Shortflatt Tower

Shortflatt Tower is a Grade I listed building in the parish of Belsay, Northumberland, England. Built as a pele tower, it is believed to date from the late 15th-century to early 16th-century. In addition to the three storey tower, attached to it is a two storey 17th century manor house, with two additional wings, running parallel to each other, known as the annex. The listing covers the tower and the manor house. The location has a longer history, since a letter patent, dated 1305, provided a licence to crenellate (to build a fortified building) at Shortflatt. English Heritage, in the official listing indicates that the current buildings date to no earlier than the late 15th-century. A previous analysis by the architect H. L. Honeyman for the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1954 suggested the tower dated to the early 14th-century, in line with the licence. Honeyman suggested that there was a previous mainly timber building before this, but which may have been a casualty of the Scottish army raids into Northumberland during 1296, a prelude to the English invasion of Scotland.

Building data from Wikidata (CC0); heights normalised. Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).