Baxter's Tower, or Low Hall, Corbridge. Photo by Peter Ryder.

(Name at NY 9922 6430) Pele Tower. (1)

The nucleus of the building known as Low Hall is a mediaeval peel. It was probably built by the Baxters in the late 15th century. A Thomas Baxter is mentioned in 1381 and a John Baxter in 1431.
The tower which is three stories high, retains many of its original features including a vaulted ground floor and part of the stone newel staircase. The entrance was on the west side. On the left of the entrance is the stairway in the thickness of the north wall.
Externally the tower measures 24ft 4ins x 17ft 8ins. Richard Gobson (died 1678/9) was probably the builder of the Low Hall attached to the west side of Baxter's Tower. It has a south frontage to the street and a gabled projection at the north west angle. The gable on the north side of the tower is of later date. A sundial on the south front bears the date 1700. (2)(3)

Building known as 'Pele Tower'. The name 'Low Hall' is not known. (4)

The tower and 17th house now constitute one building, which is in excellent condition. (NY 9913 6432). (5)

Condition unchanged. (6)

Baxters Tower. Probably late 15th century. Vaulted basement remains. Staircase in the wall is very cramped up to first floor. Most windows of later date. 17th century hall built on west side in late 17th century. Windows altered in the tower then to match the rest of the building. (7)

