Lancaster Castle, August 2012 visit

Lancaster Castle

Lancaster

Lancashire

August 2012 courtyard visit

Above. Finally....the John of Gaunt gatehouse unimpeded by any parked cars.

Above. The porcullis.

Above. The portcullis groove, and the remains of an inward facing arrow loop.

Above. The other side of the portcullis groove, and the more complete arrow loop.

Above. Murder holes ? I'm not so sure.

Above. The keep from the courtyard. First view of this building from this angle, ever on the internet? Who knows?

Above. Skyward view of the keep.

Above. The base of the keep wall with 19th century steps.

Above. The keep from the tiny walled courtyard.

Above. And another view.

Above. The debtors apartments from within the courtyard.

Above. The women's wing from within the courtyard.

Above. Another view of the debtor's apartments.

Above. Bricked up doorway on the witch's tower, that probably once led onto the wall walk.

Above. The witch's tower from within the courtyard.

Old Buittle Castle, Near Dalbeattie

Old Buittle Castle

Near Dalbeattie

Dumfries and Galloway

I didn't even realise that I had a photo of the original Buittle castle....home to the Lords Galloway in the 12th and 13th centuries. Well here it is....a distant shot, but the masonry remains of part of the castle can just be seen amongst the trees. The more modern Old Buittle Tower is out of shot to the right of the ruins.

There are some great photos of the remains here, at the Castle UK website.

Above. Plan of Old Buittle Castle, from The Motes, Forts and Doons of the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, by Frederick R. Coles

Voreda Roman fort, Near Penrith

Voreda Roman fort

Near Penrith

Cumbria

The Roman fort of Voreda is situated about 5 miles North of Penrith, on the A6 next to Castlesteads farm. It is easily visible from the road. Also known as Old Penrith and Plumpton Wall, this is a large rectangular platform, measuring some 140 by 85 metres with the central platform still standing to a height of around two and a half metres. Excavations around the area uncovered an extensive Vicus, or civil settlement that would have built up around the fort, uncovering finds such as inscribed stones, querns, coins, pottery and extensive evidence of occupation.

The fort was probably inhabited between the 1^st and 4^th centuries and is so well preserved that some aerial photos have shown the foundations of buildings. The Vicus however is no longer discernable either from the air or on the ground. The fort is built on the Roman road that stretches between Carlisle (Luguvalium) Kirby Thore (Bravoniacum) and Brough (Verteris) Some stretches of the old Roman road can still be see, albeit very very faintly, in fields next to the modern A6.

The Roman Britain web site (Roman Britain) states that the fort was most likely built by The Second Cohort of Gauls, who were stationed in Britain for the whole of the Roman rule of the islands. The area is home to a number of temporary marching camps and fortlets, some still visible. About two and a half miles to the South, the earthwork remains of a tiny fort can just about be made out in the field to the East of the A6.

Though there is no parking at this point on the A6, the road is wide enough to a quick stop off to view the remains of the fort from the roadside.

Hesket Roman fortlet, Near Penrith

Hartsop Hall, Kirkstone Pass, Cumbria

Hartsop Hall

Kirkstone Pass

Cumbria

Nestled at the foot of Deepdale Common and Hartsop Dodd, just to the South of Brothers Water, Harsop Hall represents a good example of a large Lakeland house. Perriam and Robinson in their fine book, The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria, hint at the possibility that this may have been a fortified dwelling, possibly including a tower of some sort, but there certainly doesn't appear to be any real solid evidence to support this.

 

The house was built sometime in the late 16th century, originally with a wing facing Brothers Water, and then in the 17th century, a West wing was added, with an 18th century wing built later.

The hall was originally the possession of the de Lancaster family, later passing to the Lowther estates. Curwen, writing in 1922, stated that the hall was "the former residence of the Bartons of Ormside. It is a little old building say of the 15th century consisting of two blocks at right angles to one another. There is nothing remaining of any note about it." I personally don't think he could have got this more wrong.

The hall can easily be viewed when walking along the West banks of Brothers Water.

Levens Hall, panoramic views of the hall

Levens Hall

Near Kendal

Cumbria

Above. View of the hall from the topiary gardens.

Above. Classic view of the hall with the pele tower the second bay from the right.

Above. The late 17th\early 18th century South range.

Above. Another view of the South range from the gardens.

The Penny Alms Houses, Lancaster

The Penny Alms Houses,

Lancaster,

Lancashire

A perfect example of 18th century alms houses, this example was erected in 1720, altered during the early 20th century, and restored to near perfect condition in 1974. The alms houses and the small chapel at the rear of the yard are surrounded by a rubble boundary wall. The whole consists of two ranges of six houses forming a narrow courtyard with a chapel at the West end.

