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MONUMENT NO. 4737

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DESCRIPTION

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Bastle, built in the 16th or early 17th century, altered in 1863 and extended in the late 20th century. Now a private house. Built of stone rubble with a Welsh slate roof. The ground floor of the bastle has a barrel vaulted roof with the original ladder hole near the south east corner.

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[NU 0271 0231] Peel [GT] (1)

Bastle? at Thropton. (2)

"The oldest existing structure (in Thropton) is the well preserved pele tower at the west end of the village, in the occupation of Mrs
Howey of Thropton West farm. This fortlet belonged to the Greens, and is noted in the list of 1415 thus:-

Tunis de Thropton - Willm. Grene". During the 15th century it must have changed hands, for in 1509 it is held by "Syr Edwarde Ratcleff, and contained a garrison of sixteen men for defence against the Scots. In the Border Survey of 1541 we read:-

At Throptone ys a lytle toure of thinherytaunce of Sr Cuthbt. Ratclyffe, Knighte". The walls of the pele are 6 ft in thickness. It
is the property of Lord Armstrong" [The application of these references to the building described is not definite, see authority
(4)]. (3)

'There remains on the south side of the road near the west end of the village a plain late bastle of the usual rough and massive construction. It is still occupied but has, of course, been considerably modernized'. This may be the 'Thropton Tower' mentioned in 1415 and 1541, or alternatively may refer to a tower destroyed when the Roman Catholic Presbytery was rebuilt. [See NU 41 SE 45]. (4)

This Bastle stands upon nearly level ground but is nearly defended on 3 sides by the River coquet and the Wreighburn. The building of two storeys with an attic below a gabled roof measures 12.2 m east-west, and 7.5 m north-south; the walls are 1.5 m thick at ground level. The ground floor is barrel vaulted through the length of the building, several small windows - some blocked - remain, and a doorway to the first floor in the east wall has been converted into a window (see ground photographs AO/57/28/5), all other features are modern. The building, now a private dwelling, is constructed of large roughly fashioned stones upon a foundation of shaped boulders. (5)

Condition unchanged. (6)

NU 026023 Bastle (modernised) (See Type-site NY 88 SE 14) (7)

Bastle, built in the 16th or early 17th century, altered in 1863 and extended in the late 20th century. Now a private house. Built of stone rubble with a Welsh slate roof. The ground floor of the bastle has a barrel vaulted roof with the original ladder hole near the south east corner. Listed. (8)

Listed by Cathcart King and by Dodds. (9,10)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 25" 1923

( 2) Archaeologia Aeliana : or miscellaneous tracts relating to antiquity

16, 1939 Page(s)182

( 3) General reference

Upper Coquetdale 1903 456 (DD Dixon)

( 4) edited by Madeleine Hope Dodds 1940 A history of Northumberland, volume fifteen : the parish of Simonburn, the parish of Rothbury, the parish of Alwinton

A history of Northumberland15 vols (1893-1940) vol.15 Page(s)364

( 5) Field Investigators Comments

F1 FC 05-MAR-57

( 6) Field Investigators Comments

F2 RE 18-AUG-71

( 7) H G Ramm, R W McDowall and Eric Mercer 1970 Shielings and bastles

Shielings and Bastles 1970 92 68 RCHM Page(s)68 92

(8) List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest

District of Alnwick, 28-AUG-1987

(9) Dodds, JF 1988 Bastions and Belligerents: Medieval Strongholds in Northumberland

Page(s)165

(10) David J Cathcart King 1983 Castellarium anglicanum : an index and bibliography of the castles in England, Wales and the Islands. Volume II : Norfolk-Yorkshire and the islands

Page(s)360

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