Bunkershill (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Alston Moor.
In the historic county of Cumberland.
Modern Authority of Cumbria.
1974 county of Cumbria.
Medieval County of Cumberland (Tynedale Liberty).

OS Map Grid Reference: NY74784192
Latitude 54.77157° Longitude -2.39353°

Bunkershill has been described as a Bastle although is doubtful that it was such.

There are major building remains.

Description

Bunkershill. A derelict farmstead, probably circa 1700, retaining the old bastle form of a dwelling over a byre. There are many later alterations and additions; the floor to the upper storey is now gone and the roof is modern. (PastScape ref. Ramm et al, 1970)

built around 1700 to the west of the later Alston to Middleton road, overlooking Garrigill and the South Tyne valley. ..., the relative thinness of their walls and the quantity of fenestration on their upper floors betray them as developments, rather than examples, of buildings with a defensive purpose. Indeed, the term 'house-over-byre' might be more appropriately used to describe these buildings than 'bastle derivative', as the latter term is cemented with connotations of defensibility whilst the former demonstrates the general usage of the building type. (Jessop and Whitfield)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 15095.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 777.

Books
- Perriam, Denis and Robinson, John, 1998, The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria (Kendal: CWAAS Extra Series 29) p. 33 (plan)
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. lxviii
  Ramm, H.G., McDowall, R.W. and Mercer, E., 1970, Shielings and Bastles (London: HMSO) p. 74-5 no. 2
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Jessop, L. and Whitfield, M. 2010, The Parish of Alston Moor, Cumbria: Historic Area Assessment (English Heritage Research Department Reports series 64-2010) p. 138 online copy

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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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