Healey Bastle

Description

A short distance north east of a ruined 18th century cottage, the only remains of a former farm called Healey, lie the ruins of a bastle. It measures 10.35m long, but its width remains uncertain. The north wall, of roughly coursed large rubble with some massive blocks, has large roughly squared angle quoins and stands to a maximum height of 2.2m. The west end has been completely removed except for a ragged stub, but the grassed over footings of part of the east wall survive. The only features in the north wall are a slit vent set a little east of centre (not readily discernible on the internal face but, externally, framed by four large slabs in a typical bastle manner) and a larger opening, probably secondary, near the east end of the wall. On the south there are hints of grassed over foundations on two separate lines, which would give internal widths of 4m and 6.25m respectively. A later wall, of coursed smaller stones, runs west from the north west angle of the bastle, ending after 3.5m in a straight joint with a more tumbled section of masonry which, externally, incorporates some large locks; this then returns south as a tumbled footing, apparently c.0.8m wide. It is not clear whether this represents a phase II bastle or a post-bastle extension. The 18th century cottage to the south west incorporates the west end of an earlier building as its east end; this also has large well squared quoins and is only 0.65m thick, thus seeming unlikely to be any earlier than the mid 18th century. About 20m south east are the grassed over footings of another building, possibly running north-south; its south east corner is the only recognisable feature (Ryder 1994-5). (Northumberland HER)