Elsdon in Redesdale, Northumberland has a timeless air with many reminders of a byegone age. Here are to be found the Mote Hills which once housed the Motte and Bailey castle of the Umfravilles, Lords of Redesdale. They came with the Conqueror, William of Normandy and were granted the lands of Redesdale to hold it against his enemies and wolves. The castle was built in the year 1080 and served as the headquarters of the Umfravilles until about 1157.
The Village
The church, dedicated to St. Cuthbert, is also steeped in history. Here in 1810 were found the bones of many men, slaughtered at the Battle of Otterburn in 1388. Otterburn was a battle fought in the dusk and dark of an August night between the English under Henry Percy, (the Hotspur of Shakespeare fame) and The Scots of Sir James Douglas. The English were routed and lost,it is said,1800 men, many of whom were buried in Elsdon churchyard. Douglas also died in this vicious encounter.
On the village green a pinfold can be seen. It was here that the cattle which had strayed from their owner's or the common land were penned until the requisite fine for their release was paid. There are also sites where cock-fighting took place and written evidence of bull-baiting.
For all its turbulent history, Elsdon is a delight to the eye, picturesque with a rolling village green and a delightful array of stone houses.
The Vicar's Pele Tower
The pele tower was built about the year 1400 for the Umfravilles but by 1415 it was in the hands of the Rector. His original home had suffered at the hands of Scottish Raiders. Not long before, in 1399, a Truce between the Scots and English had ended and the North of England was very soon afterwards plundered by the Scots. Elsdon was often a target. There is documentary evidence that the tower was standing in 1415 and that it belonged to the Rector - 'Turris de Ellysden' belongs to 'Rector eiusdem'.
It still preserves its character today even after many additions and renovations. The walls are massive and the original vaulted ground floor was once the pen of horses and cattle during Scottish raids or a place of refuge from feuding neighbours.
The pele tower is a truly wonderous sight and dominates the village.
Reiver Raids on Elsdon
Although the Tower of Elsdon was strong and fortified and offered shelter for the villagers in the endless raids from the Scots, there were many times when the people suffered at the hands of the reivers.
An attack of particular note took place in September 1584 when Martin Elliot and five hundred from Liddesdale attacked the village. Such great numbers only indicated that the Scots came in reprisal for earlier raids against themselves.
As the Scottish Reivers turned for home they left fourteen men dead, had burned down all the houses and made away with four hundred kye (cows), oxen and horses, insight (household goods), and taken four hundred prisoners.
Wrath of the Church on the Reivers
From the records that still exist from the time it is clear that the raiding and reiving had reached an intensity that had lived on for at least a hundred years before the Liddesdale raid. In 1498 the Bishop of Durham had threatened excommunication on the reivers of Tynedale and Redesdale which included Elsdon. Not for attacks on the Scots, which was presumably acceptable, but for the family feuds which had reached such an intensity that god-fearing folk lived in daily terror of a raid from their own countrymen.
The reiving was literally relentless. The remedy hard to come by.
Today a visit to Elsdon is a great pleasure. It is a peaceful place nestling in rolling hillside yet proud of its history, its turbulent past. The church, tower, village green and the Mote Hills are a delight to the eye. Five hundred years ago all were similar. But then every man looked over his shoulder, wary of the next attack to come screaming out of the hills.
Thomas William Moss - What is a trained, highly qualified and experienced textile technologist doing writing articles about Irish\UK history? Surely technology ...
