Embleton Tower Embleton Tower ( alternate : Turris de Emyldon ) is a peel tower and Grade I listed building in the village of Embleton in Northumberland , England . Tradition states that in 1395 , the tower was built to protect the minister and church goers of Embleton ' s Church of the Holy Trinity after the village suffered from a raid by the Scots . It was provided for the vicar of Embleton by Merton College , Oxford , who held the patronage of the parish , in 1332 . According to the Montagu Francis Finch Osborn ( 1843 - 1910 ) , vicar of Embleton in 1884 , the vicarage was erected at three different periods ; by 1416 , the Vicar ' s " Turns de Emyldon " was known to exist . Geography . A low ridge lies between the vicarage and the sea , about a mile away at Embleton Bay . Its garden was sheltered with trees . In the field adjoining the tower , there is an ancient dovecote . Dunstanburgh Castle is approximately away . Howick is south of the vicarage . History . The tower was built in 1395 , at a cost of £ 40 . Mentioned as the vicar ' s property in 1415 , the tower was remodeled in the 16th century . In about 1828 , a vicarage , designed in the Tudor style by architect John Dobson , was built on one side of the tower . From 1875 to 1884 , the vicarage was occupied by the historian and clergyman Mandell Creighton and his family . He began his " History of the Papacy " at the vicarage ; he and his wife Louise between them wrote a total of 15 books while there . Peter Karney , son of Bishop Arthur Karney , was the vicar from 1954 to 1974 ; on his retirement the vicarage passed into private hands and became known as Embleton Tower . A new vicarage was built nearby . Architecture . The tower is three storeys high and has two vaulted rooms in the basement . Similar to the towers of Alnwick and Morpeth , the Embleton tower has stone groining . Built as a rectangle with a high , plain , chamfered base , it measures 19 feet 8 inches ( 6 m ) from east to west , and 40 feet 7 inches ( 12 . 37 m ) from north to south . A chimney projects near the centre of the east wall . A three - light window and a small slit have been blocked up to the south side of it . There is a two - light window of the same type on the second floor . The roof rests on thin gables . It appears that the original roof was on a higher level than the present one . The embrasure s are well proportioned . The tower probably had a spire made of wood and lead , similar to another at Ryton . Internally , the first floor is not unusual . The stair to the vaults is not accessible in the present day . Some steps of the stairs that led to the second floor are , however , to be seen in a cupboard in the north - east corner . The second floor was likely one room with plain stone corbels around the walls . The structures consists of three stages , the lower one retaining its original Norman features . The two upper stages are of the 1330 - 40 era , when large alterations were made in the church . The middle stage has on the west side two small square - headed windows , and on the south a small trefoil - headed one . This stage may have been used as a chamber for temporary or even more permanent residence . The parapet has an open style , with six openings . The upper belfry stage has on each side a window and is divided by a transom . This tower has two vaulted chambers in its basement , the vaults both resting on a partition wall in the centre . The northern chamber is long from north to south , and wide . In the middle of the north wall is a fireplace wide . On the left of it is an aumbry wide and deep , and high ; on the right is a smaller aumbry . Near the south - west corner of this vault are located two pointed doorways . These vaults , renovated with modern partitions , are approached by a door in the northern vault . The churchyard immediately to the north is much higher than the ground where the tower is located . There is a square - headed original opening at the north end of the east wall . A vaulted chamber on the ground floor was a receiving area for cattle . The vicarage was a large house , built onto the fortified peel tower . Constructed of black basalt , it was covered with creeping plants .