Coldtown Bastle

Description

Bastle house, now agricultural store. Late C16/early C17; alterations to doors and windows C19; single-storey addition to rear and lean-to shed on left return C18 or C19. Random rubble with massive quoins and boulder plinth. Welsh slate roof. 34 ft x 21 ft. 2 storeys. Walls 4 ft thick. Probably C18 doorway to left with one C18 window to right. 2 similar windows above. Original ground floor doorway, now blocked, in shed on left return, has roll-moulded surround. Entrance to upper floor is by door at 1st floor level to rear. Gabled roof, the upper part of gable rebuilt. Interior: ground floor has remains of corbelling for fireplace above. 1st floor has fireplaces both ends; to left, very small and narrow, with rough stone lintel and jambs; to right, blocked large C18 fireplace has older wooden bressumer above. Square recess to left of fireplace. Windows and door have old wood lintels. (Listed Building Report)

NY 891884. At Coldtown is a barn 21 x 34 feet. Much of it has been rebuilt, including perhaps the whole of the upper storey. In the west gable wall is a doorway in the lower storey and at the east end stone corbelling projects internally to carry a hearth (Ramm et al 1970).
NY 89138846 As described but not outstanding. Externally the building has been extensively rebuilt and is now of little interest (F1 ECW 04-AUG-1974).
An altered bastle, now simply 'The Bastle' stands some distance to the east of the main farmhouse; until recently it served as a barn, but it has now been converted into a detached dwelling. The building has a single storey wing on the north; the old part measures 34ft by 21ft externally, and is built of large roughly squared and coursed blocks, except for the central section of the south wall which has been rebuilt in smaller better-coursed stonework. The only old feature visible externally is the square-headed byre doorway, set centrally in the west end; very small first floor windows towards the south of both end walls may be old; at basement level there are traces of a possible central vent in the east end. There is reported to be stone corbelling, formerly carrying a hearth, at the east end (Ryder 1994-5). (Northumberland HER)