Abbot Hall (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Lower Allithwaite.
In the historic county of Lancashire.
Modern Authority of Cumbria.
1974 county of Cumbria.
Medieval County of Lancashire North of the Sands.

OS Map Grid Reference: SD39537555
Latitude 54.17208° Longitude -2.92788°

Abbot Hall has been described as a Fortified Manor House although is doubtful that it was such.

There are no visible remains.

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

Description

"Abbot Hall in the hamlet of Kents or Kentish bank is supposed to have been the residence of the priors of Cartmel, whose foundation charter so explicity prohibited them from aspiring to the title of abbot. Upon the estate were some fields called Chapel Fields in which, at three feet below the surface, human skeletons have been exhumed. This spot is, with much appearance of probability, supposed to have been the site of an oratory, where a monk of the priory officiated in offering up prayers for the safety of such as crossed the sands." (Baines 1835).
"Thomas son of Gospatrick de Cartmel about 1160 granted to the abbey 5 acres in the fields of Allithwaite .... Since the suppression of the abbey it has passed through many hands. A modern residence built on the site {of the Abbot Hall} is used as a school." (VCH 1914).
ABBOT HALL, a completely modern building, is now a Guest House run by the Methodist Union. Local enquiries revealed no knowledge of an earlier structure. The name is confirmed by an inscription on the gate post at the beginning of the drive (F1 EG 25-JUN-58). (PastScape)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1269671
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 39549.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 2416.

Books
- Perriam, Denis and Robinson, John, 1998, The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria (Kendal: CWAAS Extra Series 29) p. 370
  Farrer, William and Brownbill, J. (eds), 1914, VCH Lancashire Vol. 8 p. 267 online transcription
  Stockdale, J., 1872, Annales Caermoelenses or Annals of Cartmel (Ulverston: William Kitchen) p. 504 online copy
  Baines, E., 1835, History of the County Palatine and Duchy of Lancaster (London: George Routledge and sons) Vol. 4 p. 733
Periodical Articles
- Collingwood, W.G., 1926, 'An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments of Westmorland and Lancashire North-of-the-Sands' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol. 26 p. 38 online copy

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The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
The author and compiler of Gatehouse does not receive any income from the site and funds it himself. The information within this site is provided freely for educational purposes only.

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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Help is acknowledged.

*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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