 It was used as a base for piracy in 1470, and by the 1520s its roof was robbed for lead for use at the castle at Wark-upon-Tweed, and further lead and timber were taken for the moot hall in Embleton.By 1538 it was described in a royal report to Henry VIII as "a very ruinous house and of small strength", and it was observed that only the gatehouse was still habitable.Some repairs were carried out to the walls by Sir William Ellerker, the King's receiver, but a 1543 survey showed it to still be in poor condition.