Reivers and Restoration
Landmarc’s management of the restoration of Raw Bastle, a Grade II listed Bastle house at DTE Otterburn in Northumberland has revealed an excellent example of the era’s fortified farmhouses along with a tail of dark and brutal history.In the 16th Century, Bastles were built as fortified farmhouses which housed and protected valuable livestock from Border Reivers - family tribes living in Scotland’s and Northern England’s border regions who practised systematic robbery and destruction on rival lands.
The Raw Bastle gained grisly notoriety in 1792 when the occupant, Margaret Crozier, was murdered upstairs by a thief called William Winter. Defence Estates commissioned the preservation scheme for the Raw Bastle through Landmarc in 2006. Historic Property Restoration Ltd were contracted to undertake the conservation work which included the replacement of an asbestos roof with a slate covering, consolidation and re-pointing of all masonry with lime mortar, specialist stone conservation of medieval carvings, new oak doors and lintels, bat friendly bronze window grilles, a new lighting scheme, external landscaping and the walling and paving of a visitors car parking area.
Raw Bastle, is one of six bastles on the Otterburn training area. It is the only one in a good state of preservation – the rest being semi ruinous and stabilised. It stands as an excellent example of bastles found throughout the Border region and a reminder of the struggle and strife endured during the fearsome era of the Border Reivers.