Rowantree Stob Bastle

We've discovered a few bastles on our travels, but they have mainly been along the England and Scotland border where reiving was rife until the Union of the Crowns in 1603.

Although the Rowantree Stob is called a bastle, it's not located in a defensive position and also its walls are thin in comparison to the others we have found. Maybe the owners liked the bastle style or could it have been a new building remodelled from an existing bastle keeping some of the features.

If you're still wondering about the name, a stob is an old name for tree stump.

This one was a bit of a nightmare to find as there is a lot of private land surrounding it and we couldn't actually see the bastle as it camouflaged itself well with the trees. We ended up asking three different people for directions, one of which was a family member of the land owner who pointed us in the right direction and then a lovely lady who let us take a short cut through her garden.

We still managed to get lost though. The Rowantree Stob Bastle is located on Isaac's Tea Trail, so if you have a map for that, then you will find it easily. Alternatively here are some clear directions for the permissive path to the bastle.

From the parking bay head north along the road for 50 metres until you come to a fingerpost pointing west and down the slope into a field. Head straight across the field until you reach this style.

Cross the style and then through double gates into another field. There are some horses here, but the owner said they were very friendly. Head towards the farm buildings and look for a gate to the left of them as shown below.

Head under the trellis and then bear right. You should still be seeing the little yellow arrows indicating the path.

Around the corner is another gate which you head through and then just hug the fence line on your left which will bring you to this footbridge.

Cross the bridge and at this point if you look diagonally across the field you should see the top of the bastle peeking through the trees. Follow the arrow for Isaac's Tea Trail and you will arrive at the bastle. Simply retrace your steps to get back.

Still need a bit more help? Here is a map of the route too.