GATEHOUSE
The comprehensive gazetteer and bibliography of the medieval castles, fortifications and palaces of England, Wales, the Islands.
 
 
Home
The listings
Other Info
Books
Links
Downloads
Contact
 
Print Page 
 
Next Record 
Previous Record 
Back to list 

Greenchester Pele, Otterburn

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
The Holt

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

OS Map Grid Reference: NY87159446
Latitude 55.24415° Longitude -2.20370°

Greenchester Pele, Otterburn has been described as a probable Pele Tower, and also as a probable Bastle.

There are no visible remains.

Description

The deserted medieval village of Greenchester is visible here as earthworks. Documents written in 1728 mention the ruins of a pele tower at this location, although no remains of this building have been found. (Keys to the Past)

There has been an old tower of the usual kind (pele) at Greenchester. The present village of half a dozen cottages stands on the high ground (Horsley 1728-9; Clarke).
The only remains (presumably of Greenchester) are the turf-covered foundations of a single range of buildings at NY 87159446. These appear to represent the site of one or two cottages with an associated garth and circular pond. Nothing about the foundations suggests the former existence of a tower, neither do they merit the title of 'village', although remains may have been more extensive in Horsley's time (F1 RE 17-NOV-70). (PastScape)
Comments

It may well be that, at this location, the old 'pele' was a pele-house (i.e. a bastle) rather than a gentry status pele tower. What were the actual words written by Horsley? Did he use the term 'tower' or is that a later assumption? What was Horsley source? Did that source use the term 'tower' or did Horsley assume 'pele' meant tower?
Links to archaeological and architectural databases, mapping and other online resources

Data >
PastScape   County HER            
Maps >
Streetmap   NLS maps   Where's the path   Old-Maps      
Data/Maps > 
Magic   V. O. B.   Geology   LiDAR   Open Domesday  
Air Photos > 
Bing Maps   Google Maps   Getmapping   ZoomEarth      
Photos >
CastleFacts   Geograph   Flickr   Panoramio      

Sources of information, references and further reading
Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant.
It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from ANY site without proper recording and reporting.
Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.
The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
The author and compiler of Gatehouse does not receive any income from the site and funds it himself. The information within this site is provided freely for educational purposes only.
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.
Please help to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting Gatehouse if you see errors, can add information or have suggestions for improvements in functality and design.
Help is acknowledged.
This record last updated 26/07/2017 09:21:27

Home | Books | Links | Fortifications and Castles | Other Information | Help | Downloads | Author Information | Contact
¤¤¤¤¤