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Bastel, bastle, or bastille houses are a type of construction found along the
'Shielings and Bastles.
' HMSO: London. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bastle House Border Reivers Fortified houses History of Northumberland History of agriculture in England History of the Scottish Borders History of agriculture in Scotland Housing in England Housing in Scotland House types in the United Kingdom Human habitats Rural Scotland Scots language Vernacular architecture
Bastel, bastle, or bastille houses are a type of construction found along the Anglo-Scottish border
The Anglo-Scottish border () is a border separating Scotland and England which runs for between Marshall Meadows Bay on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west. The surrounding area is sometimes referred to as "the Borderlands".
The ...
, in the areas formerly plagued by border reivers. They are fortified farmhouses, characterised by security measures against raid
Raid, RAID or Raids may refer to:
Attack
* Raid (military), a sudden attack behind the enemy's lines without the intention of holding ground
* Corporate raid, a type of hostile takeover in business
* Panty raid, a prankish raid by male college ...
s. Their name is said to derive from the French word "bastille
The Bastille (, ) was a fortress in Paris, known formally as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. It was stor ...
".
Characteristics
The characteristics of the classic bastle house are extremely thickstone
In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...
walls
Walls may refer to:
*The plural of wall, a structure
*Walls (surname), a list of notable people with the surname
Places
* Walls, Louisiana, United States
* Walls, Mississippi, United States
* Walls, Ontario, neighborhood in Perry, Ontario, C ...
(about 1 metre thick), with the ground floor devoted to stable space for the most valuable animals
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and go through an ontogenetic stage in ...
, and a vaulted
In architecture, a vault (French ''voûte'', from Italian ''volta'') is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while ring ...
stone or flat timber floor between it and the first floor with internal access such as a stairway or ladder.Brunskill, R. W.. ''Houses and cottages of Britain: origins and development of traditional buildings''. Great Britain: Victor Gollancz in association with Peter Crawley, 1997. 28-29. Print. The family's living quarters were on the floor above the ground, and during the times before the suppression of the reivers, were only reachable by a ladder
A ladder is a vertical or inclined set of rungs or steps used for climbing or descending. There are two types: rigid ladders that are self-supporting or that may be leaned against a vertical surface such as a wall, and rollable ladders, such ...
which was pulled up from the inside at night. The windows were small or even only arrow slit
An arrowslit (often also referred to as an arrow loop, loophole or loop hole, and sometimes a balistraria) is a narrow vertical aperture in a fortification through which an archer can launch arrows or a crossbowman can launch bolts.
The interio ...
s.
Bastle houses have many characteristics in common with military blockhouses, the main difference being that a bastle was intended primarily as a family dwelling, instead of a pure fortification.
Many bastle houses survive today; their construction ensured that they would last a very long time, but most are either ruined or much altered for use as residences or farm buildings. They may be seen on both sides of the Anglo-Scottish border. Some well-preserved examples are Thropton Pele, Hole Bastle, Woodhouses Bastle and Black Middens Bastle.
See also
* Architecture in early modern Scotland#Vernacular architecture (section) *Bastille
The Bastille (, ) was a fortress in Paris, known formally as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. It was stor ...
* La Haye Sainte
La Haye Sainte (named either after Jesus Christ's crown of thorns or a bramble hedge round a field nearby) is a walled farmhouse compound at the foot of an escarpment on the Charleroi-Brussels road in Belgium. It has changed very little since it ...
* Peel tower
* Scottish Vernacular
Scottish Vernacular architecture is a form of vernacular architecture that uses local materials.
Overview
In Scotland, as elsewhere, vernacular architecture employs readily available local materials and methods handed down from generation to gene ...
* Tower house
A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strateg ...
* Tower houses in Britain and Ireland
Tower houses ( ga, caisleán) appeared on the Islands of Ireland and Great Britain starting from the High Middle Ages. They were constructed in the wilder parts of Great Britain and Ireland, particularly in Scotland, and throughout Ireland, until ...
* Vernacular architecture
Vernacular architecture is building done outside any academic tradition, and without professional guidance. This category encompasses a wide range and variety of building types, with differing methods of construction, from around the world, bo ...
References
Bibliography
*Herman Gabriel Ramm
Herman Gabriel Ramm (9 May 1922 – 30 November 1991) was an archaeologist.
Biography
Ramm was educated at Liverpool College. In 1940 he enrolled at University College, Oxford to study Classics. His undergraduate degree was interrupted by Ramm se ...
, R. W. McDowall, Eric Mercer (1970) 'Shielings and Bastles.
' HMSO: London. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bastle House Border Reivers Fortified houses History of Northumberland History of agriculture in England History of the Scottish Borders History of agriculture in Scotland Housing in England Housing in Scotland House types in the United Kingdom Human habitats Rural Scotland Scots language Vernacular architecture