Rattenraw Bastle, Otterburn
Has been described as a Certain Bastle, and also as a Certain Pele Tower
There are masonry ruins/remnants remains
| Name | Rattenraw Bastle, Otterburn |
| Alternative Names | |
| Historic Country | Northumberland |
| Modern Authority | Northumberland |
| 1974 Authority | Northumberland |
| Civil Parish | Rochester |
The north west and north east walls of the tower stand to a max height of 1.5m on the interior, 2.5m on the exterior. There are no traces of the other two sides. The walls are of massive stones, and indicate an original thickness of approx 1.6m. The tower was approx 8.5m long east-west, and 7m wide north-south. The remains are now incorporated into a field stone dyke. The site is at approx 570ft above OD and commands the valley of the River Rede to the north and south east. The Rattenraw Burn provides some natural defence upon the west and north sides at a distance of 20m. The open moorland to the west rises gently. There is no evidence for dating, but pele towers in Northumberland are usually medieval or late medieval (F1 ASP 13-JUL-1956).
The north west wall has now partially collapsed, otherwise as described. From the existing remains it is impossible to decide whether the building was a tower or a bastle (F2 DS 08-OCT-1970).
No architectural features survive (F3 PFR 05-JUL-1990).
Walls built of massive roughly-coursed rubble. North-east of the present farmhouse parts of two walls of a bastle are incorporated into a later field wall. Each wall is about 8.5m long and has particularly impressive roughly-coursed masonry, on the outer face only (Grundy 1987). (Northumberland HER)
Not scheduled
Not Listed
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
| OS Map Grid Reference | NY850952 |
| Latitude | 55.2512588500977 |
| Longitude | -2.23606991767883 |
| Eastings | 385090 |
| Northings | 595260 |
