Old Nafferton Bastle

Description

The majority of buildings at Old Nafferton seem to have been demolished soon after the hamlet became part of the Bywell Estates in 1843. One of the few surviving buildings is a hemmel to the north east of a pair of cottages. The hemmel incorporates work of several different dates. The western part of the north wall, 6.85m long and 0.95m thick, is the south end wall of an earlier structure built of large roughly squared stones with a boulder plinth and a central blocked doorway with a timber lintel. On the north side of the wall is a set-back indicating a former upper floor. The east end of the hemmel also incorporates part of an earlier building; the end wall is the west end of a building, 0.7m thick, with two tapering slit vents. The stub of the north wall of this structure appears to be thicker, perhaps c.1m.
The thickness of the earlier wall incorporated in the north wall of the hemmel is sufficient to suggest that it may have formed part of a defensible structure. Unfortunately the fields around the building have been ploughed, which will have disturbed the sub surface remains of the remainder of the range (shown on maps of 1815 and 1830) (Ryder 1994-5). (Northumberland HER)

Comments

Presuambly the strength of this building, making it more resistant to collpase and demolition, is the reason it survived the generally destruction of the hamlet.