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24 C O N T E X T 1 7 9 : M A R C H 2 0 2 4 The fort, castle and farm at Bewcastle Fells (All photos: Peter Messenger) PETER MESSENGER Cumbria’s vernacular architecture and the Roman wall The development of vernacular buildings in the border area was impeded by unsettled times; progress tended to be slow and incremental and old buildings were patched up. Hadrian’s Wall is a permanent reminder of the military significance of this area. Centuries later, conditions on the border with Scotland ensured that it remained a military zone. John Denton wrote in the late 17th century that ‘the Scots did tyrannize over the country’ so that the gentle- men had to dwell in Carlisle. It is fair to say that the English did likewise over the Scots, so that an unquiet border remained until well into the 17th century. Reivers in the 16th century and ‘moss troopers’ in the 17th rustled horses and cattle, looted farms and cottages, destroying property if the owners refused their protection and submitted to paying ‘blackmail’.The earliest buildings that survive are the castles, churches and fortified houses. Salvaged remnants of these buildings can be found in later farmhouses, cottages and farm-buildings. Six miles north of Birdoswald fort, in the area known as the Bewcastle Wastes, an outpost fort was built as part of the defences of Hadrian’s Wall. Bewcastle fort, part of the world heritage site, was built on a small, hexagonal plateau. In the 14th century the construction of Bew Castle, on the site of the fort, used stone from the earlier structure. Its significance was also strategic and afforded little protection for the farmsteads scattered among thousands of acres of moss and moorland. Also within the site of the fort is the 13th-century church with its eighth-century cross shaft. Sitting between the castle and church is Demesne Farm, originally the principal farm of the manor of Bewcastle. Dating from the late 17th century, it was built partly from material robbed from the castle. Carlisle, to the south, had two Roman forts, one on each side of the River Eden. The site on the south bank became the walled city of Carlisle. As Denton pointed out, it provided security for the inhabitants and their buildings. Its walls could not, however, protect its thatched, timber-framed buildings from several devastat- ing fires. In 1392 a fire destroyed upwards of 1,500 buildings in the central area of the city.