Peel Crag

Has been described as a Questionable Pele Tower, and also as a Questionable Bastle

There are masonry footings remains

NamePeel Crag
Alternative NamesPeel on the Wall, Peel Gap; Steel Rig
Historic CountryNorthumberland
Modern AuthorityNorthumberland
1974 AuthorityNorthumberland
Civil ParishHenshaw

The remains of a medieval building lie buried next to Hadrian's Wall. It was excavated in 1911 and revealed a square building built of reused Roman stones. The excavations also found medieval pottery. Today, the site of the building is just a slight platform up to 0.4m high, still with its 1911 excavation trenches and spoil heaps visible. The building has often been described as a tower, but its walls do not really seem to be substantial enough for it to have been such a building and it is now thought more likely to have been a farmhouse. (Keys to the Past)

A medieval tower is located in Peel Gap abutting Hadrian's Wall. It was probably part of the original pele tower which gave its name to the modern farmhouse and adjacent crag. It survives as a slight platform with excavation trenches and spoil heaps, up to 0.4m high. It was excavated by Simpson in 1911 who recovered medieval green glazed pottery from the interior. (Scheduling Report)

The site of a small, 14th/15th-century, border pele. Excavated 1911 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Object Name Book 1920).

There are no structural remains of the tower. Its site is visible as a slight platform, at NY 7522 6755, with traces of foundations (F1 RWE 23-SEP-66).

Slight platform with excavation trenches and spoilheaps up to 0.4m high. It should be noted that Authority 2a gives no context for the medieval pottery, which is the only dating evidence for this feature. The tower is adjacent to the south face of Hadrian's Wall (Mark Bowden/17-FEB-1988/RCHME: Hadrian's Wall Project).

There are no surviving documentary references to this pele (Simpson 1976).

Some fragmentary banks, visible on air photographs, were mapped as part of the Hadrian's Wall National Mapping Project in the location of the tower. It is not certain whether these features represent remains of the tower itself or the excavation trenches/spoil (NMR NY 7567/17 (16653/52) 18-MAY-1999)

(PastScape)

Gatehouse Comments

Site suggested as a 'pele tower' based on placename and some ill described finds of 'medieval' pottery (described as Green-glazed which can be early modern in this area). It should be noted that 'Peel' is a term used for several different forms of buildings and structures. In this case the 'peel' may have been a pele-house (a simple bastle) inhabited by a tenant farmer and of C16/C17 date. It seems unlikely it was a gentry status pele-tower. Part of the 'Frontiers of the Roman Empire (Hadrian's Wall)' World Heritage site 430.

- Philip Davis

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law

Not Listed

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceNY752675
Latitude55.0018882751465
Longitude-2.38878989219666
Eastings375220
Northings567550
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

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Books

  • Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Newcastle upon Tyne: Keepdate Publishing) p. 373
  • King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 356 (possible)
  • Simpson, F. Gerald, (edited by Grace Simpson), 1976, Watermills and military works on Hadrian's Wall: excavations in Northumberland, 1907-13 p. 108-9
  • Long, B., 1967, Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p. 145