Old Schoolhouse Bastle, Snitter (The Gatehouse Record)

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

OS Map Grid Reference: NU02460343
Latitude 55.32496° Longitude -1.96271°

Old Schoolhouse Bastle, Snitter has been described as a certain Bastle.

There are masonry ruins/remnants remains.

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

Description

House, the right part originally a bastle house. Later a school and school- master's house. C16 and early C19. Random rubble, especially large in older parts, and tooled-and-margined ashlar dressings.
2 storeys. 2 sections. Left 3 bays early C19. C20 conservatory and sash windows.
Right section has bastle masonry on ground floor, largely rebuilt C18 or early C19 above. On ground floor C20 glazed door and 3 renewed 16-pane sashes. On 1st floor two 16-pane sashes. Gabled roof with left end stack and 2 ridge stacks.
To rear a blocked ground-floor doorway with alternating-block surround. Immediately above, the very worn doorstep of the 1st-floor doorway (cf. Leam Bastle, Corsenside Parish, Tynedale Dist.) Interior: Walls c.42 inches thick on ground floor. The lower part of a finely-cut stone newel stair remains. (Listed Building Report)

The house incorporates a bastle, heightened and extended to the west in the 19th century. The north wall shows typical bastle masonry and the north west quoins of the original building, as well as a blocked square-headed doorway that may be contemporary. Interior not seen (Ryder 1994-5).
North end is a bastle of c.1600 with, internally, the lower part of a spiral stair (Pevsner 1992). (Northumberland HER)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1303351
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 1388173.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) N2875.

Books
- Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Newcastle upon Tyne: Keepdate Publishing) p. 166
  Pevsner, N. et al, 1992, Buildings of England: Northumberland (London) p. 573
Periodical Articles
- Christopherson, R., 2011, 'Northumberland bastles: origin and distribution' Medieval Settlement Research Vol. 26 p. 21-33 (listed in appendix)
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Ryder, P.F., 1990, Bastles and Towers in the Northumberland National Park (Report for Northumberland National Park Authority) p. 10
  Ryder, P.F., 1994-5, Towers and Bastles in Northumberland Part 1 Alnwick District p. 44

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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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*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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