Elsdon gathers around one of the largest village greens in Northumberland, deep in Redesdale. It has held on to an unusual amount of medieval fabric: the church of St Cuthbert, a stout 14th-century pele tower that was the parson’s fortified house, and the grassy earthworks of Mote Hills, an early motte-and-bailey castle just outside the village. Otterburn is a couple of miles west. This is remote country — you’ll want a car.
