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Black Middens Bastle House

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Overview

You can see one of only a handful of traditional bastle houses that are open to the public, at Black Middens, northwest of Bellingham in the remote Tarset Burn valley. Better-off border families could not rely on feudal lords for defence during the troubled 15th and 16th centuries, so they fended for themselves by building these two-storey stone houses to protect their families and livestock. Bastles were usually about 35ft by 25ft in area, with two storeys. Animals occupied the windowless ground floor and people reached the upper floor by a removable ladder – the stone stairway at Black Middens was a later addition.

Features

Opening Times
Open all year
Opening Times: Open at any reasonable time during daylight hours

Facilities
Parking nearby

Location

GATEHOUSE

About the area

If it’s history you’re after, there’s heaps of it in Northumberland. On Hadrian’s Wall you can imagine scarlet-cloaked Roman legionaries keeping watch for painted Pictish warriors while cursing the English weather and dreaming of home.

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Black Middens Bastle House

GATEHOUSE

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Black Middens Bastle House

Recommended by

Overview

You can see one of only a handful of traditional bastle houses that are open to the public, at Black Middens, northwest of Bellingham in the remote Tarset Burn valley. Better-off border families could not rely on feudal lords for defence during the troubled 15th and 16th centuries, so they fended for themselves by building these two-storey stone houses to protect their families and livestock. Bastles were usually about 35ft by 25ft in area, with two storeys. Animals occupied the windowless ground floor and people reached the upper floor by a removable ladder – the stone stairway at Black Middens was a later addition.

Features

Opening Times
Open all year
Opening Times: Open at any reasonable time during daylight hours
Facilities
Parking nearby

Location

GATEHOUSE

About the area

Area image

If it’s history you’re after, there’s heaps of it in Northumberland. On Hadrian’s Wall you can imagine scarlet-cloaked Roman legionaries keeping watch for painted Pictish warriors while cursing the English weather and dreaming of home.

Explore Northumberland

Gatehouse Northumberland Things To Do in Northumberland