Evistones medieval settlement, field system and three bastles

Reasons for Designation

Medieval rural settlements in England were marked by great regional diversity in form, size and type, and the protection of their archaeological remains needs to take these differences into account. To do this, England has been divided into three broad Provinces on the basis of each area's distinctive mixture of nucleated and dispersed settlements. These can be further divided into sub-Provinces and local regions, possessing characteristics which have gradually evolved during the last 1500 years or more. This monument lies in the Wear-Tweed sub-Province of the Central Province, an area long characterised, except for the western margins, by nucleated settlements both surviving and deserted. Variations within the sub-Province reflect land ownership as well as terrain: on some estates in Northumberland there was much dispersal of farmsteads and consequent village and hamlet depopulation after the Middle Ages, whereas Durham saw greater stability because of ecclesiastical control. An overlay of mining settlements adds complexity to the coalfield areas. The Cheviot Margin local region is a narrow transition zone between two contrasting areas, the high moorlands of the Cheviots and the agriculturally favourable lowlands of the Tweed Valley and the Northumbrian Vales. Fieldwork has shown that this region retains archaeological traces likely to date from many periods, providing evidence for sequences of land occupation. Medieval settlements are mainly in the form of small hamlets and isolated farmsteads.

In some areas of medieval England settlement was dispersed across the landscape rather than nucleated into villages. Such dispersed settlement in an area, usually a township or parish, is defined by the lack of a single (or principal) nucleated settlement focus such as a village and the presence instead of small settlement units (small hamlets or farmsteads) spread across the area. These small settlements normally have a degree of interconnection with their close neighbours, for example, in relation to shared common land or road systems. Dispersed settlements varied enormously from region to region, but where they survive as earthworks their distinguishing features include roads and other minor tracks, platforms on which stood houses and other buildings such as barns, enclosed crofts and small enclosed paddocks. In areas where stone was used for building, the outline of building foundations may still be clearly visible. Communal areas of settlements frequently include features such as bakehouses, pinfolds and ponds. Areas of dispersed medieval settlement are found in both the South Eastern Province and Northern and Western Province of England. They are found in upland and as also some lowland areas. Where found their archaeological remains are one of the most important sources of understanding about rural life in the five or more centuries following the Norman Conquest. Medieval dispersed settlements often had associated field systems in which former arable cultivation may be evident in the form of ridge and furrow earthworks. Well preserved ridge and furrow, especially in its original context adjacent to settlement earthworks, is an important source of information about medieval agrarian life and a distinctive contribution to the character of the historic landscape. 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 basements 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. Evistones settlement and field system survive well and retain significant archaeological deposits. Several phases of settlement are represented at the monument and will contribute to our understanding of medieval and later settlement in the Cheviot Margins. The later phase of bastle construction enhances the importance of the monument.

Details

The monument includes the remains of a medieval and post-medieval settlement, situated on a north east facing slope overlooking the valley of the River Rede to the north west, north east and south east. The settlement is visible as the remains of a series of rectangular buildings of longhouse form and at least three bastles, linked together by walls and placed around a central space, interpreted as an irregularly shaped village green. More than one phase of settlement is represented by the remains at Evistones. The first bastle, the most prominent feature of the monument, is situated at the north eastern end of the central complex at NY 8305 9677. It is visible as a vaulted, rectangular building measuring 10.5m by 7.5m with walls 1.5 to 1.6m thick of roughly squared stone. The jambs of an original doorway in the centre of the eastern wall are clearly visible. The western half of the original barrel vault remains intact, standing 2.8m high. The cross wall with a central doorway which is visible today is a later construction related to the re-use of the bastle as a sheepfold. Some 60m north west of the first bastle, forming the north western edge of the central complex of buildings, there is a second bastle, visible as the lower courses of a rectangular building 10.5m by 8m with walls 1.7m thick, constructed of large, roughly squared stone. In between the two bastles, ranged along the north side of the green there are the remains of at least two partially overlapping longhouses, standing on average 1m high with walls between 1m and 1.5m wide. The remains of at least six further longhouses are ranged around the eastern and southern sides of the green; these buildings stand to a maximum height of 1m with walls on average 0.8m thick. Those at the south eastern end generally stand less high and are more denuded than the rest. A single building is situated on the village green in a central position with walls 0.3m high and 1.2m thick. The bastles and some of the longhouses have irregularly shaped enclosures attached to them representing the remains of gardens or small fields. These are bounded by stone walls on average 1.5m high. Some 60m north east of, and detached from, the central complex of the settlement there is a third bastle. This is situated at NY 8308 9680 at the north east corner of a rectangular enclosure. The building is visible as the lower courses of a rectangular building measuring 12.8 by 7.4m and standing to a maximum of 1.5m high. There is a smaller rectangular structure attached to the southern gable of the bastle. The remains of at least two additional rectangular structures are visible at the southern end of the enclosure. Surrounding the settlement complex on all sides there are the well preserved remains of an associated field system, visible as a series of contiguous small fields, or furlongs, bounded by low banks of earth called headlands. Within each furlong there are the remains of medieval ridge and furrow, measuring on average 0.8m between the furrows. The furlongs are grouped into at least three larger blocks of land defined by large prominent earthen banks. Within the field system there are the remains of at least five further rectangular buildings, some thought to be the remains of agricultural buildings such as barns and hemmels. The wire plantation fence and the metalled surface of the road which crosses the monument are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath these features 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:

32719

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
NY89NW 19,

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