Military, naval & aerial
Crown garrisons of the northern march
Also called the blockhouses · the four works · the twenty-seven · the garrison
The Crown's whole standing force north of Harrowgate: twenty-seven men in four blockhouses under serjeants, with one lieutenant at the county town who visits twice a year. They hold roads, escort the pay, assize prisoners and powder convoys, and shut their gates rather than go out.
Named with it
- Serjeant Amos Treeton
Ties
- maintained by the Crown
- escort the assize and the sheriff's parties
At the table
Their gate books are the only systematic record of movement in the march. Each work keeps unwritten road orders drawn from old losses: nothing crosses the high ground between Martinmas and Candlemas, and no one crosses the ford in the dark. A company should enter itself at the first blockhouse it passes. The men are recruited locally and will talk off the record at the fire.