Westside Farm Bastle, Allendale (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
West Side

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

OS Map Grid Reference: NY78995727
Latitude 54.90996° Longitude -2.32896°

Westside Farm Bastle, Allendale has been described as a probable Bastle.

There are major building remains.

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

Description

Among the outbuildings of West Side farm is one of two storeys with a cowbyre on the ground floor and former living accommodation above. The arrangement is that of a bastle, but the walls are only 2 1/2 ft. thick. It may be regarded as a late survival of the bastle tradition after the strict needs of defence had disappeared. (Ramm, McDowell and Mercer, 1970)

A well preserved bastle-like building. The building is of better quality than the average Allendale bastle in its size, mullioned windows and evidence of a firehood at each end (Ryder, P F, 1991. Notes for NEVAG Allendale Field Day, 18/5/1991).
The principal farmbuilding at Westside is a well preserved bastle or bastle derivative house. It measures 11.85m by 6.7m externally, and is constructed of squared rubble with cut dressings; the walls are relatively thin (c.0.75m). The basement door is set to the east of centre in the south wall and has a flat pointed arch; to the west are two slit vents. In the north wall are a single slit vent and a pair of inserted doorways, with shallow external porches. The heavy transverse beams of the first floor remain, with heavy corbelling for the hearth at the west end. The first floor is entered by a doorway set more or less centrally in the south wall, and having a flat pointed arch within a square frame; to the west of the doorway are a two-light mullioned window, and to the east a small square window; all the windows have chamfered surrounds. In the north wall is a single small square window, close to the east end, having no stone dressings but a timber frame with evidence of a central mullion and iron bars. The east end of the house incorporates the more steeply pitched gable end of an earlier building, with a considerably lower eaves level. The west end has a small window at attic level. Internally there is evidence of a firehood at the west end, with a recess at the rear of the hearth, and the stub ends of a bressumer that carries the front of the hood. The roof is of five bays; the end trusses are relatively recent, but the two central ones are old; they are of simple principal rafter type, with collars, carrying two purlins on each roof slope; it would appear that there was originally no ridge piece.
This is a rather superior bastle when compared with most bastles in the area (Ryder 1994-5). (Northumberland HER)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1042958
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 15125.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) N6345.

Books
- Grint, Julia, 2008, Bastles an introduction to the bastle houses of Northumberland (Hexham: Ergo Press) p. 52-5
  Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Newcastle upon Tyne: Keepdate Publishing) p. 418
  Ryder, Peter, 1996, Bastle Houses in the Northern Pennines (Alston: The North Pennines Heritage Trust) p. 16, 17
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. lxviii
  Ramm, H.G., McDowall, R.W. and Mercer, E., 1970, Shielings and Bastles (London: HMSO) p. 82 no. 25
Periodical Articles
- Christopherson, R., 2011, 'Northumberland bastles: origin and distribution' Medieval Settlement Research Vol. 26 p. 21-33 (listed in appendix)
  Ryder, P.F., 1992, 'Bastles and bastle-like buildings in Allendale' Archaeological Journal Vol. 149 p. 351-79 (listed in appendix)
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Ryder, P.F., 1994-5, Towers and Bastles in Northumberland Part 4 Tynedale District Vol. 1 p. 22-3

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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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