“In June 1330 the Archbishop of York, Lord of the Manor of Hexham, ordered the building of a prison in Hexham. Many of the stones came from the Roman ruins at Corbridge. Two years later it was furnished and equipped with chains and manacles. A barber, John of Carwood, was the first gaoler.

Prisoners were kept in two underground dungeons. Those awaiting trial by the Bailiff’s Court were held in upper rooms. These were reached by a spiral staricase lit by tiny windows.

In 1824 the building ceased to be used as a prison. Later a new central staircase was built and the room layout was altered for the use of the Stewards of the secular Lords of the Manor. The building became know as the Manor Office.”*

*Information from a signboard outside the gaol

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.