Black Middens (Tarset with Greystead)
NY 77389001. The remains of a probable bastle discovered during field investigation. It measures 10.2m x 7.5m with walls 1.4m thick and stands to a maximum height of 1.8m. See photographs. (1)
Agreed. The remains are incorporated in a modern stone wall and measure externally 18.5m north east-south west by 7.5m transversely. The best preserved fragment is the south east wall which reaches a maximum height of 1.8m and width of 1.4m. There are no internal features nor are there any traces of window slits or doorways. The plan and general dimensions, however, are comparable to the bastle at NY 77318999 (NY 78 NE 2) (see enlargement). Surveyed at 1:10,000. (2)
Ruined bastle 70m ENE of Black Middings Bastle. Rectangular building 9.5m x 7.5m with walls 1.4m thick of massive rubble, with roughly squared quoins, standing to 2m high on east. Byre entrance possibly in west part of south wall. Footings of a second building close to north end, apparently 10.5m x 6.9m, but largely grassed over. (3)
Scheduled. (4)
Four stack stands within a field system. (5)
The ruins of this probable bastle were surveyed at 1:100 by RCHME in 1987. The south-east and south-west walls are now incorporated in a fieldwall. Some original facing is exposed in the exterior of the south-east wall; it is similar in style to the masonry of the better preserved bastle to the south-west (NY 78 NE 2). The north east wall, which is reduced to a height of 0.3m, is only 0.8m thick and is therefore unlikely to be an original external wall. The north west wall is covered by a substantial mound of tumbled stone, though the stump of the wall is visible; a secondary wall, only 0.5m thick seems to have been built on top of this wall stump, reflecting a secondary period of use involving rebuilding on a slighter scale. There are no visible signs of openings for windows or doors.
To the north-east of this building a heap of rubble partly overlies the foundations of another substantial stone building whose internal measurements were about 7m by 4m. Whether this was yet another bastle is uncertain.
Like Black Middens bastle (NY 78 NE 2), these buildings are associated with elements of a field system (NY 79 SE 8) incorporating ridge and furrow cultivation and stack stands (NY 79 SE 9). (6a)
Agreed. The remains are incorporated in a modern stone wall and measure externally 18.5m north east-south west by 7.5m transversely. The best preserved fragment is the south east wall which reaches a maximum height of 1.8m and width of 1.4m. There are no internal features nor are there any traces of window slits or doorways. The plan and general dimensions, however, are comparable to the bastle at NY 77318999 (NY 78 NE 2) (see enlargement). Surveyed at 1:10,000. (2)
Ruined bastle 70m ENE of Black Middings Bastle. Rectangular building 9.5m x 7.5m with walls 1.4m thick of massive rubble, with roughly squared quoins, standing to 2m high on east. Byre entrance possibly in west part of south wall. Footings of a second building close to north end, apparently 10.5m x 6.9m, but largely grassed over. (3)
Scheduled. (4)
Four stack stands within a field system. (5)
The ruins of this probable bastle were surveyed at 1:100 by RCHME in 1987. The south-east and south-west walls are now incorporated in a fieldwall. Some original facing is exposed in the exterior of the south-east wall; it is similar in style to the masonry of the better preserved bastle to the south-west (NY 78 NE 2). The north east wall, which is reduced to a height of 0.3m, is only 0.8m thick and is therefore unlikely to be an original external wall. The north west wall is covered by a substantial mound of tumbled stone, though the stump of the wall is visible; a secondary wall, only 0.5m thick seems to have been built on top of this wall stump, reflecting a secondary period of use involving rebuilding on a slighter scale. There are no visible signs of openings for windows or doors.
To the north-east of this building a heap of rubble partly overlies the foundations of another substantial stone building whose internal measurements were about 7m by 4m. Whether this was yet another bastle is uncertain.
Like Black Middens bastle (NY 78 NE 2), these buildings are associated with elements of a field system (NY 79 SE 8) incorporating ridge and furrow cultivation and stack stands (NY 79 SE 9). (6a)
N7071
FIELD OBSERVATION, Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Field Investigation 1970; D Smith
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