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Bastle at Upper Denton is a fortified farmhouse situated in Cumberland in the Anglo-Scottish border region. The structure dates to the early modern period, representing a distinctive building type developed in response to the endemic raiding and lawlessness that characterised the borderlands from the sixteenth century onwards. Bastles combined domestic accommodation on the upper floor with a vaulted undercroft or ground floor, the latter designed to provide secure storage for livestock and provisions whilst offering defence against attack. The Upper Denton example exemplifies this characteristic architecture, reflecting the practical militarisation of rural settlement in one of England's most volatile frontier zones during the Tudor and Stuart periods.
Bastle at Upper Denton is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1014767. View the official record →
Bastle at Upper Denton is a fortified farmhouse situated in Cumberland in the Anglo-Scottish border region. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1014767.
Bastle at Upper Denton 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 1014767.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Nether Denton Roman fort, associated vicus and length of Stanegate Roman road (2.4 km), Eight Roman inscriptions in the Roman quarry in Combcrag Wood, 350m south of Hadrian's Wall (2.5 km), Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the field boundary west of Coombe Crag and Banks Green Cottage and the road to Lanercost at Banks in wall miles 51 and 52 (4.1 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Bastle at Upper Denton'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 Upper Denton stands on Yoredale Group, bedrock that formed in the Bashkirian. The rock here is limestone, argillaceous rocks and subordinate sandstone, interbedded.