Chesterwood 1 and 2 Bastles

Description

Outbuilding, formerly a pair of bastle houses, reduced in height. C16 or early C17. Large rubble with galleting, massive quoins. West part has asbestos roof, east part corrugated iron roof. The eastern bastle has been built onto the gable end of the western. Front elevation: blocked door with massive jambs and lintel, C19 sash window, slit window, straight joint, remains of blocked door to former 1st floor, blocked door with massive jambs and exceptionally massive lintel. Rear elevation partly rebuilt with later doors.
Interior: set-back for former 1st floor, traces of fireplace against east gable of east bastle.
An example of 'terraced' bastles, which at one time probably made up the whole of Chesterwood. (Listed Building Report)

Building 10m west of house adjoining west end of Mellom Cottage. Grade II listed building. Formerly a pair of bastle houses, reduced in height. 16th or early 17th century. An example of 'terraced' bastles, which at one time probably made up the whole of Chesterwood (Scheduling Report).
Chesterwood I and II:
Pair of bastles west of west cottage. No 1 measures 9.15m by 6.36m externally, with walls of massive roughly coursed rubble, c.0.9m thick; there is a boulder plinth at the west end. The upper part of the south wall has clearly been rebuilt, and the whole building (like no 2) has been reduced in height to a single storey. The byre doorway (blocked) is set at the west end of the south wall, and has a square head (with a massive lintel) and a roughly chamfered surround; there is a slit vent in the same wall further east. The present doorway (at the east end of the north wall) and a large window in the south wall are later insertions; inside the only feature of interest is the trace of a hearth (secondary?) at first floor level in the east wall.
No 2 is an addition to no 1. Externally it measures 7.32m by 6.45m, and is of similar fabric to no 1; it has a similar blocked byre doorway, at the east end of its south wall, and a slit vent further west; above the slit vent the west jamb of its upper doorway is partially preserved, although again the upper parts of the wall have been largely rebuilt. There is a large modern opening on the north, where most of the wall has been rebuilt. Internally there are again traces of a first floor fireplace, probably secondary, in the east end (Ryder 1994-5). (Northumberland HER)

Comments

Two of a number of bastles in small group forming hamlet (5 according to RCHME report (based on King), Dodds can only safely count 3, a local newspaper claimed 13 originally, SMR gives details of 7 bastles). The Chesterwood group of bastles could be considered to amount to a defended village.