The alms houses were funded and built by William Penny, who was at various times a Lancaster town council member and three times city mayor. When King Street was widened in the early part of the 20th century, two of the alms houses nearest the road were demolished, the chapel was shortened and two new alms houses were built nearer the chapel.

Old manor houses around the Kendal area.

 The Old Manor,
Clapham,
North Yorkshire

Hard to believe that this building is only Grade II listed....but it is, and is one of the most beautiful buildings in Clapham.

It was built in 1701 and consists of 2 storeys with a central porch. Above the porch is a set of pigeon holes (now blocked)and a beautifully hoodmoulded window. Above the door, there is another decorative hood mould with the initials W I and the date, 1701.

The Castle,

Yealand Conyers,

Lancashire

A strange name for a house....it's not a castle and bears no fortified characteristics. I guess its sheer presence may have prompted the name? The house dates from the late 17th century and is Grade II listed.

I can find no history regarding this beautful house, but if anything turns up, I'll make sure the website is updated.

Forest Hall

Near Kendal

Cumbria

Forest Hall can be found on the A6 about three miles North of Kendal. If this building is listed, I'm unable to find any information about it. I know that it's owned by the Levens Hall estate.

The link here Cumbria Hill Farming offers some great information on sheep farming on the surrounding fells, alongside with some brief details of the hall and its attached farm.

Ivy Fold,
Giggleswick
North Yorkshire

Formaly a vicarage to nearby St Alkelda, this beautiful building was built in 1669 (the left hand wing) with late 17th century and 20th century additions.

Above one of the doors, the intitials L A E and the date 1669 can be seen. This was for Anthony Lister, vicar of the church, and his wife Elizabeth.

Above another of the doors, the initials E A L and the date 1675. It's thought that these initials are those of Anthony's son.

Alston's bastle derivative houses

Alston's bastle derivative houses

Alston

Cumbria

Said to be the highest market town in England, Alston possesses a large number of unusual bastle type houses. In all there were originally around sixty of these buildings, typified by accommodation at the ground floor level for live-stock, with first floor accommodation for the owners.  Access to the first floor living quarters was by an external staircase, very typical of the Border, Cumbrian and Northumbrian bastle houses of the 17^th and 18^th centuries.  Bastle houses proper, were built for safety and defence, utilising removable external staircases, small barred windows, thick walls and sometimes barrel vaulted ground floor spaces. These buildings would have been used for holding livestock when perhaps a Reiver raid was under way, providing protection from the raiders for the owners in the first floor accommodation. Stone\tiled roofs would have protected the owners from the threat of fire from above, and stone floors or barrel vaulted ground floor spaces would have protected them from the threat of fire below. It’s most likely that the bastle building layout proved to be very useful in the areas in and around Alston….so much so that many of the surviving examples date from the 1800 and 1900s….much later than the true bastle houses at Annat Walls and High Lovelady for example, which are proper defensive buildings built in the true bastle tradition.

The original sixty or so bastle derivative houses in Alston has now been reduced to around a dozen examples, but where external staircases have been removed, many houses still bear the scars of bricked up first floor doorways.  The small collection photographed on my recent visit, probably represent the best surviving examples of this type of building.

Cross View Cottage, Market Place

This is a house very reminiscent of Scottish town houses, standing to four storeys, and dates from around 1697 when it was built as a pair of shops. 

There doesn’t seem to be any evidence that the ground floor was ever used for livestock in the particular instance, so it is likely that this is a building of a slightly different tradition than its neighbours.

Hamilton House, Kings Arm Lane

Hidden away down a narrow lane less than a hundred yards from Townfoot, Hamilton House has been recently renovated to a very high standard.

This building is also constructed of coursed rubble with what looks to be an original, albeit very repaired, stone slated roof. The most interesting point, and still visible above the hood moulded door, are the two blocked off first floor doorways.

Peter F. Ryder indicates that this building probably dates from the 19^th century as it does not appear on a map of 1775. This is therefore an excellent example of a much later house, being built utilising the bastle tradition of layout.

Jaycott, Back 'O The Burn

This was my favourite bastle house, and it has definitely held onto its original features. 

Jaycott is to be found just off Front Street at the start of Back O’ The Burn. Jaycott has retained its external staircase leading to a central doorway and blocked windows just beneath the eaves, as well as a blocked door on the first floor of the South wall.

Peter F. Ryder tells us that the ground floor walls are over half a metre thick.

The Old Cottage, Kate's Lane

A few yards along Kate’s Lane, and beautifully restored, is the Olde Cottage. The windows, as part of the restoration, have been enlarged, though it has retained its external stair to a door at first floor level.

The Old House, Kate's Lane

Kate’s Lane is access through a narrow yard on the West side of the market place. In the North West corner, is the Old House, no renovated and inhabited. 

