Allensford Mill Farmhouse (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Belsay Castle Inn

In the civil parish of Shotley Low Quarter.
In the historic county of Northumberland.
Modern Authority of Northumberland.
1974 county of Northumberland.
Medieval County of Northumberland.

OS Map Grid Reference: NZ07645031
Latitude 54.84762° Longitude -1.88253°

Allensford Mill Farmhouse has been described as a probable Bastle.

There are masonry ruins/remnants remains.

This is a Grade 2 listed building protected by law*.

Description

House and outbuilding, C17 and C18. C17 part rubble with dressings and large quoins; C18 part coursed rubble with dressings; C20 grey tile roofs. 2 storeys, 3 + 1 bays, irregular. Taller C17 rightbay has 2-light chamfered mullioned windows;the lower altered, with C20 glazing; coped gables with moulded kneelers, stepped and corniced end stacks. C18 part has renewed door to right of C18 stone-surround window; similar window above (glazing renewed). Left part (outbuilding) has boarded door in alternating- block surround and slit vents, with 2 stone-surround windows holding old 6- pane casements above. Left gable coped with moulded kneelers and reduced stack,stepped and corniced ridge stack. Right return shows stepped plinth, chamfered window and slit to ground floor and chamfered attic window. Rear elevation: north bay (outbuilding) has contemporary outshut with external stone stair alongside to old 4-panel door into 1st floor room. Interior: C17 part has heavy roughly-chamfered 1st floor beams and C18 fireplace on south. Corbels for external stack at north and exposed alongside present stair. Blocked 2-light mullioned window visible from C19 outshut. Transverse chamfered beams in C18 part.
The earlier part of the house maybe a bastle remodelled in the late C17 or early C18. At a later date it became the Belsay Castle Inn (licence held until 1869), and the upper room in the outbuilding served as a nonconformist chapel, probably Baptist. (Listed Building Report)

Formerly the Belsay Castle Inn. Long two storey house with four irregularly-spaced bays. The south end is taller and projects forward of the main block.
The house, possibly converted from a bastle, was built and extended in the 17th and 18th centuries. Until the mid 19th century it was an inn. Although there has been a bridge nearby at least from 1742, it may be that an inn predated the bridge to provide accommodation for travellers when the river was in spate and fords could not be used.
Although this building is known as Allensford Mill Farmhouse, it was never a mill. The ruined Allensford Mill is almost directly opposite, on the other side of the road. (SINE)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1045297
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) N13018.

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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.
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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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