Thurland Castle (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Thusland; Thorslond; Fyrrelande

In the civil parish of Cantsfield.
In the historic county of Lancashire.
Modern Authority of Lancashire.
1974 county of Lancashire.
Medieval County of Lancashire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SD61087307
Latitude 54.15197° Longitude -2.59739°

Thurland Castle has been described as a certain Masonry Castle.

There are masonry ruins/remnants remains.

This is a Grade 2* listed building protected by law*.

Description

The original Thurland Castle built in the 14th century was largely destroyed after the siege of 1643. During the 19th century it was extensively rebuilt and probably incorporates some of the earlier structure (VCH; listing report)
The exterior of the castle appears purely 19th century except for the main door which is earlier, possibly 15th century. What has previously been described as the dungeon is probably part of the former gatehouse (F1 JB 24-FEB-71).

Thurland Castle is located on low ground just north of the confluence of the river Greta with the Lune. This site is perhaps the least likely ... to have supported an earthwork castle. It comprises a circuit of walls and towers, surrounded by a moat and, true to its 14th century origins, it does not posses a freestanding keep. Sir Thomas Tunstall obtained a licence to fortify the site from Henry IV but the building was besieged and at least partially demolished during the Civil War of 1643. The ruins were rebuilt as a country house in 1809 and 1829 but following a large fire was extensively rebuilt in the 1880s. The castle has recently been refurbished and converted into a series of luxury apartments. (Lancashire County Council)

THURLAND CASTLE is situated about half a mile to the west of Cantsfield village and about a quarter of a mile to the south of Tunstall, and stands on a low natural mound completely encircled by a moat about 25 ft. wide filled with water. The site, which is at the foot of the slope of a hill between the River Greeta on the south and the Cant Beck on the north, was originally a defensive one, the castle effectively commanding the whole of its surroundings. The building appears to have been originally erected in the 14th century, and early in the 15th century Sir Thomas Tunstall obtained a licence to crenellate the house. Very little of this building, however, now remains, it having been left in a more or less ruinous state after the siege in 1643, when the interior was burned and a considerable portion of the house destroyed. (VCH 1914)

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1402 Oct 14 (Click on the date for details of this licence.).

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1164439
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 44049.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 678.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Matthew Emmott's Castle Blog
  Thurland Castle
  CastleUK.net
  Charles Taylor's ecastles
Books
- Grimsditch, Brian, Nevell, Michael and Nevell, Richard, 2012, Buckton Castle and the Castles of the North West England (University of Salford Archaeological Monograph 2) p. 113
  Salter, Mike, 2002, Index and Amendments to Mike Salter's English Castles Books (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 10
  Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles and Tower Houses of Lancashire and Cheshire (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 38
  Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 136 (slight)
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 247
  Emery, Anthony, 1996, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 1 Northern England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 263
  Gibson, Leslie Irving, 1977, Lancashire Castles and Towers (Dalesman Books)
  Pevsner, Nikolaus, 1969, Buildings of England: Lancashire, The rural north (Harmondsworth) p. 249 (important for the character of the masonry)
  Farrer, William and Brownbill, J. (eds), 1914, VCH Lancashire Vol. 8 p. 235-7 online copy
  Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (London: Methuen and Co)
  Gardner, W., 1908, 'Ancient Earthworks:- Lancashire South of the Sands' in Farrer, William and Brownbill, J. (eds), VCH Lancashire Vol. 2 p. 551 (plan) online copy
  Fishwick, 1907, 'Castles and Fortified Houses' in Fishwick and P.H. Ditchfield (eds), Memorials of Old Lancashire (London: Bemrose and sons) Vol. 2 p. 11-12 online copy
  Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England; their story and structure (New York: Macmillan) Vol. 2 p. 203-5 online copy
  Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol. 3 Part 2 p. 217, 421 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Fishwick, H., 1901, 'The Old Castles of Lancashire.' Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society Vol. 19 p. 67-8 online copy
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1905, Calendar of Patent Rolls Henry IV (1401-05) Vol. 2 p. 164 online copy
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Camden, Wm, 1607, Britannia hypertext critical edition by Dana F. Sutton (2004)
  Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p. 272
  Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1909, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (London: Bell and Sons) Vol. 4 p. 122 online copy

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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