Birdoswald is a former

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Waterhead in the English county of

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

. It stands on the site of the Roman fort of Banna.

Middle Ages

Birdoswald first appears in the written record in 1211 when Walter de Beivin was farming the property, then part of the

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

y of Gilsland. He gave land in the area to Lanercost Priory and his nephew Ralph de Birdoswald indicating he had a house there. It was a convenient location, for the thick stone walls of the old Roman fort subsequently provided protection for generations of farmers in a Scottish border area that remained marginal and dangerous territory. By 1425, the farm was in the hands of the Vaux family who were probably the builders of a large pele tower found during excavation. The old Roman west gate was also still in use at this time, but it had collapsed by the end of the century.

Early modern period

In the 1580s, the farm was home to the Tweddle family who replaced the pele tower with a

bastle house Bastel, bastle, or bastille houses are a type of construction found along the Anglo-Scottish border, in the areas formerly plagued by border reivers. They are fortified Farmhouse (building), farmhouses, characterised by security measures agai ...

, a common form of border farmhouse with living quarters on the first floor above a livestock barn at ground level. It was the best defence against raids from neighbouring reivers. In fact the Tweddles themselves were probably reivers for Robert and Hobbe Tweddle appeared in typical reiver dress at a 1581 muster. They were certainly attacked on a number of recorded occasions by the notorious Elliot and Nixon families from Liddesdale. The door to their bastle house was hacked down and burnt and numerous cattle stolen. Even during such troubled times, the site of the Roman fort was visited by an early

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...

, Reginald Bainbridge.

Current farmhouse

In the late 17th century, the basis of the present farmhouse was built. The main part of the building was added in 1745 by Anthony Bowman and his wife, as still recorded on an inscribed stone. The antiquarian, John Horsley, visited the site not long before and William Hutton was there in 1802. In 1830, Thomas Crawhall bought the farm and, ten years later, Henry Norman. Both were interested in the old fort and instigated excavations. In 1858, Norman turned a rather plain farmhouse into a somewhat grander building, complete with mock medieval pele tower. The property was later sold to Lord Henley and let to tenants. The last of these left in 1984, when the farmhouse became a youth hostel and

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

and much of the Roman fort was laid out for public display.

References

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{{coord, 54.9897, -2.6032, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Buildings and structures in Cumbria Farms in Cumbria History of Cumberland History of Cumbria Youth hostels in England and Wales