Reasons for Designation
Bastles are small thick-walled farmhouses in which the living quarters are
situated above a ground floor byre. The vast majority are simple rectangular
buildings with the byre entrance typically placed in one gable end, an upper
door in the side wall, small stoutly-barred windows and few architectural
features or details. Some have stone barrel vaults to the basement but the
majority had a first floor of heavy timber beams carrying stone slabs. The
great majority of bastles are solitary rural buildings, although a few
nucleated settlements with more than one bastle are also known. Most bastles
were constructed between about 1575 and 1650, although earlier and later
examples are also known. They were occupied by middle-rank farmers. Bastles
are confined to the northern border counties of England, in Cumbria,
Northumberland and Durham. The need for such strongly defended farmsteads can
be related to the troubled social conditions in these border areas during the
later Middle Ages. Less than 300 bastles are known to survive, of which a
large number have been significantly modified by their continuing use as
domestic or other buildings. All surviving bastles which retain significant
original remains will normally be identified as nationally important.
Details
The monument includes a medieval defended farmhouse, or bastle, situated among
farm buildings 30m to the north-west of the present farmhouse. The structure,
constructed of roughly squared stone and surviving to first floor level, is
rectangular in plan, measuring 9.1m by 4.5m within stone walls 1.6m thick.
Traces of a plinth and a more massive foundation course are exposed at the
north-east side. The upper storey has been partially rebuilt in the late
eighteenth century with smaller, squarer masonry. The basement, or byre, is
barrel vaulted and has an original doorway at the centre of the south-east
gable; other entrances in the south-west and north-west wall are later and
the latter has now been turned into a window. A slit window is placed
centrally in the north-west gable. At the eastern corner of the basement
there are indications that a small staircase formerly existed; this
identification is supported by the existence of corresponding masonry at the
south-east end of the upper storey. On the external south-west wall a stone
staircase leads up to the first floor living area through a late eighteenth or
nineteenth century doorway. There are first floor windows on the north-east
and north-west walls; the jambs of the former are decorated with carvings
including one of a female head.
The bastle now has a modern roof of metal sheeting. The upper storey of the
bastle was apparently the scene of the murder in 1792 of the occupant, Mary
Crozier. A local criminal, William Winter was hanged for her murder. The
circumstances of this crime were widely known and Winters Gibbet became a
local landmark. The bastle is a Grade II listed building. The modern farm
buildings which are attached to the bastle on the north-east and
south-east sides, and the small lean-to shed built onto the bastle at its
south-west corner are not included in the scheduling.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
20908
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Books and journals
Legal
This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
End of official list entry
