Hill House Bastle, Thorngrafton
Has been described as a Possible Bastle
There are masonry ruins/remnants remains
| Name | Hill House Bastle, Thorngrafton |
| Alternative Names | |
| Historic Country | Northumberland |
| Modern Authority | Northumberland |
| 1974 Authority | Northumberland |
| Civil Parish | Bardon Mill |
Probable bastle-house now outbuilding, late C16 or early C17, wall reduced and cruck trusses inserted C18. Massive rubble, slate roof. Front with two doorways and narrow window, remains of blocked doorway (?) and window at 1st floor level hidden by ivy. Left gable, rebuilt in squared rubble has blocked 1st floor door with timber lintel. Rear elevation with C20 pitching door above older blocked opening. Interior much altered. 2 upper-cruck roof trusses with re-set collars. (Listed Building Report)
Solitary bastle, 8.7 x 6.4m externally, side walls 0.85m thick. Present state - farm building (Ryder 1990).
An outbuilding to the north of Hill House, alongside the village street, may have been a bastle. It measures c.8.7m by 6.4m externally, with walls c.0.8m thick and is built of massive rubble with large quoins. The building has been considerably altered; none of the openings have cut dressings. Internally there is a set-back at first floor level; there are a pair of raised cruck trusses (springing from the walls a little below the set-back), with halvings for removed tie beams, and the blades overlapping at the apex. The almost cyclopean character of the rubble masonry suggests that this building is a bastle, although the wall thicknesses are not all that great. Cruck trusses in this area usually seem to be associated with heather thatch, which would be an unsuitable roofing material for a defensible building. One interpretation of this building may be that it is a bastle that has been cut down in height and reroofed, perhaps in the early 18th century (Ryder 1994-5). (Northumberland HER)
Not scheduled
This is a Grade 2 listed building protected by law
Historic England Scheduled Monument Number
Historic England Listed Building number(s)
Images Of England
County Historic Environment Record
| OS Map Grid Reference | NY783653 |
| Latitude | 54.9825897216797 |
| Longitude | -2.33916997909546 |
| Eastings | 378392 |
| Northings | 565383 |
