The castle dates from about 1278. It is a quadrangular type castle with four corner towers, three of which survive. It was converted into a mansion in 1694. The castle was acquired in 1907 by James Joicey, 1st Baron Joicey, and it remains in the ownership of his family, although since 1956 it has been leased to Northumberland County Council as a Young Persons Residential Centre <a title="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Castle" rel="nofollow" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Castle">Link</a><img style="padding-left:2px;" alt="External link" title="External link - shift click to open in new window" src="http://s0.geograph.org.uk/img/external.png" width="10" height="10"/>