High Head Castle is a large fortified

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

county of

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

located between

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

and Penrith. The house is now largely a

ruin Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...

with the exterior walls and certain foundations surviving for the majority of the building. The right hand wing of the building has had a roof re-instated, and may be usable again for the first time since the building burnt down in the 1950s. Currently not open to the public, it is privately owned, and the owners have now for some time been trying to restore it to its former glory.

History

The earliest written record of the original castle is from 1272. The site was originally occupied by the king's castle in the Forest of Inglewood, a medieval square

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 ...

within a curtain wall. Sir William L'Engleys, descended from the family who held

Little Asby Little Asby is a small village in Cumbria, England. Historically part of Westmorland, its name is said to be derived from the Norse words ''askr'', meaning "ash", and ''by'', meaning "farm".

, acquired Highhead Castle. He was Chief Forester of Inglewood from 1328, and was succeeded by his son Sir William whose daughter and heir, Isabel, married

Nicholas Harrington Sir Nicholas Harrington of Hornby, Lancashire (''c''. 1345/6 – 1404), was an English Member of Parliament who was born in Farleton, Lancashire. He was the third and youngest son of Sir John Harrington of Hornby and Katherine Banastre (d. 1359 ...

. The Richmond family bought and extended the house in the 16th century. Only its western wing remains, with its unmistakable straight-headed mullioned windows with round-arched lights under hood moulds, although attached to the south-west corner of this wing is the basement of a square tower which presents evidence of 14th-century work. The house was later sold to the

Baron Brougham and Vaux Baron Brougham and Vaux (), of Brougham Hall, Brougham in the County of Westmorland and of High Head Castle in the County of Cumberland, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1860 for Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brough ...

who made some alterations. One member of the family, Henry Richmond Brougham, had a new facade built in 1744–1748. It is eleven bays long, with a pedimented three-bay centre, and a walled front garden with coupled

Ionic columns The Ionic order is one of the three canonic orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric and the Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan (a plainer Doric), and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composite ...

. When the Broughams no longer required the house, they rented it out for some time. By the mid-19th century, and until at least 1909, it was occupied by the Hills family, and was the childhood home of the soldier and astronomer Edmond Hills. The Thornborrow family rented the castle and farmed the land between at least 1851-1881 as indicated on census records. UK Census 1881 - High Head Castle

The only other people known to have rented it were the Cavaghan family (co-founders of Cavaghan & Gray), who lived in the house for around eight years, from 1921 to 1929. The castle was largely destroyed by fire in 1956, and is now little more than a shell. Both the medieval wing and the principal house are

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

. Adjacent is a fine stable quadrangle with heavy rustication, a steep pediment gable and cupola.

References

External links

Article on the Institute of Historic Building Conservation site
{{Coord, 54.7813, -2.9300, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Country houses in Cumbria Castles in Cumbria Ruins in Cumbria Grade II* listed buildings in Cumbria British country houses destroyed in the 20th century Inglewood Forest Skelton, Cumbria

History

See also

References

External links