In 1550 the English Middle March warden conducted a formal survey of the defensive capability of Redesdale, reporting to the Privy Council on the state of the valley's pele towers, the numbers of men available for service, and the volume of Scottish raiding. The survey, preserved in the State Papers, reveals the extraordinary militarisation of Redesdale society — virtually every farmstead had a defensible tower, families kept horses saddled overnight, and a network of beacons provided alarm against raids. The survey also documented the extensive infiltration of the valley by Liddesdale reivers operating as English tenants.
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in Britain — drawing on Domesday records, scheduled monuments, Victorian OS maps, geological data and archaeological archives to tell the full story of a place.
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