Pressen; The Bastle

In the civil parish of Carham.
In the historic county of Northumberland (Modern Authority of Northumberland, 1974 county of Northumberland).

The Bastle. Pressen was not fortified at the time of the 1541 Border survey, but being in a strategic position, the landlord, Grey, was persuaded to build one. It appears to have been a strong house rather than a conventional tower, a two-storeyed rectangular building with ground floor vault, and probably just a single chamber on each floor. The ground floor entrance was in the long wall, while the door to the upper floor was half way up a gable wall. The upper floor has been removed and reroofed, the gable and its staircase have been replaced by full width double doors, and the vault has been reduced to just an archway.

This site has been described as a;
Bastle.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Masonry ruins/remnants remains.

This site is a Grade 2 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 237979)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NT83633585

Modern Map from

Good for landscape form and features

Modern Map from

Good for general location

Air Photo from

1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 1388107

County Sites and Monuments Record number; N713

Web site links
- http://www.keystothepast.info/durhamcc/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=N713
Books
- Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Keepdate Publishing) p77-9

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The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English Heritage and other individuals and organisations.

It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from any site without proper recording and reporting. Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.

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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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This record last updated on Friday, April 6, 2007

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