Greenchester Pele, Otterburn (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
The Holt

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

OS Map Grid Reference: NY87159446
Latitude 55.24415° Longitude -2.20370°

Greenchester Pele, Otterburn has been described as a probable Pele Tower, and also as a probable Bastle.

There are no visible remains.

Description

The deserted medieval village of Greenchester is visible here as earthworks. Documents written in 1728 mention the ruins of a pele tower at this location, although no remains of this building have been found. (Keys to the Past)

There has been an old tower of the usual kind (pele) at Greenchester. The present village of half a dozen cottages stands on the high ground (Horsley 1728-9; Clarke).
The only remains (presumably of Greenchester) are the turf-covered foundations of a single range of buildings at NY 87159446. These appear to represent the site of one or two cottages with an associated garth and circular pond. Nothing about the foundations suggests the former existence of a tower, neither do they merit the title of 'village', although remains may have been more extensive in Horsley's time (F1 RE 17-NOV-70). (PastScape)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 17434.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) N8281.

Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Unedited Contributions to the Hist of Northum (Add Notes by J Horsley 96 1728-9)
  Towers & Fortified Houses of Northum 1904-1956 (Private and unpublished work by H F Clarke)

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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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