Brampton Old Church Farm (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Vicars Pele

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

OS Map Grid Reference: NY51026160
Latitude 54.94661° Longitude -2.76609°

Brampton Old Church Farm has been described as a certain Pele Tower.

There are major building remains.

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

Description

Farmhouse, formerly the vicar's tower house. Probably early 14th century with 18th and 19th century additions. Tower has rubble and dressed red sandstone walls with chamfered plinth, some stones of Roman origin from the nearby Roman Wall; 19th century gabled slate roof. There is an 18th century extension of brick, with extensive alterations and additions in the mid 19th century, of dressed red sandstone, slate roof, brick chimney stacks. Tower of two storeys, single bay, has large projecting angle buttress to left (necessary because of the steep fall of land on this side). Small square window to ground floor, with 20th century casement to left, small filled lancet with round head above. Right end wall has filled entrance, with chamfered and shouldered lintel. Remains of newel staircase in thickness of wall. Two storey, three bay extension to right, has casements and sashes with glazing bars. Central projecting single storey, single bay extensions with sloping slate roof. Entrance front looks mid 19th century, with slightly projecting end bay of the original tower. Projecting porch/staircase has 20th century glazed door. Small and large casements with glazing bars. Built on a good defensive site next to the medieval church. (PastScape)

Farmhouse, formerly vicar's tower house. Probably early C14 with C18 and C19 additions. Tower has rubble and dressed red sandstone walls with chamfered plinth, some stones of Roman origin from the nearby Roman Wall; C19 gabled slate roof. C18 extension of brick, with extensive alterations and additions in mid-C19 of dressed red sandstone, slate roof, brick chimney stacks. Tower of 2 storeys, single bay, has large projecting angle buttress to left (necessary because of the steep fall of land on this side). Small square window to ground floor, with C20 casement to left, small filled lancet with round head above. right end wall has filled entrance, with chamfered and shouldered lintel. Remains of newel staircase in thickness of wall. 2 storey, 3 bay extension to right, has casements and sashes with glazing bars. Central projecting single storey, single bay extensions with sloping slate roof. Entrance front looks mid-c19, with slightly projecting end bay of the original tower. Projecting porch/staircase has C20 glazed door. Small and large casements with glazing bars. Built on a good defensive site next to the medieval church. Listing does not include the other farm buildings. (Listed Building Report)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1014586, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 27705
National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1087646
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 12778.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 4590.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Old Cumbria Gazetteer
  Abaroth's World
Books
- Salter, Mike, 1998, The Castles and Tower Houses of Cumbria (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 96 (slight)
  Perriam, Denis and Robinson, John, 1998, The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria (Kendal: CWAAS Extra Series 29) p. 139 (plan)
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 83
Periodical Articles
- John Robinson, 1982, 'Notes on Brampton Old Church' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol. 82 p. 73-89 online copy
  Simpson, F.G. and Richmond, I.A., 1936, 'Report of the Cumberland Excavation Committee for 1935' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol. 36 p. 178 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.)
- Graham, T. H. B. (ed.), 1934, The barony of Gilsland. Lord William Howard's survey, taken in 1603 (Feild-Booke yt explaines all the Map Booke for Gilsland taken in 1603) (Kendal: CWAAS Extra Series 16) p. 40

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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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