There are several heritage assets on the estate including the remains of a medieval castle, a Pele Tower and a Bronze Age 4000 year old stone circle.

Heaton Castle was built in 1415 and was subsequently a key defensive outpost in the 1400’s. It had been used as a castle for about 100 years when it was largely destroyed in 1496 by James IV of Scotland during the Perkin Warbeck rebellion, leaving only a small section of wall standing and it was later deemed ruinous by the year 1541.

The remains were then converted into a strong house which resembled the structure seen today. Now, on the lower floor, you can still see the original vaulted ceiling and cobbled floor. It was used as a strong house in the time when the Borders were a highly contested region between the kingdoms of Scotland and England. The building was then described as ‘a vault that a hundred horses may stand in’. After the Union of the Crowns of England and Scotland the building was primarily used as a stable for animals and survived having had very little maintenance for many years due to the dispute between the then owners, the Greys, and the Crown over who should bear the cost of repairing it following its desecration by James IV.

The only notable alteration to the building in more recent time was the addition in the twentieth century of a concrete floor on the first floor above the ground floor vaulted chamber, the first floor being accessed via what Historic England believe was a medieval turret and rampart. The entire structure had a perilous lean following the medieval rebuild and it was buttressed in medieval times on the north side. In the last century it had been pointed in cement mortar the sand stone was starting to weather away.

With a grant from Natural England and with support from Historic England and Northumberland County Council, Penmar Farming commissioned specialist heritage conservation architects and builders to add in two new sandstone buttresses to prevent the building from leaning further, replace the windows, doors and roof and remove the cement mortar and replace it with conservation standard lime mortar. This extensive and comprehensive work has conserved the building giving it a new lease of life.

Duddo Stone Circle

The Duddo Stone Circle has been carbon dated to about 2200BC and has often been likened to Stonehenge, and referred to as ‘the Stonehenge of the North’. The stones can be visited and are accessed via a permissive footpath. Visitors are welcome but need to be fit as they must park on the roadside verge and walk about a kilometer up the farm track. Dogs on leads are welcome, please clear dog mess away into the hedges and please don’t leave plastic poo bags on the land nor any other litter.

Duddo Tower

Duddo Tower is the ruinous remains of an ancient pele tower and 16th century tower house situated on a crag on the south side of Duddo village.

Like Heaton Castle, the pele tower was also destroyed by the Scots in 1496. In the late 1500s a tower house was rebuilt on the site. The house was usually occupied by a junior branch of the family who owned the Duddo Estate until it was abandoned as a home in the 17th century.