What is recorded here

Bywell Castle gate tower is a fourteenth-century stone gatehouse built by the Balliol family to control entry to their Northumberland stronghold. Its thick masonry and defensive form show how late medieval castle design worked in the North East of England. The tower still stands as a scheduled monument, marking the place where people once passed under watchful stone into a lived castle world.

The National Heritage List for England records Bywell Castle gate tower as a scheduled monument. The saved point comes from the centre supplied by the official record. Listing does not by itself mean that the public may enter the place.

Bywell Castle gate tower was built in the 13th century by the de Vesci family, who were prominent landowners in Northumberland. It is important as a surviving example of medieval military architecture and as part of a larger castle complex associated with the history of the Anglo-Scottish border region.

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