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Little Bavington Tower

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Bavington Hall; Babington

In the civil parish of Bavington.
In the historic county of Northumberland.
Modern Authority of Northumberland.
1974 county of Northumberland.
Medieval County of Northumberland.

OS Map Grid Reference: NY989786
Latitude 55.10302° Longitude -2.01448°

Little Bavington Tower has been described as a probable Pele Tower.

There are no visible remains.

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

Description

The present house was probably built or begun by Admiral George Delval who purchased the estate in 1719/20. Previous to this it belonged to the Shafto family who had been connected with Little Bavington since the 13th.c.
The main structure is oblong in plan with a wing projecting from the NE corner. In the angle formed between the main building and the wing, a low brick building of two stories is enclosed, which appears to be of an earlier period (Hodgson 1897).
The main portion of Bavington Hall appears to be 18c. and displays no evidence of an earlier structure other than the "low brick building" referred to by Hodgson, the brickwork of this feature is early but no dateable architectural details are visible (F1 FDC 13.4.56). (PastScape)

(Marginal) A tower at 'Babington' occurs in a list of Border fortalices of 1415. (Location is attributed to Little Bavington, NY 989786) (Hodgson 1897).
There are no traces or surviving tradition of a tower at Little Bavington (F1 BHP 02-AUG-1967).
Little Bavington Tower. The present hall may stand on the site of the tower (Long 1967). (Northumberland HER)
Comments

In the 1415 list called Turris de Babington held by Robti Langwath. It is unclear what relationship Langwath had with the Shafto family (? Bailiff) who were the main tenants in complex manor but it is difficult to see any other possibility for a location of this turris other than Bavington Hall. In the context of the 1415 list and the tenurial history and social status of the Shafto's this is likely to have been a solar tower attached to an unfortified hall.
Links to archaeological and architectural databases, mapping and other online resources

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Sources of information, references and further reading
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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.
This record last updated 26/07/2017 09:21:27

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