Little Harle Tower

Little Harle Tower is a privately-owned country house with 15th-century origins, at Little Harle, Kirkwhelpington, Northumberland. It is a Grade II* listed building.^[1]

The property, believed to have been built in the late 15th century as a pele tower, was first recorded in a survey of 1541.^[1]

Until 1552 it was the property of the Fenwick family, from whom it passed to the Aynsleys.^[2] During the early years of the 19th century Harle Tower was inhabited by Lord Charles Murray-Aynsley and his wife Alicia, nee Mitford. In about 1848 it was purchased by Thomas Anderson of Newcastle (High Sheriff of Northumberland in 1843),^[3] and his descendants remain in residence.

The house incorporates a three-storey tower of medieval origins. The central two-storey block of five bays dates from the early 18th century.^[4] Substantial additions were made in the Gothic Revival style in about 1862, but much of the 19th-century work has not survived a remodelling of the property in 1980.^[5]

In 2005 the east wing was occupied by the Turnbulls and in 2010 by the Rogers family.

The 19th-century stable block is a Grade II* listed building.^[6]

References