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  #1  
Old 30-04-2011, 02:38 PM
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Default Low Buston Medieval Village ( & Pill Boxes!)

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=low+...,0.005659&z=18



This sits between two streams on a elevated plateau in front of Low Buston Hall.
There's not much to see on the ground but linear structures are visible on google maps (see above)
Footpaths to this site on a usability scale of 1-10 , = 1


Picture on the ground- actual site of the village is the flat area which has cows grazing in the middle:






closer:

The lumpy foreground is the village site, with Low Buston Hall in the background.

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Old 30-04-2011, 02:56 PM
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but more interesting are two structures either side of the stream to the south side of this area.

The first looks to be of some age with more modern brickwork repairs or modification - perhaps a Victorian or older structure modified into a pill box in 1940?:

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Old 30-04-2011, 03:01 PM
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and at the other (north) side of the stream/burn there's a buried red brick arched roof of what I assume is a pill box:






the rear south facing entrance, down there is a full hight doorway into the structure:


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Old 30-04-2011, 03:12 PM
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Neither of these appear to be recorded anywhere online so perhaps some passing expert might be able to educate us?

Often mentioned is the "Coquet Stop Line" of pill boxes and defensive structures, not sure if these are part of that or perhaps they are not pill boxes but something else?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coquet_Stop_Line
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Old 02-05-2011, 09:20 AM
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Nice pics Mike. Do you think the village was demolished because it spoilt the view from the hall?
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Old 04-05-2011, 01:21 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pete View Post
Nice pics Mike. Do you think the village was demolished because it spoilt the view from the hall?

Hodgson states:

The township of Low or Nether Buston, which lies immediately to the south of High Buston, is divided from the parish of Shilbottle by the Tyke burn on the west, and is bounded on the south by the townships of Sturton Grange, Brotherwick, Warkworth, and Birling, and on the east by Birling and the sea. It comprises 896 acres, mostly of fertile barley and turnip soil, with ancient pasture fields, rich in depth and quality of soil surrounding the hamlet of Low Buston and the homestead of Shortridge. In 1891 the township had a population of 96.


The ancient manor house stood in the hamlet of Low Buston (at the extreme south-west corner of the township) on a ridge overhanging a pebbly-bottomed stream, generally known as the Buston or Hounden burn, but of which the real name is the Tyke burn. The site of the village with its gardens sloping to the south, can be very easily traced in the park like field to the east of the house; and in four of the grass fields may be seen broad and curved ridges, which recall the time when these lands were in tillage and ploughed by oxen. No part of the present house is older than the seventeenth century, but it has spacious gardens with lofty plantations of horse-chestnut, oak, elm, and other forest trees.


And later in his text...


Charles Francis Forster, who succeeded to the estate on the death of his father in 1778 (having previously resided at Campvill, near Holystone), was an able but eccentric man, and obtained the sobriquet of General Forster, it is said, from so announcing himself on hailing the porter for admittance to Berwick after the gates were closed at night. He took a prominent part in the contested election of 1774, and his character and exploits are pilloried in various election ballads and lampoons. His collection of Roman altars and antiquities from Rochester, in Redesdale, is now at Alnwick castle. Up to this period the hamlet or `town' of Low Buston retained its ancient site on a tongue of land of which the south side slopes rapidly to the Tylee and Grange burns, and the east end and north side fall into a small unnamed rill and letch. So much of the two long rows of houses and cottages as stood to the east of the mansion house were allowed to go to decay, or were removed, and the village street was diverted to a new public road further to the north. Charles Francis Forster seems to have added the entrance hall (with a good timber staircase) to the house, and also to have formed the drive and to have planted the fine horse-chestnut and other forest trees which adorn the gardens and grounds.



So from all that I get the impression that houses or ruins of houses were on the site 'til late 18c Disappearing as the new hall/manor developed - could we assume that post medieval stone buildings were in the village then and the materials were recycled into the modern hall?

Anyway in medieval times it looks like we had a manor house (in the same position as the modern house/hall?) overlooking rows of houses with the road passing up the centre as the main street. (good for the lord of the manor to keep an eye on the great unwashed )
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Old 04-05-2011, 02:08 PM
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This is the sloping area to the south which Hodgson claims was the villagers' gardens:

I'm sure those medieval Low Bustonites had it looking wonderful.


west facing



east facing
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Old 05-05-2011, 12:23 AM
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So, Nether and Low Buston are one and the same! Thats good to know as i have just ordered a copy of a will dated 1664 from Netherbuston. Seems my lot were "the great unwashed"
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Old 05-05-2011, 06:09 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pete View Post
So, Nether and Low Buston are one and the same! Thats good to know as i have just ordered a copy of a will dated 1664 from Netherbuston. Seems my lot were "the great unwashed"
Amazing. very interesting place to have links to.
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Old 05-05-2011, 10:47 PM
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Twas this thread that rekindled my interest. I have one more Warkworth will to order sometime in the future, 1667 from Storton/Sturton Grange.

I don't suppose i'll ever work out the relationships from so long ago but i'm fascinated by the history of the place
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Old 17-04-2020, 10:05 AM
stevelowe stevelowe is offline
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Default Low Buston

I think the low red brick building used to house a hydraulic ram for the Hall. Some parts of the machinery seem to be in situ. It may have been modified as a pill box though doesnt appear to be recorded as such.

A hydraulic ram, or hydram, is a cyclic water pump powered by hydropower. It takes in water at one "hydraulic head" (pressure) and flow rate, and outputs water at a higher hydraulic head and lower flow rate
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Old 09-06-2020, 06:45 AM
colesadam colesadam is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Coquet View Post
but more interesting are two structures either side of the stream to the south side of this area.

The first looks to be of some age with more modern brickwork repairs or modification - perhaps a Victorian or older structure modified into a pill box in 1940?:

Is this not the mill referenced by Hodgson:

Quote:
The ancient water corn mill lies in the v'ale between Eastfield and Low
Buston. Its overshot wheel was driven by the united force of the waters of
Grange burn and Tylee burn, but it has been disused for nearly twenty years,
and the mill is now dismantled.
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