Snope Cleugh pelehouse

Description

Whilst out walking in the South Tyne Valley I came to the farm called "The Bog" on the East side of the River South Tyne.
The farm had 1 or 2 interesting old buildings and as the farmer was about I asked him if he had a bastle house amongst his buildings,  he said he hadn't but if I was to walk up to "Snope Cleugh" 1/2 mile East I would come across what he had always known as a bastle house, in ruins, amongst a few trees and at the confluence of 2 streams and a little further on I would also come across what he called a "Bath House" where, in the old days local folk would bathe in this very wet depression in the landscape as it was known to have healing powers.
So, with his permission I walked up to the area and found an extensive area of fallen sandstone stones, obviously of 2 end-to-end buildings. Nearby are 2 streams and the ruins stand at the confluence. There are about 2 walls standing to a height of 4-5 ft with very thick walls. It appears to me to have been a superior, classic extended bastle of massive, roughly squared blocks of sandstone not unlike the bastle at Lingy Close which lies about 3 miles North and stands at roughly the same height above sea level. There is a sign of doorway in the East side.
The orientation of the bastle is east-west.
About 40-50 yds further East is a rectangular shaped earthwork which I have taken to be the site of the aforementioned Bath House. (Peter Mallalieu)

Comments

Not recorded in the online archaeological databases.
While I would not call this a superior bastle it is pretty clearly an extended pelehouse of a sort common in the area in a fairly classic position at the head of a small holding of about 100 acres of arable and with access to rough common pasture. Possible courtyard/garden on south side suggests upper chamber door(s) was in the south wall. The only really question about identifying this site as a pelehouse is what is the reason that it has not previously been identified.