The old part consists of a two storeyed east-west range of rather irregular plan (the west end is canted at rather an acute angle), with the east end carried up as a three storey tower. There is a small stair wing probably of 18th century date on the north of the tower and a major extension to the north, running the full length of the old house, of c.1890.
The house first belonged to the Baxter family in the later medieval period. The property changed hands several times in the 17th century, in 1625 to the Prinnes, then in 1657/8 to the Nichols, and in 1673 to the Gibsons of Hexham. In 1720 it passed to the Aynsley family and then to the Tweddels who held it for over a hundred years until the mid 19th century.
The old parts of the house are built of a mixture of fabrics; roughly coursed rubble predominates, with large roughly shaped quoins; larger squared stones, laid in rather irregular courses, and more regular quoins, become commoner in the upper part of the tower. The tower is usually regarded as the oldest part of the building but a glance at the fabric shows that this is incorrect; it in fact appears to be a later heightening of one end of an earlier medieval house.
THE EXTERIOR: The south elevation, although obscured by climbing plants, is of great interest. The two-storeyed section is of three irregular bays and the tower an additional bay to the right. The two storeyed part has three-light mullioned windows to both floors; in addition, between the two eastern bays, there is a two-light mullioned window on ground floor level, occupying the position of a doorway shown on an 1884 photograph in the County History. All these mullioned windows have upright 'thin' stones as their jambs, implying that they are insertions; above the ground floor two-light window is a sundial, either restored or renewed, dated '1700'. The tower has a two-light mullioned window to the basement, and three-light windows to the upper floors; it has a plain parapet carried on an oversailing hollow chamfered course, broken on the east by two stone spouts, apparently of some antiquity.
In line with the west side of the tower the eastern jamb of an early doorway is partly exposed at the foot of the wall, with one voussoir of its arched head. This doorway is set in rubble masonry which courses through beneath the tower, the south western angle quoins of which appear in the wall at around the level of the present first floor windows, showing that the two storey section has been heightened. In this heightened section of wall, adjacent to the tower
and above the former doorway, is a square headed window with a chamfered surround, now blocked. Further west there are remains of another small chamfered window between the two western bays, set at mid height in the wall; this has quite elongate jamb stones, suggesting that it is contemporary with the walling.
More enigmatic are a number of apparent breaks in the rubble masonry. There is a suggestion of the line of an earlier gable in the tower, best seen to the east of the present windows, rising from the level of the present first floor to an apex (?) at around the base of the parapet. This line corresponds with quite a clear change in quoin type, best seen at the north east corner; the quoins above are larger and of pinker stone and, at the north west corner, much more regular than those below. The masonry above this line is of larger squared stone; the line is not clear west of the windows where there is a large patch of larger squared stone.
Further west, in the two storey section, steeply sloping lines in the masonry are quite apparent on either side of the first floor window in the eastern bay, and there are less clear signs of a similar feature in the westernmost bay. These lines may indicate early gablets above windows; another feature to the west of the first floor window in the central bay might conceivably be a lateral chimney stack.
The east wall of the tower shows a large shoulder headed doorway which is entirely of late 19th century date, although occupying the position of an earlier opening (see NCH plan); above this, at first floor level, is a square headed chamfered window which appears ancient. An obvious roof line above this clearly relates to an adjacent terrace of 19th century houses shown in the 1884 photograph. There is a disturbed area in the masonry to the north of the doorway, which is difficult to interpret, and may relate to the removed houses.
The west end of the house shows several features of interest. At the foot of the wall is a rough projecting footing; at ground floor level there is a small lancet headed window at the north end of the wall, with a chamfered surround and jamb stones coursed in with the adjacent walling. At the south end of the wall is a 19th century window, and between them an old horizontal timber (a lintel?), apparently moulded, embedded in the wall. At first floor level there is a single window at the south end of the wall; at first sight this is a late 19th century casement, very like that below, but closer inspection shows that part of its north jamb has been retained from an earlier opening; two long and well squared stones clearly course in with the adjacent walling. These stones bear a chamfer, which has been crudely copied on the remainder of the rubble walling stones through which the enlarged opening is cut. At its top the chamfer appears to be curving, as if the window has originally had an arched head, although this is not really clear.
The entire north side of the house (except for the very top of the north wall of the tower) is obscured by the 19th century additions.
THE INTERIOR: The interior of the house was largely remodelled in c.1890; however, a considerable number of earlier features do survive, in particular in the tower.
THE SOUTH RANGE: The ground floor of the two storeyed part of the east-west range is now divided into two rooms. In the east wall of the eastern are a pair of square headed chamfered doorways. The southern, set more or less in the centre of the wall, opens directly into the basement of the tower, the northern into the base of the tower stair; there has also been a doorway, now blocked up, between the tiny lobby at the base of the stair and the tower basement. To the south of the southern doorway the wall face steps forward, with a vertical chamfer on the angle; in this thicker section are a pair of corbels at ceiling level, as if to carry a hearth above; in their present form these look 19th century work.
At the east end of the north wall of the room a doorway, set opposite the blocked early doorway seen externally in the south wall, opens from the entrance hall. This is of similar form to the two doorways in the east wall, but it has clearly been heightened as there is a more recent block at the head of each jamb. Although apparently medieval, the present wall between the two rooms and entrance hall is not original, which has been set 0.5m further north, in line with the north wall of the tower, as the chamfered jamb of an earlier doorway survives at the actual corner of the tower. Above this jamb is ragged masonry where the upper part of the earlier wall has been cut away, and then better squared quoins, above the original eaves line; just below the level of the first floor ceiling a chamfered set-back crosses the west wall of the tower.
The only other early feature exposed within the two storeyed range is a small chamfered square headed window in the present north wall of the range, only visible from the first floor landing above the entrance hall. The sill and east jamb have been restored; there is a socket for a bar (set diagonally) in the lintel.
Both ground floor rooms in the range have massive transverse ceiling beams that are clearly of some age, although the shaped corbels which carry them are clearly Victorian. Despite the corbels it would be tempting to see the beams as in situ, except for the fact that there are beams of similar apparent antiquity in the late 19th century northern extension; it is possible that all the beams are imported old material from elsewhere.
THE TOWER: The basement of the tower (now plastered internally) is covered by a segmental vault which, rather puzzlingly, is orientated east-west (ie across the long axis of the basement). In the east wall there is a small wall locker (of uncertain date) on either side of the large 19th century doorway. In the north wall is an inserted doorway into the entrance hall and, in the centre of the wall, a square headed loop with a chamfered surround (now opening into the entrance hall); this has quite 'thin' jamb stones and may be an insertion.
The tower stair rises steeply northwards and then turns eastward around the corner of the tower basement; on the angle it divides in a rather awkward manner, a newel stair continuing upwards in the corner of the tower whilst a short length of straight stair rises to a lobby from which a narrow square headed doorway gives access to the first floor chamber. The stair is - or has been - lit by square headed loops on the first corner and at the first floor lobby; both now open into the entrance hall and its first floor landing.
The first floor room in the tower has a single central transverse ceiling beam, carrying stop chamfered joists; the ceiling timbers look of late medieval or 17th century date, although the two corbels which carry the main beam are Victorian, as is the fireplace on the north. A splayed recess in the centre of the west wall may be a former loop; a cupboard at the south end of the same wall occupies the position of a former doorway. There is also a recent doorway onto the landing above the entrance hall.
The newel stair, with another loop on the north, rises to the second floor chamber. Here the doorway to the stair is set in a small rectangular projection in the north west corner; in the adjacent part of the north wall is a recess that appears to be a blocked loop, squinted eastward as if to avoid some external feature; its external opening seems to have been destroyed by an inserted doorway at the east end of the wall; there is another Victorian fireplace on the east. There appears to be a corbelled out course, only visible behind plaster, at the head of each side wall.
DISCUSSION: Low Hall is an important example of an early stone house, probably pre-dating the Scottish wars, which has been remodelled on several occasions. A tentative reconstruction of its building history might be:
i) ground floor hall house, perhaps 13th century date, with a screens passage at the east end of the hall. The hall may have had gablets over its windows, and a storeyed bay at each end, which may have been provided with cross gables. The doorway in the east wall of the tower, if it represents an original feature suggests a cross passage through the basement of the end bay, probably to give access to a detached kitchen beyond.
ii) the east end bay was heightened into a tower, perhaps in the 15th century.
iii) the hall block was remodelled as a taller but narrower range; this may have taken place in the 16th or early 17th century - the evidence of wall thicknesses and the small iron barred first floor window shows that defence was still an important consideration. The two storeyed range may have followed the local 'bastle' tradition in only having living accommodation at first floor level.
iv) the house was remodelled again, with larger mullioned windows; the '1700' sundial may date this phase. A rear stair wing was built onto the west end of the house at this time (see County History).
v) further alterations took place in the 18th and early 19th century. Pre-restoration photographs show that several windows had been blocked or reduced in size; a second stair wing or turret was built onto the north side of the tower itself, perhaps following the division of the property into separate houses.
vi) major restoration and extension c.1890, which left the house very much in its present form. (8)

The oldest remaining house in Corbridge apart from the Vicar's Pele. Many original features have been retained. Built by the Baxter's and was known as Baxter's Tower. It changed hands in 1675 and Low Hall was probably built and attached to the tower around 1700. All the windows were replaced with smaller openings, probably due to window tax. (9)

The only ancient features internally are the barrel vault, stone newel stair, entrance doorway on ground floor and small slits which light the newel stair. (10)

One of the most interesting houses in Corbridge. (11)

House, built in the 13th/early 14th century and converted to a tower house by the heightening of the service end in the mid/late 15th century. The main block was remodelled in the later 16th century and again circa 1675. The house was restored and extended circa 1890. Listed Grade I. (12a)

Listed by Cathcart King and Dodds. (12b-c)