Barrow Peel (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;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

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: NT91160610
Latitude 55.34873° Longitude -2.14069°

Barrow Peel has been described as a certain Pele Tower.

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains.

Description

Described in the Survey of 1541 as a ruin. "The old walls of a little fortress belonging to Gerrard Barrowe, which in time past was razed to the ground by the Scots. And so remains still waste for lack of money for repairs." (Not listed in the 1415 Survey. pp 12-20) (Bates 1891).
The modern house at Barrow has been built of the stones of the Pele tower, that stood a few yards to the west, where traces of the foundations may yet be seen. Several copper coins of Charles II reign(1660-1685) have been found in the ruins by Mr John Carruthers. It is many centuries since the tower was ruined, by the Scots invasions (Dixon 1903).
The farmhouse is marked on the OS map as an old pele tower, but no trace of the tower now remains. In 1522 a garrison of 20 men was to be kept at Barrow. At some time between this date and 1541, the tower was taken and burnt (Dodds 1940).
The original size or plan of the Peel cannot now be determined. The site is marked by an irregular-shaped area of hummocks covered with turf, showing some small angular stone. The small farmhouse on the east side, is constructed of well-shaped blocks of stone with very large quoins at the corners. There is also much fashioned stone in the walls of the sheepfold to the north. The farmhouse is now deserted (F1 ASP 07-MAY-57). (PastScape)

Comments

Does not seem to have had any archaeological investigation, not even a site visit, since 1957. Shown as a square mound on the 1863 six-inch OS map directly west of the farmhouse (and in subsequent maps until 1980). There is nothing on the modern air photo to suggest this land has been disturbed since then, although the mound is not obviously visible.
The date, the description and the fact this was considered as suitable for a garrison of 20 men suggests a solar tower attached to an unfortified hall rather than a pele-house bastle.

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 1595.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) N1051.

Books
- Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Newcastle upon Tyne: Keepdate Publishing) p. 185
  Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 22
  Rowland, T.H., 1987 (reprint1994), Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p. 36
  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. 54
  Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p. 59
  Dodds, Madeleine Hope (ed), 1940, Northumberland County History (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Vol. 15 p. 488-9
  Dixon, D.D., 1903, Upper Coquetdale Northumberland: Its History, Traditions, Folk-lore and Scenery (Newcastle-upon Tyne: Robert Redpath) p. 36 online copy
  Bates, C.J., 1891, Border Holds of Northumberland (London and Newcastle: Andrew Reid) p. 45 (Also published as the whole of volume 14 (series 2) of Archaeologia Aeliana view online)
Periodical Articles
- Bates, C.J., 1891, 'Border Holds of Northumberland' Archaeologia Aeliana (ser2) Vol. 14 p. 45 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.)
- Brewer, J.S. (ed), 1867, Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII Vol. 3 p. 852 No. 1986 online copy
  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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