is a baily platform 80m by 50m with remains of a rampart.

Wark on Tyne is a small village and civil parish usually called Wark in Northumberland, England about 12 miles (19 km) north of Hexham.

The name is derived from the Viking word for Earthworks, and refers to the mound at the south of the village, where a meeting hall once stood. The hotel name 'battlesteads' is taken from the stables that once stood there, as the meeting hall was used as the main meeting place for the Clan Chieftains. Wark was also once the capital town of Tynedale, and still retains a Town Hall, rather than a Village Hall.

A castle is thought to have been built here by Prince Henry of Scotland after he was created Earl of Northumberland in 1139.