The Loan

Description

Ruins of a bastle known as The Loan, not to be confused with the house of the same name. The building survives as a roofless structure, formerly of two storeys but now standing to ground floor height only. Incorporated into the remains of the bastle is a two-roomed post-medieval cottage. It is located on level ground 120m south east of The Flatt farmhouse at a spot where the enclosed fields originally met the rough upland pasture. The bastle was constructed in the late C16 of calciferous sandstone rubble and originally measured 5m by 4m internally. Only the south west wall now survives to any great height above ground level, standing 2.3m high and 1.2m thick. At an unrecorded date the bastle was converted into a single-storey two-roomed cottage by extending the original building on the north east side to give the new structure external measurements of circa 9m by 5.3m. The walls of the cottage are 0.6m thick and stand up to 2.3m high. It was originally roofed in turf over which corrugated iron was later placed; the roof has collapsed in recent years. (PastScape)

The Loan medieval bastle is a good example of this class of monument which was later converted and used as a post-medieval cottage. Despite this renovation, the bastle retains a number of original architectural details. It is one of many examples of this class of monument located in the parishes of Bewcastle and Askerton close to the Scottish border, and as such it will contribute to our knowledge and understanding of the wider border settlement and economy during the medieval period.
The monument includes The Loan medieval bastle, a roofless structure formerly of two-storeys but now standing to ground floor height only, and an adjacent two-roomed post-medieval cottage which incorporated the remains of the bastle. It is located on level ground 120m south east of The Flatt farmhouse at a spot where the enclosed fields originally met the rough upland pasture. The bastle was constructed in the late 16th century of calciferous sandstone rubble and originally measured approximately 5m by 4m internally. Only the south west wall now survives to any great height above ground level, standing approximately 2.3m high and 1.2m thick. In the middle of this wall is the original doorway with chamfered and rebated jambs, a lintel, and tunnels for a drawbar. Other surviving architectural features include a projecting plinth, some large quoin stones at the corners, and a slit vent in the rear wall, now the dividing wall of the cottage. At an unrecorded date the bastle was converted into a single-storey two-roomed cottage by extending the original building on the north east side to give the new structure external measurements of c.9m by 5.3m. A doorway in the south east side, now part blocked and part reused as a window, gave access into the north east room, and the cottage was lit by two small square windows, one to each room, both about 0.6m square. The walls of the cottage are 0.6m thick and stand up to 2.3m high. It was originally roofed in turf over which corrugated iron was later placed; the roof has collapsed in recent years. (Scheduling Report)