Coupland Castle
{{Short description|Grade I listed castle in Northumberland, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox castle
|name = Coupland Castle
|location = Northumberland, England
|pushpin_map = United Kingdom Northumberland
|pushpin_map_caption = Location in Northumberland
|image = Coupland Castle.jpg
|caption = Coupland Castle, 2007
|gridref = {{gbmappingsmall|NT936312}}
|coordinates = {{Coord|55.574|-2.103|display=inline,title}}
}}
Coupland Castle is situated in the village of Coupland, {{convert|4|mi|0}} to the north-west of Wooler, Northumberland, England. It is a Grade I listed building. The Grade I listed "castle" is actually a tower house "built after 1584, with irregular later additions".{{cite web |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1042343?section=official-list-entry |title=Coupland Castle |website=Historic England |access-date=4 September 2022 |quote=}}
History
Coupland Castle is a tower house rather than a castle, and was probably built at the end of the 16th century, sometime after 1584.{{NHLE |desc=Coupland Castle |num=1042343 |accessdate=22 March 2020}} The tower has three storeys, with an attic on top and a small projecting tower carried up the south wall. Between the two towers, the entrance to the castle with the date 1594 inscribed on the door jamb.[http://www.keystothepast.info/durhamcc/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=N2018 Keys to the Past] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510031711/http://www.keystothepast.info/durhamcc/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=N2018 |date=2012-05-10 }} The building is made of rubble from different stone types. In addition, the building has a slate roof.
A date-stone over a fireplace in the tower engraved 'GW 1615 MW' is thought to represent George and Mary Wallis, owners at that date.[http://www.sine.ncl.ac.uk/view_structure_information.asp?struct_id=75 Structures of the North East] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716055541/http://www.sine.ncl.ac.uk/view_structure_information.asp?struct_id=75 |date=2011-07-16 }}
Other historic features include the upper spiral staircase, designed to be defended by a left-handed swordsman, and a resident ghost who was said to haunt the Court Room, before reputedly being exorcised in 1925. A separate farmhouse was added to the south-west of the tower in the 18th century.
In 1713, the property was purchased from the Wallis family by Sir Chaloner Ogle a successful naval officer. During his command of HMS Swallow (1703) against the notorious pirate Bartholomew Roberts in the Battle of Cape Lopez in February 1722, Roberts was killed.{{cite web |url=https://www.countrylife.co.uk/property/sprawling-castle-owned-naval-commander-ended-piratical-career-real-life-jack-sparrow-210636 |title=A sprawling castle once owned by the Naval commander who ended the piratical career of the real-life Jack Sparrow |website=Country Life |access-date=4 September 2022 |quote=}}
The castle has been added to over the years and was restored in the 19th century. In 1820 it was extended when a three-bay two-storey house was built adjoining the tower.
The Bates family owned the estate in the 18th century. Elizabeth Bates, heiress to the estate, married Matthew Culley (born 1731), the noted agriculturist, in 1783.Matthew and George Culley. Travel Journals and Letters, 1765-1798 Edited by Anne Orde 2002 In 1820 the house was the residence of a later Matthew Culley, High Sheriff of Northumberland in that year. The Culleys sold the estate in 1928.{{cite news |last1=Churchill |first1=Penny |title=A sprawling castle once owned by the Naval commander who ended the piratical career of the real-life Jack Sparrow |url=https://www.countrylife.co.uk/property/sprawling-castle-owned-naval-commander-ended-piratical-career-real-life-jack-sparrow-210636 |accessdate=22 March 2020 |work=Country Life |date=25 January 2020}} Coupland Castle was designated a Grade I listed building on 21 September 1951. The listing states that significant alterations had been completed in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries and then, circa 1820-25.
Robin Jell bought the property in 1979 and lived there with his second wife Fiona.{{cite news |last1=Lawford |first1=Melissa |title=Swashbuckling owner sought for frontier fort - A fine Northumberland castle, once home to the naval captain who killed Black Bart, has been put up for sale by its latest daring resident |work=Daily Telegraph |date=2 February 2020 |location=London, England |page=10}} Jell died in 2019 and in 2020, the castle was put up for sale.{{cite news |last1=Johnson |first1=Helen |title=Northumberland’s Coupland Castle is on the market for over £1.9million - take a look inside |url=https://www.northumberlandgazette.co.uk/news/people/northumberlands-coupland-castle-market-over-ps19million-take-look-inside-1381556 |accessdate=22 March 2020 |work=Northumberland Gazette |date=1 February 2020}} Jell had restored the 13,747sq ft main house; the property included a three-bedroom cottage and a lodge, as well as a series of outbuildings.[https://www.countrylife.co.uk/property/sprawling-castle-owned-naval-commander-ended-piratical-career-real-life-jack-sparrow-210636 A sprawling castle once owned by the Naval commander who ended the piratical career of the real-life Jack Sparrow]
References
{{reflist}}
- Fry, Plantagenet Somerset, The David & Charles Book of Castles, David & Charles, 1980. {{ISBN|0-7153-7976-3}}