© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Historic England (NHLE)
Bastle at Craig Farm is a fortified farmhouse located in Northumberland, England. Bastles are defensive structures characteristic of the Anglo-Scottish border region, typically dating from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when they served as secure residences for farming families vulnerable to cross-border raiding. The Craig Farm bastle represents the practical architectural response of border communities to the endemic lawlessness of the period, combining domestic accommodation with fortified elements designed to protect both inhabitants and livestock. Such structures generally feature thick stone walls and limited external openings, embodying the security concerns that shaped border settlement patterns during the turbulent centuries preceding the Union of the Crowns.
Bastle at Craig Farm is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1008888. View the official record →
Bastle at Craig Farm is a fortified farmhouse located in Northumberland, England. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1008888.
Bastle at Craig Farm is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic England (NHLE) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in England. The official designation reference is 1008888.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Unenclosed settlement, field system, cairnfield, round cairn cemetery, round cairn, shieling and enclosed cremation cemetery on Todlaw Pike (5.4 km), Romano-British and medieval settlement, field system, cord rig cultivation, cairnfield and round cairn on Barracker Rigg (5.9 km), Mote Hills motte and bailey castle (6.3 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Bastle at Craig Farm's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Bastle at Craig Farm stands on Border Group, bedrock that formed in the Meramecian. The rock here is sandstone with subordinate argillaceous rocks and limestone.