Black Middens Bastle House
| Black Middens Bastle House | |
| Northumberland | |
|---|---|
 Black Middens Bastle | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | NY773900 |
| Location: | 55°12’13"N, 2°21’29"W |
| History | |
| Bastle house | |
| Information | |
| Owned by: | English Heritage |
| Website: | Black Middens Bastle House |
Black Middens Bastle House stands about seven miles northwest of Bellingham in Northumberland. It is a two-storey fortified stone farmhouse from the 16th century.
The house is a fine example of a bastle house – a fortified farmhouse of a type found across Northumberland and elsewhere in the Middle Shires. In times of trouble, which were common on the English-Scottish border before the union of the kingdoms, farmers could hide behind its thick walls. Livestock would be kept downstairs and the farmers' families upstairs.[1]
The original door of the house was blocked over and three additional doors and an external staircase were eventually added, and the roof lost. Nearby on the property is an 18th-century stone cottage.[1]
The house, cottage, and grounds are owned and administered by English Heritage.
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Black Middens Bastle House) |
- Black Middens Bastle House – English Heritage
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Black Middens Bastle, 2009, http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_north/80/blackmiddensbastle.htm, retrieved 21 November 2009