Talkin Head (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Mabs Hole

In the civil parish of Farlam.
In the historic county of Cumberland.
Modern Authority of Cumbria.
1974 county of Cumbria.
Medieval County of Cumberland.

OS Map Grid Reference: NY555559
Latitude 54.89663° Longitude -2.69554°

Talkin Head has been described as a certain Bastle.

There are masonry ruins/remnants remains.

Description

Vanished pele tower or bastle. (King 1983)

Lower part of bastle 8.9m by 6.5m. loop in 1.3m thick south end wall. (Salter)

Remains of a stonehouse by the river Gelt.
1603 Survey: 'George Hodgeson a tenemt and crofte... It hath in the bottome near Gelte a stonehouse... and on the higher point next the comon other buildings...'
Ruins standing up to 9 feet high, door lintel on ground. (Perriam and Robinson 1998)

The bastle is some distance from the current farmhouse at Talkin Head which has a datestone of 1884. The Bastle is situated on land owned by Talkin Head Farm and I spoke to the owners. They call the ruin (Bastle) Mabs Hole as they have a family story of a witch/ hermit who lived there. Anyway walls are 1.3m thick and one loop hole remains, although a tree is now growing out of it. A large lintel measuring 70cm by 1.3m still lies on the ground as stated by Robinson and Perriam. (Catherine Bancroft 2010)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 1389808.
Further information may be available from the holder of the county Historic Environment Record.

Books
- Perriam, Denis and Robinson, John, 1998, The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria (Kendal: CWAAS Extra Series 29) p. 171 (plan)
  Salter, Mike, 1998, The Castles and Tower Houses of Cumbria (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 103 (slight)
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 94
  Curwen, J.F., 1913, Castles and Fortified Towers of Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire North of the Sands (Kendal: CWAAS Extra Series 13) p. 408, 410
  Penfold, H., 1901, Brampton and District A Guide (Brampton: I B Hodgson)
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Graham, T. H. B. (ed.). 1934, The barony of Gilsland. Lord William Howard's survey, taken in 1603 (Feild-Booke yt explaines all the Map Booke for Gilsland taken in 1603) (Kendal: CWAAS Extra Series 16) p. 62
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Catherine Bancroft, 6-2-2010, pers. corr.

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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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