This building has lost its external staircase, but retains the blocked door in the front wall at first floor level.

Town Foot, Front Street

Townfoot can be found on the North side of Front Street at the junction of Station Road. Probably built in the mid 18^th century, it is built of whitewashed coursed rubble with a typical slated roof.

The external stairway survives as does the external evidence of an oven, protruding where the house butts up against next door. This building is Grade II listed, and is one of the most easily viewable of Alston’s bastle houses.

There are obviously better examples of bastles in Cumbria….examples with real defensive features built into their fabic, such as the high status Townhead Bastle near Newbiggin, Bayles Hill House, Low Nest Bastle and Annat Walls (the latter three near Alston)…but as a group of buildings that have obviously been designed and built using the specific architectural features common to bastle houses, they are unique and worthy of study.

Penrith Town Walls

Penrith Town Walls

Penrith

Cumbria

Penrith was, during the 9th and 10th centuries, the capital of Cumbria....a semi-autonomous part of the country that paid homage to first the King of Scotland, and then the King of England. The town lies on a direct route from Scotland to England, and as such, was prone to attacks by the Scots. Most notably, in 1345, the Scottish army under Sir William Douglas, sacked the town. How much damage and the number of Penrithians killed in this attack is unknown. A few years later, a 3000 strong Scottish army raided Penrith again, clearing Inglewood Forest of all the live stock that could be found. By 1357, the situation was so bad, that the town of Penrith, and villages thereabouts, could no longer pay their rents to the King's agents. Luckily, Edward III sympathised with their perilous condition, and granted them unlimited rights of pasture in the forest of Ingelwood. A number of years prior to this, in 1346, a grant of murage was given to the people of Penrith. The grant gave a "licence for the good men of Penereth to crenellate their town." This licence was granted on the 10th of April in Westminster. The town's licence was renewed in again in 1391, most likely in response to a further raid by the Scots in 1389. Murage Grants were granted by the King, usually in response to a request, and gave those who received the grant, permission to raise and collect tolls to pay for the building or repairing of town walls and defences. However...it has to be remembered that documentary evidence of a grant, does not necessarily mean that a) the option to raise and collect tolls was carried out, and b) that the town walls or defences were built or repaired. This seems to be the case in Penrith. There's no evidence that the option to raise tolls and collect the dues was actually carried out, and there is certainly no evidence of any walls or earthwork defences being erected. Only street name evidence remains, with the survival of Middlegate, Borrowgate, Sandgate, Nethergate and Friargate. These streets form a rough and incomplete circuit around the centre of the town, encompassing St Andrews, but strangely missing the castle. M. W. Taylor, in his Old Manorial Halls of Westmorland and Cumberland, states that the circuit of narrow lanes, as named above, were probably built to resist attack and unwelcome entry by Scottish soldiers, using the gables of houses and some substantial walling. He goes onto say that some elements of the 'substantial walling' still exist, though having walked this rough circuit a number of times, I've been unable to find anything that looks vaguely medieval that would represent these walls.

 Above. Burrowgate.

144 metres in length. Runs from Middlegate to Sandgate, roughly West to East.

Above. Burrowgate from Middlegate. 

Above. Castlegate. 

313 metres in length. Runs from junction of Cromwell Road and Ullswater Road at its South West tip, to junction of Middlegate and King Street at its North Eastern tip.

Above. Castlegate, just around the corner from Penrith Castle. 

Above. Friargate (Friar Street)  

243 metres in length. Runs from junction of Benson Row and Folly Lane to the North, and the junction of Langton Street and Old London Road to the South.

Above. Friargate (Friar Street)

On an Ordnance Survey map of 1923, Friargate is shown as Friar Street, so can probably be ruled out of the search for Penrith's town walls. When, after 1923, the street became a gate, is unknown. Hutton Hall lays at the Northern tip of Friargate. This late 14th century tower may have formed part of the town's circuit of walls\defences, but it's difficult, if not impossible to say if it lay within, or without the town walls.

Above. Middlegate. 

261 metres in length. Runs from junction of Duke Street and Stricklandgate at its Northern tip, to junction of Castlegate and King Street at its Southern tip.

Above. Middlegate. 

Above. The wide open space of Sandgate. 

95 metres in length. Runs from the Eastern end of Burrowgate to the junction of Meeting House Lane and Benson Row at its North Eastern tip.

Above. Sandgate

The Penrith Town Trails leaflet tells us that Sandgate, the largest open space in Penrith, was once bounded on all sides by buildings, providing a protected space where livestock and people could safely congregate during an attack by the Scots. Quite where this story comes from, and how reliable it is, is impossible to say. 

The idea of a walled Penrith, obviously not as impressive as nearby Carlisle, is intriguing, and certainly deserving of more research and investigation.