BAMBURGH CASTLE

Identity: confirmed — The registry name, Bamburgh location, TNA/MDR record F282253, and the associated Northumberland Archives manorial records all identify the Castle of Bamburgh manor. The surviving historical evidence specifically describes the manor as the manor of the castle of Bamburgh and records customary tenants in Bamburgh, Beadnell, Shoreston, Sunderland and related estate lands.
Representative point: 55.60898, -1.71076
Basis: documented_manor_site — Bamburgh Castle is the documented historic castle and manorial centre of the manor. Historic England gives the castle site at OS grid reference NU 18319 35114; the coordinate supplied is the corresponding WGS84 position.
Point confidence: high
Boundary status: representative_point_only
Boundary period: Medieval to early modern extent, with a specific surviving description from 1575 and later manorial records through the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Boundary confidence: medium
Boundary basis: A Northumberland County History account reports that a 1575 jury described the manor as comprising the demesne lands of Bamburgh, the demesne lands at Sunderland, and the towns or hamlets of Beadnell, Shoreston and Sunderland. The same account states that medieval Pipe Rolls associate Bamburgh, Beadnell, Shoreston, Sunderland and Spindleston as ancient royal demesnes. Northumberland Archives records further confirm that Beadnell and North Sunderland were within the Manor of Bamburgh Castle. However, the available web evidence does not provide a surveyed manor map, parcel schedule, or explicit perimeter from which a defensible historical polygon can be reconstructed. These named places should not be converted into a guessed modern-parish polygon.
Sources:
- The National Archives: Bamburgh Castle manor record F282253: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F282253 — Registry record for the exact manor identified as Bamburgh Castle, located at Bamburgh, Northumberland.
- A History of Northumberland, volume 1: Bamburgh parish and manor extent: https://www.electricscotland.com/northumberland/historyofnorthum01nort.pdf — Reports the 1575 description of the manor as including Bamburgh, Sunderland, Beadnell and Shoreston, and notes the associated Pipe Roll evidence for Spindleston.
- Historic England: Bamburgh Castle, list entry 1280155: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1280155 — Authoritative location record for Bamburgh Castle, parish of Bamburgh, OS grid reference NU 18319 35114, supporting the representative point.
- Northumberland Archives: Bamburgh Estate maps and plans, NRO 00452/D/10: https://calmview.northumberland.gov.uk/Record.aspx?id=NRO+00452%2FD%2F10&src=CalmView.Catalog — Catalogue confirms a dedicated Bamburgh Estate series of maps and plans dating 1774-1842, but the accessible catalogue record does not expose a manor-boundary plan usable for polygon reconstruction.
- Durham University Library catalogue: Manor of the Castle of Bamburgh documents: https://reed.dur.ac.uk/xtf/view?docId=ark%2F32150_s1qj72p713z.xml%3Bquery%3D2026 — Describes copyhold and customary estates at North Sunderland and Beadnell as lying within the Manor of the Castle of Bamburgh.
- Northumberland Archives: Manorial Records: https://northumberlandarchives.com/learn/property-history/manorial-records/ — Explains that manorial records, including surveys, rentals and court records, are the relevant evidence for establishing the extent and situation of a Northumberland manor.
Warnings / uncertainty:
- No defensible historical manor polygon was found in the accessible evidence.
- The manor's documented extent consisted of named demesne lands and settlements and should not be equated automatically with the modern civil parish of Bamburgh.
- The 1575 description and the Pipe Roll evidence differ slightly in the places named; Spindleston is therefore treated as historical associated evidence rather than sufficient basis for a boundary polygon.