Scheduled Monuments›England›Low Grains bastle

Low Grains bastle

England
List entry 1015866
Nation
England
The designation
Reference
List entry 1015866
Authority
Historic England (NHLE)
Status
Scheduled Monument
Scheduled area
0.02 hectares
Grid reference
NY 57641 75100
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Historic England (NHLE)

Overview

History & significance

Low Grains bastle is a seventeenth-century fortified farmhouse located in Cumberland in the English Lake District. The structure exemplifies the bastle-house form, a defensive dwelling type characteristic of the Anglo-Scottish borderlands, designed to provide protection against cross-border raiding during a period of considerable unrest. The building demonstrates the practical architectural response of border farmers to the endemic violence of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, combining domestic and agricultural functions within a fortified framework. Like other bastles of the region, Low Grains would have provided secure shelter for inhabitants and livestock during raids, reflecting the persistent security concerns that shaped settlement patterns and building practices in the upland border country.

Low Grains bastle is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1015866. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Low Grains bastle?

Low Grains bastle is a seventeenth-century fortified farmhouse located in Cumberland in the English Lake District. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1015866.

Who is responsible for protecting Low Grains bastle?

Low Grains bastle 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 1015866.

What other scheduled monuments are near Low Grains bastle?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including RAF Spadeadam: British Oxygen Corporation Air Separation Plant (6 km), Romano-British farmstead and post-medieval farmstead at Watch Hill (7.8 km), Enclosure castle known as Triermain Castle (8.5 km).

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Everything a full report reveals about Low Grains bastle

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Low Grains bastle's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Domesday
The settlement's entry in the 1086 Domesday Book: who held it, what it was worth, and the people who worked the land.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
LiDAR
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks hidden under fields and woodland, with likely features flagged.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.

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Nearby

Other scheduled monuments within 10 km

RAF Spadeadam: British Oxygen Corporation Air Separation Plant
6 km
Romano-British farmstead and post-medieval farmstead at Watch Hill
7.8 km
Enclosure castle known as Triermain Castle
8.5 km
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the field boundaries east of milecastle 50 and the boundary west of Coombe Crag in wall miles 50 and 51
9.7 km
Birdoswald Roman fort and the section of Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the River Irthing and the field boundaries east of milecastle 50
9.7 km
Hadrian's Wall and vallum and their associated features between Poltross Burn and the River Irthing in wall mile 48
10.2 km
Willowford Roman temporary camp
10.2 km
Moated site at Upper Denton
10.3 km
The ground beneath

The bedrock under Low Grains bastle

Low Grains bastle stands on Inverclyde Group, bedrock that formed in the Osagean. The rock here is sandstone, siltstone and mudstone.

The wider landscape

Around Low Grains bastle

Hadrian's WallArchaeological site · ~16.6 milesBattle of Solway Moss 1542Battle (1542) · ~12.9 miles
All Scheduled Monuments