Branthwaite Hall (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Branthait

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

OS Map Grid Reference: NY06562538
Latitude 54.61456° Longitude -3.44900°

Branthwaite Hall has been described as a certain Pele Tower.

There are major building remains.

This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*.

Description

Late C14 or early C15 pele tower with a C16 hall wing, there are also C17 additions. In 1985 the building was being restored and converted into offices by the National Coal Board. Built of rubble and partly rendered with greenslate roofs. (PastScape)

Branthwaite Hall; 'A pele tower of the late fourteenth century. Tudor wing added on the north side, the date 1604 appears on the boss of a label above a .... window to the right of the present front door. C. 1650, the west front was remodelled in the Renaissance style' (Fleming). The tower is 34.5 feet x 27.5 feet in plan and is 39 feet to the top of the battlements. The walls are 4.5 feet thick and are built from; 'Large rubble local stone'. It has a vaulted basement and two floors above, the entrance, being in the NE corner. (PastScape ref. Curwen 1913)

Tower house with hall wing. Late C14 or early C15, with C16 wing; 1604 and 1670's alterations, all for the Skelton family. Extremely thick walls of mixed calciferous and red sandstone rubble, partly rendered. Rebuilt graduated greenslate roofs, that of tower within parapets; brick ridge chimney stack. Square 4-storey tower with 3-storey, 6-bay hall and 3-storey stair projection. Tower has many original openings and loops, some blocked and others with C16 and C17 enlargements. Stone spouts beneath battlemented parapets. Hall has 1670's fenestration (believed to be the work of William Thackeray) replacing blocked 2-light stone-mullioned windows; sash windows with glazing bars in stone architraves under ground-floor cornices and upper-floor segmental pediments, one of the windows being a blocked C17 doorway. Left C19 sash windows in stone surrounds. Rear has central stair projection. Left C19 plank door in wooden surround. 2-, 3- and 4-light Tudor windows under hoodmoulds, some blocked and one with label dated 1604. Blocked 2-light attic windows. Stair projection has 3-light Tudor window. C17 right pent extension. Interior of tower has ground-floor double-vaulted chambers. Newel staircase in angle of wall for full height to roof. Mural chambers in upper-floor rooms. Pointed-arched doorways on 2 floors between hall and tower. Hall range has blocked C16 stone fireplaces on both floors. newel staircase in stair projection for full 3 storeys. Owned by the National Coal Board who are, at time of resurvey in Summer 1985, about to carry out extensive and sympathetic renovation for use as offices. Otherwise at the time of survey derelict and unoccupied. (Listed Building Report)

Comments

Stated to a scheduled monument in the PastScape record and the listed building report but not in the National Heritage List. Presumably descheduled, at some time after 1995, as felt adequately protected by listed building status although the area north of the hall, which was added to the scheduled area in 1984, would now not be protected.

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1145204
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 8859.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 3047.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- CastleUK
  Wikipedia entry
  Historic England Viewfinder
  Old Cumbria Gazetteer
Books
- Perriam, Denis and Robinson, John, 1998, The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria (Kendal: CWAAS Extra Series 29) p. 89 (plan)
  Salter, Mike, 1998, The Castles and Tower Houses of Cumbria (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 22
  Emery, Anthony, 1996, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 1 Northern England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 196
  Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 36
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 83
  Hugill, Robert, 1977, Castles and Peles of Cumberland and Westmorland (Newcastle; Frank Graham) p. 43
  Pevsner, N., 1967, Buildings of England: Cumberland and Westmorland (Harmondsworth: Penguin) p. 119-20
  Curwen, J.F., 1913, Castles and Fortified Towers of Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire North of the Sands (Kendal: CWAAS Extra Series 13) p. 256-7
Periodical Articles
- Tyson, B., 1984, 'Work of Wm Thackeray' Transactions of the Ancient Monuments Society Vol. 28 p. 61-92
  Humphreys, W.M., 1948, 'Proceedings' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol. 48 p. 194-5 online copy
  1925, 'Proceeding' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol. 25 p. 352 online copy
  Collingwood, W.G., 1923, 'An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments of Cumberland' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol. 23 p. 257 online copy
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Duckett, G.F. (ed), 1882, Description of the County of Cumberland, by Sir Daniel Fleming of Rydal, A.D. 1671 (London and Kendal: Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society) p. 11 online copy
  Sandford, E. C. 1675, in R.S. Ferguson (ed), 1890, A Cursory Relation of the all the Antiquities and Familyes in Cumberland (Kendal: CWAAS Tract Series 4) p. 19 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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