Gilthwaiterigg, Kendal

Description

Gilthwaiterigg, house about m. W.S.W. of the church, is of two storeys; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built probably in the 15th century and is of H-shaped plan with the cross-wings at the E. and W. ends. The house has been much altered and modernised. The W. wing retains two original windows, each of two trefoiled lights in a square head with a moulded label; both are now blocked. Inside the building is an early 18th-century staircase, with turned balusters and square newels. The roof of the main block or former hall is original and of three bays; the trusses have been mutilated but retain the heads of their king-posts; the upper parts of the principals of the W. truss are cut with a double curve. The roof of the W. wing is also original and of four bays; the trusses have collar-beams with arched braces.
Condition—Good. (RCHME 1936)

Early C17 hall with cross wings built on C15 core. If either of the crosswings had been crenellated, there would be no doubt that it had been a fortified house (Perriam and Robinson). (PastScape)

Early C16 with later additions and alterations. Slobbered rubble with quoins, partly wet-dashed. Graduated slate roofs with outshuts added to rear; ball finials to gables. Large, original, stepped, rendered chimney to right of centre; other end chimneys. 2 gabled dormers. Hall with cross-wings; 2 storeys, 5 bays overall... (Listed Building Report)

Comments

Apart from Perriam and Robinson's assertion that if a crosswing had been crenellated the house would been fortified there is little evidence of this being a fortified house.