Dargues Bastle, Rochester (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Bastle south of Dunn's Cottage

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

OS Map Grid Reference: NY86299379
Latitude 55.23817° Longitude -2.21707°

Dargues Bastle, Rochester has been described as a probable Bastle.

There are masonry footings remains.

Description

(NY 86299378) The remains of a Pele tower. It is of the usual very strong construction with a large stones as foundations to the walls. Situated on a slight mound it overlooks the valley of the Rede (F1 FDC 05-JUL-1956).
NY 86299379 The foundations of a stone building, 20m by 8m, can be traced by low mounds, upon a north west facing slope of ground, beside the Dargues Burn. The north east wall of the building stands to a max height of 2m the stones showing traces of mortar between them, now constituting the northern end of a stone dyke, and being of great size, suggesting a former width for the wall of about 2m. The site commands the valley of the Rede River to the north and south-east, and the valley of the Dargues Burn to the west. The occupants of the cottages known as Dunns have no further information to offer about the site. There are insufficient remains of this building to warrant its classification as a Pele tower, though originally it must have been of substantial strength (F2 ASP 13-JUL-1956).
The probable remains of a defended house (pele house) or bastle (F3 BHP 11-NOV-1970).
Remains of a probable bastle 50m south of Dunns Cottage, Dargues. The lower courses of the south wall of a building, constructed of massive roughly-squared blocks (average 1m x 0.5m x 0.5m); about 8m long, ending at what appears to be the south west corner. Humps in the lawn of Dunns Cottage may represent the side walls, but not enough is visible to take any dimensions. Much obscured by recent planting of beech hedge and conifers (F4 PFR 03-AUG-1990). (Northumberland HER)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 17437.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) N8282.

Books
- Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Newcastle upon Tyne: Keepdate Publishing) p. 335
Periodical Articles
- Christopherson, R., 2011, 'Northumberland bastles: origin and distribution' Medieval Settlement Research Vol. 26 p. 21-33 (listed in appendix)

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Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
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