This is Wark’s history pre-1600

450 Romano British settlements discovered at farms in the Warksburn area.

788 Wark mentioned in passing when Alfwald, King of Northumbria is murdered

1135 David, Prince of the Cumbrians from 1113 to 1124 and later to become King David 1st of Scotland crosses the border and takes over the castles of Carlisle, Wark, Alnwick, Norham and Newcastle. This marks the beginning of the 1st war of Scottish Independence.

1139 The Normans built a motte and baille structure on Mote Hill. The Medieval Scottish Courts for Tynedale were held here during the period that the north of England was ceded to the Scottish Kings,David and Alexander.

The courts was run by the Kings Justices in eyrie, who travelled the length and breadth of England dispensing justice. They are the fore-runners of today’s magistrates and Judges. These were assize courts, today’s crown Courts, and dealt with the more serious crimes and could impose the death penalty.

The Justices would arrive at Fourstones and generally spent a week in each place they visited. The first assize would be run under English law, followed immediately by another assize run under Scottish law.

The court at Wark would last until 1846 as a petty debt court.

The Kings writ would not run in Tynedale until the rule of King George III.

It is thought that Kirkfield marks the spot where the original church for the settlement stood. Henry, eldest son of King David of Scotland, becomes Earl of Northumberland under a deal struck with King Stephen of England.

There is some mention during the 12th century of salt pans working in Wark.

1279 The Roll of Pleas held at Wark by the Justices of Alexander III show many examples of murder, robbery and sudden death in the region. The King of Scotland had a prison at Wark at this time. In the Northumberland Assize Rolls of 1279 Tynedale is described as being outside the kingdom of England and in the kingdom of Scotland, but the Tynedale liberty remains English territory.

The liberty of Tynedale includes all of upper Tynedale above the confluence of the river Rede, all of the land to the west of the North Tyne to its confluence with the South Tyne and most of South Tynedale. The centre of the lordship is the motte and baille manorial complex at More Hill, Wark. The Scottish Royal Justices (today’s magistrates) included Wark on their ‘eyre’, or tour of Scottish lands to dispense justice. However, they used English, rather than Scottish law in their visits to Tynedale. Within the manorial complex was a bakehouse, brewery, forge, fulling mill and corn mill.

Thomas Fairbarne accuses John de Haweltone and Thomas de Thirlwal of stealing thirty oxen , each worth ten shillings, eighteeen sows, each worth half a mark, a bull worth half a mark, two hundred sheep,each worth twelve pence and taken them to land belonging to John de Haweltone’s manor at Sewingshields. In the assize court, such a large crime would generally warrant the death penalty, but a compromise was reached and the accused agreed to pay fifteen silver marks in compensation. This was to be paid in equal instalments at Purification, Easter and Pentecost.

Robert de Insula, the lord of Chipchase, is distrained to show by what warrant he claimed a boat on the Tyne. Distrain was a legal action taken to ensure someone would come to court. It usually involved to take some personal property of the defendant as surety or bond. The fishing on the Tyne was carefully regulated to conserve fish stocks and a close season was enforced. In the same year, Alexander, the miller of Wark was amerced (arbitrarily fined) by the court for fishing during the close season.

The lord of Wark manor has the right to take underwood from Bellister park. Underwood is literally all things growing beneath taller, fully formed trees. John de Swynburn is granted the right of reasonable ‘estover’ from all the woods in Wark and Haughton from Alexander III. The term ‘estover’ comes from the French ‘estovoir’ meaning to be necessary, literally the necessities required by law. In this context it meant ‘an ancient right to take timber for certain circumstances’. It was given to tenants and allowed them to take wood from the estates of the manor, generally dead wood for fuel. However, it could also mean legitimate right to cut timber. Before the term estover was brought into use, this right was usually called a’ boot’ or ‘bote’, from the Old English ‘bot’.

Examples include ‘housebote’, taking timber to repair your house and ‘haybote’ or ‘hedgebote’, to repair fences. The term ‘firebote’ was used for the right to collect firewood. This expression is the origin of the modern term ‘to boot’, meaning something useful or profitable. The term would be used two centuries later to refer to an allowance of food or clothing for imprisoned felons.

1286 Robert de Insula has a stank (small pool) on the waters in of the Tyne at Wark.For this, he paid the lord of Wark manor sixpence per year.

There are fullers working in Wark. These are the people who take the last steps in finishing items of clothing or producing cloth.

1289 Alexander III, King of Scotland, dies and the liberty of Tynedale and five other Cumberland manors passes into the hands of King Edwatd I of England. The King passes custody of these lands to Anthony Bek, Bishop of Durham, in 1290 when he appoints Bek his plenipotentiary to deal with Eric, King of Norway regarding the marriage of Princess Margaret of Norway to the Prince of Wales.

