Herskerth (The Gatehouse Record of the Aglionby Platt)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Harkescarth; Harsketth

In the civil parish of Castleton.
In the historic county of Roxburghshire, Scotland.
Modern Authority of Scottish Borders, Scotland.
1974 county of Borders, Scotland.

OS Map Grid Reference: NY49389255
Latitude 55.22462° Longitude -2.79759°

The given map reference is suggested as the probable location of Herskerth shown on the Aglionby Platt.

There are no visible remains.

The likely form(s) of this building in 1590 are;

Tower House (gentry)
Pele House ('bastle').

Reproduced by permission of the National Library of Scotland

Description

(NY 4938 9255) Tower (NR) (Site of) (OS 6" map (1957))
This spot was pointed out by three local informants in 1858 as the site of Hartsgarth Tower, property of the Elliotts (shown on a map of 1590 as "Herskerth"). Jeffrey notes that two or three large stones, probably lintels, from the site could be seen at Redheugh (NY 495 905). (Name Book 1858; A Jeffrey 1864)
The published site falls within the present Hartsgarth farm complex. The farmhouse is a modernised 18th / 19th century structure and the outbuildings show nothing of architectural significance. The owner has no knowledge of an earlier house.
By a garden gate at Redheugh (NY 496 906) are two roughly dressed stone blocks with triangular recesses (purpose unknown), and above the gate is a 3.0m long carved stone lintel. These stones must pre-date the present house, but no evidence of from where they came was obtained. Visited by OS (JRL) 24 August 1979
Alleged site A a rectangular tower and adjacent 'mansion', divined and planned by Mr A Elliott, of Providence Cottage, Bishop Auckland, Co Durham, 22 September 1988.
No evidence for any structure that predates the present farmsteading was visible at the date of survey. Visited by RCAHMS (PJD) 15 February 1996 (Canmore)

Comments

The historic evidence for this being the home of a border revier in the late C16 is clear and unambiguous. The supposition that William Ellott would have a fortified house of some form is entirely reasonable. The form of that fortified house is not known and could have been a small three storey tower but a rectangular chamber over byre pele-house may be a more likely form. This comment should not be taken as in anyway endorsing the 'finds' of rectangular tower found by divining. Divining is utter nonsense and hokum and has no place in any proper archaeological record.

Sources of information, references and further reading

Canmore (The online National Monument Record for Scotland) Number 67921.

Books
- RCAHMS, 1956, An inventory of the ancient and historical monuments of Roxburghshire (Edinburgh: The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland) Vol. 1 p. 89 no. 93 online copy
  Jeffrey, Alexander, 1864, The History and Antiquities of Roxburghshire Vol. 4 p. 232, 243 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Ellis, H., 1829, 'Copy of a manuscript tract addressed to Lord Burghley, illustrative of the Border topography of Scotland, AD 1590, with a platt or map of the Borders taken in the same year' Archaeologia Vol. 22 p. 161-71 online copy
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Bain, J., 1894, Calendar of Letters and Papers relating to the Borders of England and Scotland (Edinburgh: HMSO) Vol. 1 1560-1594 p. 314-15 no. 595 online copy
Maps (Early maps)
- 1590, A Platt of the opposete Borders of Scotland to ye west marches of England (The Aglionby Platt) British Library online Gallery and Old Cumbria Gazetteer

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant.
It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from ANY site without proper recording and reporting.
Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.

The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, RCAHMS (or its successor Historic Environment Scotland), County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. 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 Gatehouse website record of

Herskerth (Hartsgarth)

a location shown on a 1590 map of the West Marches of Scotland (The Aglionby Platt)