The cottage of my family is old – very old. The sharp eyed among you may believe you can date the cottage by the 17th Century doorway and lower ground floor windows. However, you’d be wrong, because these were later additions to the building. Originally there were no windows on the ground level, an outline of a stone staircase and doorway are still visible at the back of the house and this used to be the only entrance to the building. This design is consistent with that of a Peel tower, one of the many small fortresses that were necessary along the English-Scottish border, in order to repel invaders come to rustle each other’s sheep or cattle. In fact, old maps my grandfather researched, found evidence of a building on this site as far back as 1253, so the foundations of this place at the very least are of an age dating back many centuries.

But as beautiful as this cottage undoubtedly is, maintaining and protecting it from the elements, is anything but easy. Therefore I have setup this fund, for donations to help us keep it safe and to help with the sizable maintenance costs. Help us keep Corsenside protected, and an integral part of Northumbrian border history.