Maer (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
La mere

In the civil parish of Bude Stratton.
In the historic county of Cornwall.
Modern Authority of Cornwall.
1974 county of Cornwall.
Medieval County of Cornwall.

OS Map Grid Reference: SS20740797
Latitude 50.84328° Longitude -4.54734°

Maer has been described as a probable Fortified Manor House, and also as a Bastle although is doubtful that it was such, and also as a probable Uncertain.

There are no visible remains.

Comments

The PastScape record gives no other details other than listing it as as a medieval fortified house and a post medieval fortified house. No other information is available and the listing description seems to be lost. Neither the NMR or the Cornish HER have a description. This suggests that not only was the house demolished but that no fuss was made about that destruction.
The location is close the coast and at the centre of a small settlement on the 1st edition OS map. Maer is a Celtic name meaning lord's deputy or bailiff - although the name of this settlement might originally have been the English mere - a lake. Gatehouse categorises this as a fortified manor house. The 1885 OS map seems to suggest a courtyard type house ground plan. However, there is no real idea of the actual form of the house and it may be that 'rare fortified house' implies something more like a bastle than a courtyard house.

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 912277.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 170283.

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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.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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