1290 In June, Bek is also appointed plenipotentiary for the Kings matters in Scotland. He binds himself to pay £400 per year to parties on Norway until the 15th birthday of Princess Margaret. This presumably to confirm the intent of the Prince of Wales to go through with the wedding.

On the 27th of August 1290, King Edward assigns the manors of Wark, Penrith, Scotby, Carlatton, Langwathby, Salkeld and Sowerby to Anthony Bek to recompense this agreement. The return from these manors is calculated as  £368 16s 8d annually.

On August 28th, Bek is appointed lieutenant of Princess Margaret and Prince Edward. Princess Margaret dies in September and on November 15th, John Ballioll, heir apparent to the Scottish throne promises Bek an annual rent of 500 marks in Scotland if King Edward does not confirm the grant of the manors of Wark, Penrith and the other manors in Cumberland formerly owned by Alexander III.

1292 Anthony Bek councils King Edward that Bruce is to strong to be King of Scotland and his intentions may thwart Edwards plans. he recommends to Edward that he support Balliolls claim to the throne. Ballioll is crowned king and seisin of his lands in England in 1293. The term ’seisin’ comes from the Middle English ’saysen’, which means “to put in possession of” or “the take possession of”. The Scottish equivalent is ’sasine’. This can take two forms – in law or in deed. The former is where lands descend and the heir has not actually entered upon them. Only by entry to his land can he transform his seisin from law into deed.

A prisoner called Wiliam de Corbrigg, detained for larceny,escaped from Wark prison. During these times, the keeper of prisons had to make up the loss to the King. The Keeper of Wark prison was Hughtred Purvoys, who held a mesuage and eight acres of land around Wark. The King’s bailiff seized this land and property until the King had received a satisfactory explanation for the escape, but Hughtred died before the land was restored.

1293 The Roll of Pleasheld by Wark court makes reference to Thomas Robson, who was stabbed to death by Ralph Bond of Newbrough during the course of a burglary. In the same year, it records the beheading of William Robson at Bellingham for the murder of Alicia,daughter of the miller, with an axe.

1294 On June 24th, Ballioll, King of Scotland, grants Anthony Bek and his bailiffs fifty librates of land in the liberty of Wark. He can take this land from anywhere in the liberty except the town of Wark and the chief messuage. The term messuage comes from the old French ‘mesnage’ and means a dwelling house and its accompanying outhouses and a any land attached, which would have farming rights. A typical messuage would be 90 feet by 120 feet. The chief messuage probably referred to the largest house in the liberty, which almost certainly would belong to the King and be managed on his behalf by agents. The grant also includes the advowson of the church in Simonburn and its chappels in frankalmoign. Advowson is the right under English law to present a nominee to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice. In effect, this means the right to nominate a person to hold a church of office in a parish. Frankalmoign derives from two French words – franc, meaning free and almoigne or almosne meaning alms. Thus, frankalmoigne is a tenure in free alms and such gifts were considered primarily as gifts given to God. No religious house in receipt of free alms could recognise a secular lord.

1295 A prison was built in the village of Simonburn somewhere around this time.

1296 King Edward stays at Wark?

1312 A commission was set up by the King to find out who had broken into his park near Wark and stole horses, colts, cows, bulls and draft cattle. The cattle were being held by Ivo de Aldeburgh on behalf of the King. The thieves were probably men from nearby districts or the Border counties of Scotland.

1338 The name Heron could come from harome, near helmsley in North Yorkshire but was also the nickname of a long-legged person.

1348 The Heron family take over ownership of Chipchase castle from the Percy’s, who had held it for many years. The Heronsretain it until 1727. Prior to this, they are the Lords to the Manor of Ford. A licence to crenellate the castle was granted to Sir William Heron

The ‘Chip’ in Chipchase is important because it derives from the ancient Anglo-Saxon word ‘ciepan’ – to buy and sell, to traffic. This implies that the village of Chipchase, of which there is very little evidence
now, was once important enough to have it’s own market.

1396 Sir Ralph de Neville is keeper of Wark castle between February 1396 and September 1398. The keeper of Wark park is paid a salary of 1.5 pennies per day, a total of 45s and 6d annually.

1399 A pele tower was present in Wark, probably an extension to Chipchase castle, build earlier in the 14th Century.

1400 There is a feud between the Percy family of Northumberland and King Henry IV. As a result, part of the quartered body of Harry Hotspur, son of Henry percy whyo was the Earl of Northumberland, is displayed on the walls of the New Castle.

Plague strikes the region between 1400 and 1415 and the head of Sir Thomas grey ofWark is displayed over the gate at Newcastle after he is executed fro treason.

1415 Wark tower was in existence

1513 James IV comes across the Scottish border and seizes the castle and villages of Wark and Ford.

1568 The Manor of Wark is posessed by the the Crown and is later presented to Sir Theophilius Howard in 1603.

1583 William Schaw is appointed King’s Maister 0′Wark, a position linked to the Knights Templar society