Border Warfare.

Flodden. Black Middens Bastle, Woodhouses Bastle, Hepburn Bastle.

Shivered was fair Scotland's spear,
And broken was her shield.

The September of 1513 saw King James IV invade England with the largest and most confident army Scotland has yet seen. But within a few short days, nearly 10,000 of these proud warriors would be laying dead on Flodden Field. Among the corpses would be the body of King James himself.

Battle of Flodden Field, Sept. 9th. 1513. Memorial to the brave of both sides. Piper's Hill, Branxton.

From Flodden ridge,


The Scots beheld the English host


Leave Barmoor Wood, their evening post


And headful watched them as they crossed


The Till by Twizell Bridge.


High sight it is, and haughty, while


They dive into the deep defile;


Beneath the cavern'd cliff they fall,


Beneath the castle's airy wall.


By rock, by oak, by Hawthorn tree,


Troop after troop are disappearing;


Troop after troop their banners rearing


Upon the eastern bank you see.


Still pouring down the rocky glen,


Where flows the sullen Till,


And rising from the dim-wood glen,


Standards on standards, men on men,


In slow procession still,


And sweeping o'er the Gothic arch,


And pressing on in ceaseless march,


To gain the opposing hill.

Sir Walter Scott.

Woodhouses Bastle. Northumberland.

Just off the Grasslees to Holystone Road, lies the remains of Woodhouses Bastle. The building has been leased from the owners and restored from its roofless condition under the guidance of English Heritage. It is now in an excellent state of preservation with a winding staircase to the upper apartment , an arched vault in the basement and a stone spout above the doorway, possibly used for pouring molten lead on enemies.

Woodhouses Bastle, erected some time before 1541.

Hepburn Bastle, Chillingham.

These are the ruins of a medieval tower house of the early 16th century. Standing two storey's high with twin gable ends to the east and west.At basement level the walls are approx. 2.7m thick except for the east wall which incorporates a mural stair and is 3.5m thick.

Black Middens Bastle.

Black Middens Bastle House 16th century.Located on the Reivers trail 7 miles north west of Bellingham, Northumberland. The farmers housed their livestock on the ground floor while they slept on the first floor behind fortified walls.

Flodden, Black Middens Bastle, Woodhouses Bastle, Hepburn Bastle, Chillingham, Northumberland.

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