Woodhead (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Woodheade

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: NY57707395
Latitude 55.05828° Longitude -2.66375°

Woodhead has been described as a certain Bastle.

There are masonry ruins/remnants remains.

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

Description

Former bastle house or stonehouse. It was built in the late C16 or early C17. The house is made from grey and calciferous sandstone rubble walls which are raised in height. There is a graduated slate roof with C19 stone and C20 rendered chimney stacks. It is 2 storeys high with 3 bays. The building stood derelict for many years and was reoccupied in early 1970s. (Listed Building Report)

Woodhead is a farmhouse, now deserted, in which most of the walling survives from an older bastle. It was mentioned in 1603 and was reconstructed probably at the beginning of the 18th c and again in the 19th c. None of the original door or window openings are traceable (Ramm et al 1970).
Generally in poor condition (F1 BHP 07-JUL-72).
Former bastle, now a house. Built in the late 16th/early 17th century and documented in 1603. Repaired in the early 18th century and again later, probably during the 19th century. Two storeyed and built of sandstone rubble with a slate roof. The building stood derelict for many years before re-occupied in the early 1970s. (PastScape)

Mentioned in 1603 survey as held by Jo Armstronge. (Perriam and Robinson)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1087532
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 13028.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 3878.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Old Cumbria Gazetteer
Books
- Salter, Mike, 1998, The Castles and Tower Houses of Cumbria (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 103 (slight)
  Perriam, Denis and Robinson, John, 1998, The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria (Kendal: CWAAS Extra Series 29) p. 178 (plan)
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 96
  Hugill, Robert, 1977, Castles and Peles of Cumberland and Westmorland (Newcastle; Frank Graham) p. 184-5
  Ramm, H.G., McDowall, R.W. and Mercer, E., 1970, Shielings and Bastles (London: HMSO) p. 76 no. 5
  Curwen, J.F., 1913, Castles and Fortified Towers of Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire North of the Sands (Kendal: CWAAS Extra Series 13) p. 388, 406
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Graham, T. H. B. (ed.). 1934, The barony of Gilsland. Lord William Howard's survey, taken in 1603 (Feild-Booke yt explaines all the Map Booke for Gilsland taken in 1603) (Kendal: CWAAS Extra Series 16)

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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.

Please help to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting Gatehouse if you see errors, can add information or have suggestions for improvements in functality and design.
Help is acknowledged.

*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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