Alwinton Vicarage (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Allayton

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

OS Map Grid Reference: NT923057
Latitude 55.34604° Longitude -2.12202°

Alwinton Vicarage has been described as a Pele Tower although is doubtful that it was such, and also as a certain Bastle.

There are no visible remains.

Description

A pele tower was used as a vicarage at Alwinton, and in 1541 was described in poor repair. In 1635 it was recorded that the vicar had lost the 'old pele tower rectory house'. (PastScape)
Described in the Survey of 1541 as a little bastle house, the mansion of the vicar. (Not listed in the Survey of 1415 pp 12-20) (Bates 1891).
John Hearon, mentioned 1628, took possession of the vicars bastle mansion and let it as an alehouse, so that the vicar was obliged to build himself a small cottage to live in (Dixon 1903).
The Revd W Renwick, Vicar of Alwinton, has heard references to the Priests Bastle, but has no information as to where it may have stood. The present vicarage was built a 100 years ago when the church was greatly rebuilt and maybe it was built on the foundations of the Bastle. No traces of an older building could be seen in or around the present structure. The house built by the vicar on his expulsion from the Bastle was indicated to the Investigator by the vicar and stands near the church (F1 ASP 07-MAY-57). (PastScape)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 1613.
Further information may be available from the holder of the county Historic Environment Record.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Northumberland National Park
Books
- Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Newcastle upon Tyne: Keepdate Publishing) p. 183-4
  Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 114 (slight)
  Rowland, T.H., 1987 (reprint1994), Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p. 11, 34
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 345
  Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p. 36
  Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p. 54
  Ramm, H.G., McDowall, R.W. and Mercer, E., 1970, Shielings and Bastles (London: HMSO) p. 78-9
  Dixon, D.D., 1903, Upper Coquetdale Northumberland: Its History, Traditions, Folk-lore and Scenery (Newcastle-upon Tyne: Robert Redpath) p. 225-6 online copy
  Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p. 44 (Also published as the whole of volume 14 (series 2) of Archaeologia Aeliana view online)
Periodical Articles
- Hadcock, R.N., 1939, 'A map of mediaeval Northumberland and Durham' Archaeologia Aeliana (ser4) Vol. 16 p. 148-218 esp 172
  Bates, C.J., 1891, 'Border Holds of Northumberland' Archaeologia Aeliana (ser2) Vol. 14 p. 44 online copy
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- 1541, View of the Castles, Towers, Barmekyns and Fortresses of the Frontier of the East and Middle Marches Survey of the East and Middle Marches

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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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