Bastle 40m north east of Low Angerton

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 of the later Middle Ages, which in these border areas lasted until (indeed after) the union of the English and Scottish Crowns in 1603. 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.

The bastle north east of Low Angerton is reasonably well preserved and retains significant archaeological deposits. It is a rare example of a bastle in the eastern part of Northumberland.

Details

The monument includes a bastle situated in gardens north east of Low Angerton House. The bastle is constructed of large roughly shaped and roughly coursed stone blocks, measures 10.5m east-west by 6.7m, with walls standing to a maximum height of 2.5m. It comprises the lower part of the west wall and 4m to 5m lengths each of the north and south walls; the east wall is traceable as a slight earthwork and at the south east a corner stone is visible through the turf. The standing walls are built on a boulder plinth. In the centre of the west wall is a blocked byre doorway with a semicircular arched head cut from two large blocks of stone. There is a drawbar tunnel in the north jamb and two iron hinges in the south jamb. The monument stands next to an adjacent building on the east side, which is not included in the scheduling. A post and wire fence within a hedge at the east end of the bastle is excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath is included.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

31722

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Ryder, P F, Towers and Bastles in Northumberland: A Survey, (1995), 27

End of official list entry

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