Hill House Bastle, Thorngrafton (The Gatehouse Record)

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

OS Map Grid Reference: NY78396538
Latitude 54.98259° Longitude -2.33917°

Hill House Bastle, Thorngrafton has been described as a probable Bastle.

There are masonry ruins/remnants remains.

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

Description

Probable bastle-house now outbuilding, late C16 or early C17, wall reduced and cruck trusses inserted C18. Massive rubble, slate roof. Front with two doorways and narrow window, remains of blocked doorway (?) and window at 1st floor level hidden by ivy. Left gable, rebuilt in squared rubble has blocked 1st floor door with timber lintel. Rear elevation with C20 pitching door above older blocked opening. Interior much altered. 2 upper-cruck roof trusses with re-set collars. (Listed Building Report)

Solitary bastle, 8.7 x 6.4m externally, side walls 0.85m thick. Present state - farm building (Ryder 1990).
An outbuilding to the north of Hill House, alongside the village street, may have been a bastle. It measures c.8.7m by 6.4m externally, with walls c.0.8m thick and is built of massive rubble with large quoins. The building has been considerably altered; none of the openings have cut dressings. Internally there is a set-back at first floor level; there are a pair of raised cruck trusses (springing from the walls a little below the set-back), with halvings for removed tie beams, and the blades overlapping at the apex. The almost cyclopean character of the rubble masonry suggests that this building is a bastle, although the wall thicknesses are not all that great. Cruck trusses in this area usually seem to be associated with heather thatch, which would be an unsuitable roofing material for a defensible building. One interpretation of this building may be that it is a bastle that has been cut down in height and reroofed, perhaps in the early 18th century (Ryder 1994-5). (Northumberland HER)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1154353
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) N6610.

Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.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. 27
  Ryder, P.F., 1990, Bastles and Towers in the Northumberland National Park (Report for Northumberland National Park Authority) p. 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.

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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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