Hepburn Bastle

A squat stone tower rising from the Northumberland countryside near Alnwick, Hepburn Bastle is one of those places you'd drive past without a second glance if you didn't know what you were looking at. It's a bastle - a fortified farmhouse from the 16th century, built when the Scottish border raids were a genuine threat and a farmer's survival depended on thick walls and a defensible position.

What you're actually looking at is a two-storey stronghold, remarkably intact considering its age. The ground floor was for livestock, the living quarters above, with stone walls easily a metre thick. It's the kind of thing that makes you realise how genuinely dangerous life was up here five centuries ago. You can walk right up to it and examine the stonework, though there's no interior access - it's essentially a shell you view from outside.

Historically minded types will find it fascinating, especially if you're already exploring the wider Alnwick area with its proper castles and grand estates. It's free to visit and takes about twenty minutes, max. The real appeal is the sense of place - standing beside something built in defiance of genuine peril, surrounded by the same rolling hills that would have meant danger back then.

If you're staying at South Meadows Caravan Park nearby, it makes a straightforward detour between bigger attractions. Don't expect crowds or facilities. You'll have the place to yourself, which rather suits something this old and blunt.