Plump Tower (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Elwes; Matthewe Plomp; Plumpe Farm

In the civil parish of Kirkandrews.
In the historic county of Cumberland.
Modern Authority of Cumbria.
1974 county of Cumbria.
Medieval County of Cumberland.

OS Map Grid Reference: NY33396815
Latitude 55.00345° Longitude -3.04287°

Plump Tower has been described as a Pele Tower although is doubtful that it was such, and also as a probable Bastle.

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains.

Description

A tower and hall of 'Matthew Plomp' is depicted on the 1552 map of Cumbria. The present house is C18 vernacular descendant of C16 stonehouse or bastle, built along similar lines long after the defensive requirements were gone. (PastScape)

Shown on the 1552 Map as a tower and halls of 'Matthewe Plomp'. Cole, states 'the house... a vernacular descendant of the 16th century stonehouse, built along similar lines long after the defensive requirements were gone.' He compares this with Bunkershill and Windy Hall.
Cole gives further references, showing that the site can be traced back to 1552. TCWAAS (2), xii, 52 gives details of the Grahams of Plump.
Needs further investigation to determine its date. SMR report of aerial photo 'shows circular enclosure/ringditch. According to owner part of site is subject to ploughing and may have land drains across it. No surface finds (June 1978).' (Perriam and Robinson 1998)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 1390077.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 189.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Old Cumbria Gazetteer (1552 map -somewhat cropped)
Books
- Perriam, Denis and Robinson, John, 1998, The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria (Kendal: CWAAS Extra Series 29) p. 238
Periodical Articles
- Graham, T.H.B., 1912, 'The Debateable Land' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol. 12 p. 52 (History of Grahams of Plump) online copy
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Cole, J.R., 1982, A survey of the Debatable Land and Glen Tarras c. 1449-1620 (Thesis for Manchester University) p. 79-80

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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.

Please help to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting Gatehouse if you see errors, can add information or have suggestions for improvements in functality and design.
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