Glasson Barracks, Bowness (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Barracks House

In the civil parish of Bowness.
In the historic county of Cumberland.
Modern Authority of Cumbria.
1974 county of Cumbria.
Medieval County of Cumberland.

OS Map Grid Reference: NY25316055
Latitude 54.93391° Longitude -3.16732°

Glasson Barracks, Bowness has been described as a certain Bastle.

There are masonry ruins/remnants remains.

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

Description

Fortified house. Early or mid C16 with C18 and C20 alterations. Walls a metre thick of red and yellow coursed sandstone (from the nearby Roman Wall); C20 tile roof with coped gables and kneelers, gables raised in height incorporating 1760s datestone with initials T.M.; C20 brick chimney stack. 2 storeys, 3 bays. C20 door in C18 opening. Original slit vents at 2 levels now blocked; water outlet at first floor level to left of entrance. C20 windows in C20 openings. End wall left, has original blocked attic window. Rear wall had C16 ground floor entrance with drawbar tunnel, now enlarged and the lintel used as a mantelpiece inside. Blocked C18 entrance and windows. C20 windows in C20 openings. Interior has remains of stone spiral staircase in the thickness of the wall left. Photographic record of the building before alteration in the RCHM files. Although very much altered this is an extremely rare building in this area, there being only one other example at Brackenrigg, south of Bowness. (Listed Building Report)

A 16th century fortified house with 18th and 20th century alterations. It is two storeyed with walls one metre thick and built of sandstone from Hadrian's Wall. Although much altered, this is an extremely rare building in this area (Listed Building Report).
Identified as a bastle with loopholed walls (Perriam and Robinson). (PastScape)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1144628
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 1096681.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 4688.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- CastleUK
  Old Cumbria Gazetteer
Books
- Salter, Mike, 1998, The Castles and Tower Houses of Cumbria (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 97 (slight)
  Perriam, Denis and Robinson, John, 1998, The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria (Kendal: CWAAS Extra Series 29) p. 58-9 (plan)
  Hodgson, J., 1840, History of Northumberland (Newcastle) Part 2 Vol. 3 p. 302-3 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Perriam, D.R., 1988, 'Bowness Rectory tower (documents relating to ?late 14th/early 15th century bastle)' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol. 88 p. 197-9 online copy

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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.

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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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