South Charlton; The Old School House (The Gatehouse Record)

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

OS Map Grid Reference: NU16382027
Latitude 55.47600° Longitude -1.74234°

South Charlton; The Old School House has been described as a certain Bastle.

There are masonry ruins/remnants remains.

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

Description

Solitary bastle, 12 x 6m externally. Byre entrance in gable end. First floor door in long wall. Present state - house (Ryder 1990).
On the north side of the village street is a much altered bastle, c.12m by 6m. The walls of heavy rubble are c.0.9m thick at ground floor level and about half this on the upper floor. The house was remodelled in the Estate Tudor style c.1840, with first floor windows under gablets and an attached schoolroom to the west. Surviving bastle features are the blocked byre entrance doorway, set centrally in the east end (square-headed with a relieving arch over), traces of a blocked slit above the byre doorway set west of centre in the south wall (Ryder 1994-5). (Northumberland HER)

Bastle house, C16 or early C17, remodelled c.1840 as schoolmaster's house. Large rubble with roughly-cut dressings; cut stone dressings to C19 features. Welsh slate roof with end stacks rebuilt in brick on old bases.
2 storeys, 2 bays. Central doorway inside C20 porch,with narrow window above, flanked by larger windows with slightly-projecting sills, the upper in gabled half dormers; all C19 openings in raised chamfered surrounds. Remains of bastle 1st-floor door to left of centre. Coped gables and dormers, on moulded kneelers. Right return shows central blocked byre door with irregular-block surround under relieving arch; traces of blocked 1st floor loop above.
Interior: walls 0.9 metre thick, thinned back at 1st floor level. Porch, extensions to rear and altered schoolroom to west, are not of special interest. (Listed Building Report)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1370044
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) N5051.

Periodical Articles
- Christopherson, R., 2011, 'Northumberland bastles: origin and distribution' Medieval Settlement Research Vol. 26 p. 21-33 (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 1 Alnwick District p. 23
  Ryder, P.F., 1990, Bastles and Towers in the Northumberland National Park (Report for Northumberland National Park Authority) p. 5

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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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