Branthwaite Hall is
pele tower
Peel towers (also spelt pele) are small fortified keeps or tower houses, built along the English and Scottish borders in the Scottish Marches and North of England, mainly between the mid-14th century and about 1600. They were free-standing ...
in
Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, considered by historian Anthony Emery to be "one of the best-preserved early houses in Cumbria".
[Emery, p.196.]
History
Branthwaite Hall was built near the village of
Branthwaite
Branthwaite is a hamlet in the borough of Allerdale, Cumbria, England. The hamlet is approximately from Workington and from Cockermouth. It is located just outside the Lake District National Park. In 1870-72 the township had a population of 2 ...
and the town of
Cockermouth
Cockermouth is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England, so named because it is at the confluence of the River Cocker as it flows into the River Derwent. The mid-2010 census estimates state that Cocke ...
in the mid-15th century by the Skelton family, who acquired the surrounding manor from the Branthwaites by marriage. The new building was constructed from rubble stone with a single tower with a parapet and a spiral-stair turret, with an adjacent hall.
The hall was 60 feet long and 42 wide (18 metres by 13 metres), but was largely remodelled in 1604; the new hall is a single space, whereas it was probably originally subdivided, and additional windows were added.
Subsequent work was conducted in the 1670s to give the property a grander appearance.
The Skeltons held the hall until 1757.
It was designated as a Grade I listed building in 1967.
Today
Branthwaite Hall was restored between 1985 and 1986 by the
National Coal Board
The National Coal Board (NCB) was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the United Kingdom's collieries on "v ...
, which converted the property into offices.
Viewfinder
'', National Monuments Record, accessed 19 April 2011. It is considered by historian Anthony Emery to be "one of the best-preserved early houses in Cumbria".
See also
*
Castles in Great Britain and Ireland
Castles have played an important military, economic and social role in Great Britain and Ireland since their introduction following the Norman invasion of England in 1066. Although a small number of castles had been built in England in the 10 ...
*
List of castles in England
This list of castles in England is not a list of every building and site that has "castle" as part of its name, nor does it list only buildings that conform to a strict definition of a castle as a medieval fortified residence. It is not a li ...
References
Bibliography
*Emery, Anthony. (1996)
Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales, 1300–1500: Northern England.' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. .
*Pettifer, Adrian. (2002)
English Castles: a Guide by Counties'' Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press. {{ISBN, 978-0-85115-782-5.
Houses completed in the 15th century
Towers completed in the 15th century
Peel towers in Cumbria
Grade I listed buildings in Cumbria
Dean, Cumbria