Holme Cultram Abbey (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;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

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

OS Map Grid Reference: NY17735098
Latitude 54.84684° Longitude -3.28273°

Holme Cultram Abbey has been described as a Timber Castle but is rejected as such, and also as a Fortified Manor House although is doubtful that it was such, and also as a probable Fortified Ecclesiastical site.

There are earthwork remains.

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

Description

Remains of a Cistercian monastery. The abbey was founded on the 30th December 1150 by Henry, son of David I, king of Scotland and then ruling Cumberland, and a colony of monks were sent from Melrose. When Henry II recovered the district for England he took the abbey under his protection. It suffered heavily from its location near the border. The abbey was surrendered on the 6th March 1538. The west end of the nave of the abbey church now forms part of the parish church of St. Mary. It has early C16 additions, and alterations dated 1730. The vestry dates to 1884-5 and the church was restored in 1913. (PastScape 9641)

To the north of the Abbey of Holme Cultram is a mound and broad ditch; this is all that remains of the moat and wall which surround the Monastery of Holme Cultram. (Curwen; Ferguson)
"Motte with ditch, but without bailey, N of the abbey". (Pevsner)
As described by Curwen and Fergusson. There is no trace of a motte. (F1 BHP 19-NOV-68)
The remains of a medieval moat and precinct wall are visible as earthworks on air photographs centred at NY 1773 5099. A broad ditch, 105m long, is flanked on the south side by a bank, representing the precinct wall. (PastScape 9648)

Comments

There is a mention of 'Castlehill at Holme Cultram' in 1552. The earthwork is rejected by King as moat only, some other authors give the possibility of it being a motte or precinct rampart. Pevsner, who was not an archaeologist or earthworks expert, may be the source for those who mention a motte. Jackson suggests could be the remains of Alan fitz Waldeve's capital messuage mention in C12. A motte can be rejected. A moated house is possible although there is nothing really to suggest this would have been fortified and the C12 date might argue against what seems to be a straight line of ditch. An abbey precinct wall and ditch seems by the far the most likely explanation of this feature; there is nothing to suggest this would have been of such a strength as to be called fortified.

Although little remains of the medieval monastery the buildings were probably fortified. Said by Parker to been granted a licence to crenellate in 1327 but this was, in fact, for St Benet, Holm in Norfolk.
In 1538, when the abbey was dissolved, the parishioners successfully petitioned for the preservation of the abbey church for 'defence for us agenst our neghbors the Scots' although how a church larger than Carlisle Cathedral was a defence is an open question.

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1007164, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number cu302
National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1144608
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 9641; 9648.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 3604; 370.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Visit Cumbria
  Solway Plain - past and present
  Old Cumbria Gazetteer
Books
- Brooke, C.J., 2000, Safe Sanctuaries (Edinburgh; John Donald) p. 292-4
  Perriam, Denis and Robinson, John, 1998, The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria (Kendal: CWAAS Extra Series 29)
  Salter, Mike, 1998, The Castles and Tower Houses of Cumbria (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 96 (slight)
  Jackson, M.J.,1990, Castles of Cumbria (Carlisle: Carel Press) p. 62
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 97 (reject)
  Wilkinson, Fredrick, 1973, Castles of England (London) p. 19 (list of minor sites)
  Knowles, David and Hadcock, R. Neville, 1971, Medieval religious houses in England and Wales (Longman) p113, 120
  Pevsner, N., 1967, Buildings of England: Cumberland and Westmorland p. 58
  Grainger, F. and Collingwood, W., 1929, The Register and Records of Holm Cultram (Kendal: CWAAS Record Series 8) online transcription
  Curwen, J.F., 1913, Castles and Fortified Towers of Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire North of the Sands (Kendal: CWAAS Extra Series 13) p. 40, 241
  Collingwood, W.G., 1901, 'Remains of the pre-Norman Period' in H.Arthur Doubleday (ed), VCH Cumberland Vol. 1 p. 292 online copy
  Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol. 3 Part 2 p. 422 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Martindale, J.H., 1913, 'The Abbey of St. Mary, Holme Cultram ; recent investigations and notes on the ancient roof' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol. 13 p. 248 online copy
  Ferguson, C.J., 1866-73, 'St Mary's Abbey, Holme Cultram' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol. 1 p. 263-75 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.)
- Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1891, Calendar of Patent Rolls Edward III (1327-30) Vol. 1 p. 183 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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