Tower Brae (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Towerbrae; Tower Brow

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

OS Map Grid Reference: NY56827238
Latitude 55.04404° Longitude -2.67727°

Tower Brae has been described as a Pele Tower although is doubtful that it was such, and also as a probable Bastle.

There are earthwork remains.

Description

About 1/4 mile NW of the 'The Beacon' (NY 57 SE 3) are the foundations of a tower, from which the hill gets the name 'The Tower Brow'. It was 15 x 8 yds and situated within the south side of a stone enclosure (Maughan).
There are no remains of a tower or stone enclosure around the area of Tower Brow (Field Investigators Comments–F1 BHP 14-JUL-72).
Tower Brae (NY 56917234) Referred to by Maugham in 1854 as a tower which had been taken down a few years previously. The house is 32-1/2 ft by 22 ft over 4-1/2 ft walls. Some 25 yds north are the remnants of an enclosure and scattered mounds of debris. No remains survive of the corn drying kiln noted in 1854 (Ramm et al).
NY 56827238 Set on the south end of Tower Brae at 280m OD. This whole site is now in a very poor state of preservation and barely discernible. It consists of an outline 10.0m east-west by 5.0m, between ill-defined turf banks about 1.3m wide and 0.3m maximum height. It is set against a boundary bank at its east end but is no poorly defined its exact relationship with it is not ascertainable. About 20m due north of this is a very similar rectangular banked area 13.5m east-west by 6.5m with its east end also apparently coincident with the boundary bank. There is no trace of the east end of its north side. It is now impossible to say exactly what these were but the southern one is probably the remains of the building referred to by Maughan and classified as a farmstead by Ramm et al, but if so, they have been very much robbed as there is no stone work to be seen and hardly any was found by probing. About 10m to the north of each is or rather amorphous shaped disturbed turf-covered earthern area each about 5.0m diameter and 0.5m maximum height no longer recognisable as distinct features (Field Investigators Comments–F2 ISS 15-JUN-79).
Described as the ruins of a bastle, possibly with a barmkin (Perriam and Robinson). (PastScape)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 13008.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 13895; 75.

Books
- Perriam, Denis and Robinson, John, 1998, The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria (Kendal: CWAAS Extra Series 29) p. 176
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. lxviii (as doubtful bastle)
  Ramm, H.G., McDowall, R.W. and Mercer, E., 1970, Shielings and Bastles (London: HMSO) p. 47 (listed as farmstead)
  Curwen, J.F., 1913, Castles and Fortified Towers of Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire North of the Sands (Kendal: CWAAS Extra Series 13) p. 407
Periodical Articles
- Dixon, P.W., 1972, 'Shielings and bastles: a reconsideration of some problems' Archaeologia Aeliana (ser4) Vol. 50 p. 249-58
  Maughan, J., 1854, 'The Maiden Way: survey of the Maiden Way from Birdoswald, the station Amboglanna, on the Roman wall, northward into Scotland; with a short description of some remarkable objects in the district' The Archaeological Journal Vol. 11 p. 15 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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