This Gatehouse guarded the Hall of the Archbishops of York. They were Lords of the Manor of Hexham for nearly five hundred years until 1545.

These were troubled times on the Scottish Borders. This late mediaeval tower was heavily fortified with three sets of doors, overhanging parapets and murder holes. In the first-floor courtroom the Archbishop’s Bailiff administered justice. From the raised dais he heard pleas, settled disputes, delivered judgments and consulted with tenants.

In later centuries the gatehouse became the setting for the Quarter Sessions of county magistrates and for meetings of the town’s Borough Courts.

Since then it has been known as the Moot Hall.*

*Information taken from a signboard located on The Moot Hall

This Gatehouse guarded the Hall of the Archbishops of York. The were Lords of the Manor of Hexham for nearly 500 years until 1545. These were troubled times on the Scottish borders. This late mediaeval  tower was heavily fortified with three sets of doors, overhanging parapets and murder holes. In the first-floor courtroom the Archbishop’s Bailiff administered justice. From the raised dais he heard pleas, settled disputes, delivered judgements and consulted with tenants.

In later centuries the gatehouse became the setting for the Quarter Sessions of county magistrates and for meetings of the town’s Borough Courts. Since then it has been know as the Moot Hall.*

This drawing shows the possible appearance of the Archbishop’s Hall in about 1450. The two larger buildings, the Moot Hall on the left and the Old Gaol on the right, still remain.*

*From a signboard next to the Moot Hall.

We were all packed up and ready to go before we went down for breakfast so all we needed to do after breakfast was settle the bill for the few extras we had added to our room.

On the way home we stopped off at Hexham to see the Abbey as recommended by JD. Hexham Abbey was very interesting and we timed it just right be able to go down the stairs into the ancient crypt. We would have liked a bit more time in the Abbey and in Hexham so we will need to go back to explore more.

It was a bit early for lunch so we continued on our journey, stopping at Tebay Services where I treated myself to of one of my childhood favourites; coconut, cherry and chocolate cake. After lunch we briefly called in on my Aunt, who lives in Manchester, so that Mr C could check that her new porch had been completed to satisfaction. She had been experiencing problems with the company doing the work. I felt a little guilty that the stay was so brief but it wasn’t possibly to stay any longer. With the detour we had spent seven hours in the car leaving us rather tired when we got home for a well earned rest.

In the 19th century, cannon were mounted on the rooftop and fired on ceremonial occasions.

One was used regularly as the ‘noon gun’, firing at the midday in response to a telegraph signal from Greenwich Observatory in London.  After a number of accident – in one of which a gunner was killed – the practice of firing the cannon was eventually discontinued in the 1850s and the guns were later removed.*

*Information from Newcastle Castle guidebook (Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne).