Bellister Castle

Bellister Castle is a 19th century castellated mansion house that is owned by the National Trust, but tenanted and not open to the public. This mansion sits on top of an oval mound which sits on low-lying ground overlooking the floodplain of the River South Tyne opposite Haltwhistle, which is surrounded by traces of a moat. The building can just be seen from the public road, but only the mansion house can be spotted.

Hidden behind trees is the ruined shell of the old castle of Bellister. This was a rectangular hall dated to the 13th century built across the width of the centre of the mound (orientated NE-SW), with a rectangular solar tower of the 14th attached to the western corner. There was a winding stair in the southern corner of the hall, and a garderobe on the south-eastern side. The best preserved sections are to the north and west of the hall, the solar having largely fallen. In the 17th century a house was built adjacent by the Blenkinsopps, who had held the place since at least 1541, but this was taken down or incorporated when the mansion was erected after a fire of 1827, and another of 1901. The house and site have never been subject to a detailed survey.