Oakpool Bastle (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Allendale.
In the historic county of Northumberland.
Modern Authority of Northumberland.
1974 county of Northumberland.
Medieval County of Northumberland.

OS Map Grid Reference: NY80865763
Latitude 54.91315° Longitude -2.30002°

Oakpool Bastle has been described as a certain Bastle.

There are masonry ruins/remnants remains.

Description

Oakpool is rather unusually sited for a bastle, on a valley bottom site on the south bank of the East Allen. The bastle forms the south end of a range of later buildings and measures 9.3m by 6.4m externally. It is built of heavy rubble with impressively large and elongate quoins above a boulder plinth; the side walls are c.0.9m thick and the end walls c.1m. The present openings are largely 18th or 19th century in date, but there is a blocked basement slit towards the south end of the west wall, and areas of rubble patching above that might delineate a first floor doorway set a little left of centre, with a window to the right. In the south gable end is a blocked basement slit set centrally, and at first floor level a small loop near the west end of the wall, retaining its original vertical and horizontal iron bars.
During alterations in 1980-1 a stone with the initials 'T W' (Thomas Wilson?) was found (now lost) (Ryder 1994-5). (Northumberland HER)

Oakpool, now a residence, originated as a very long bastle, at 41 feet long, and was then a farmhouse. Much altered over the years, but bastle features are retained,, notably a blocked ground floor entrance and a small upstairs window in the same gable. (PastScape ref. Dodds 1999)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 1388077.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) N7309.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Right Move
Books
- Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Newcastle upon Tyne: Keepdate Publishing) p. 424
  Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 119 (slight)
Periodical Articles
- Christopherson, R., 2011, 'Northumberland bastles: origin and distribution' Medieval Settlement Research Vol. 26 p. 21-33 (listed in appendix)
  Ryder, P.F., 1992, 'Bastles and bastle-like buildings in Allendale' Archaeological Journal Vol. 149 p. 351-79 (listed in appendix)
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Ryder, P.F., 1994-5, Towers and Bastles in Northumberland Part 4 Tynedale District Vol. 1 p. 15-16
  Ryder, P.F., 1984, Bastles in Allendale. Unpublished

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

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