Qualla: Mitford Castle https://qualla.com/mitford-castle en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:24 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: Mitford Castle https://qualla.com/mitford-castle Mitford Castle: Introduction https://qualla.com/mitford-castle/ Two Italian cardinals, kidnapped on the road from Darlington to Durham in 1315, found themselves dragged inside the walls of a castle they had probably never heard of. Mitford Castle, west of Morpeth in Northumberland, was at that moment functioning as a private gaol for high-profile prisoners. Sir Gilbert de Middleton ran the operation. The cardinals had been travelling with Lewis de Beaumont, the new Bishop of Durham, and his brother Harry. Middleton's seizure of all of them would help end his career, lead to his execution at the Tower of London, and contribute to the castle's destruction. The pentagonal keep still stands - or what remains of it - on a small mound by the village of Mitford.

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]]> Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/y/c/mitford-castle-wp/gcyc-mitford-castle-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Mitford Castle: A Castle of the Bertrams https://qualla.com/mitford-castle/ The earliest fortification at Mitford was an earthwork raised by the Bertram family in the late 11th century. By 1138 it appears in records as William Bertram's oppidum - a stronghold. The castle sat on a somewhat elliptical mound, a natural prominence improved by the moundbuilde...

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]]> Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/y/c/mitford-castle-wp/gcyc-mitford-castle-a-castle-of-the-bertrams.mp3 0:06 2 full Mitford Castle: The Pentagonal Keep https://qualla.com/mitford-castle/ What sets Mitford apart is its keep - five-sided, each side a different dimension, built on the highest point at the northernmost corner of the castle in the early 13th century. Pentagonal keeps are rare in English castle architecture. There is no obvious tactical reason for the ...

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]]> Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/y/c/mitford-castle-wp/gcyc-mitford-castle-the-pentagonal-keep.mp3 0:06 3 full Mitford Castle: Middleton's Rebellion https://qualla.com/mitford-castle/ By 1315 Mitford had passed into the hands of Sir Gilbert de Middleton. The northern marches were chaotic, the Scottish wars draining the crown, and Middleton turned the castle into a kidnapping operation. The capture of the two Italian cardinals and the Beaumont brothers was a st...

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]]> Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/y/c/mitford-castle-wp/gcyc-mitford-castle-middletons-rebellion.mp3 0:06 4 full Mitford Castle: What Remains https://qualla.com/mitford-castle/ Mitford is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument and a Grade I listed building, registered in October 1969. It is also on the Buildings at Risk Register, the official roll of heritage in peril. The estate passed from the Mitford family to the Bruce Shepherd family in 1993, and English...

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]]> Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/y/c/mitford-castle-wp/gcyc-mitford-castle-what-remains.mp3 0:06 5 full