Mick Southwick

So one of the main reasons I walked through Morpeth and Mitford was to reach this place - Newton Underwood. This photograph is an absolute feast for the eye. The ridge and furrow covers the whole image. Now little is known about Newton Underwood. I've read through a few suggestions about this place, and the consensus is that it was a defended settlement. It's enclosed by earthworks and was potentially founded in the 12th or 13th century on cleared woodland. It shows up in sources from 1240 servicing the barony of Mitford. Given it's next to a main road to the village, Hewitt (2002) states it's likely it was an important satellite outpost for Mitford Castle. Now the medieval settlement may have centred around this site we're looking at. There are ruined structures of medieval date on both sides of the cottage. Local tradition dictates this was a bastle or tower house - effectively a fortified farmhouse which was bolstered to protect the village folk from Scottish raiders. Its design is stated to be unconventional to others, perhaps making it a rare example of a local vernacular. It supposedly dates to the 14th century and was probably built by the Eures family. They were an influential family in the north with William, a couple centuries later being the Governor of Berwick and were present during the Rough Wooing. Therefore, this could have easily been one of their houses with easy links to other families and the borders. Dodds states it was supposedly abandoned in 1632, and has remained in this state since.