Dockwray Hall, Kendal (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Dockray Hall; Dockwra Hall; Dockera Hall

In the civil parish of Kendal.
In the historic county of Westmorland.
Modern Authority of Cumbria.
1974 county of Cumbria.
Medieval County of Westmorland.

OS Map Grid Reference: SD51349345
Latitude 54.33428° Longitude -2.74982°

Dockwray Hall, Kendal has been described as a certain Pele Tower.

There are no visible remains.

Description

A chapel dedicated to St Anne stood near Dockray Hall; here Machell saw a house with chapel-type fabric and windows; the chapel was extant in the 16th century (Nicolson and Burn 1777). Curwen (1900) calls it a "private oratory" only. Dockray Hall, (evidently a pele-tower and house surrounded by a curtain wall (Nicholson)) is sited by Speed's plan (in Curwen) (to Area SD 513933). The site is now largely built over with "villas".
Dockray Hall sited at SD 51349345, otherwise no further information (F1 BHP 27-OCT-72). (PastScape)

Dockwray Hall Barn, probably part of the ancient hall, survived into early 20th century. The Dockray family were purged during the Commonwealth and their hall sold off (and probably mostly demolished at this time). Sir Thomas Docwra was the last Grand Prior of the...English Order of the Knights of St John 1501-27. There is now no trace of this building... (J. Marsh). (Perriam and Robinson 1998)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 43225.
Further information may be available from the holder of the county Historic Environment Record.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Matthew Emmott's Castle Blog
  Old Cumbria Gazetteer
Books
- Salter, Mike, 1998, The Castles and Tower Houses of Cumbria (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 97 (slight)
  Perriam, Denis and Robinson, John, 1998, The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria (Kendal: CWAAS Extra Series 29) p. 342
  Curwen, J.F., 1900, Kirkbie-Kendall: Fragments collected relating to its ancient streets and yards; church and castle; houses and inns (Kendal: Titus Wilson) p. 360 online copy
  Nicholson, C., 1861 (2edn), Annals of Kendal: being a historical and descriptive account of Kendal and the neighbourhood (London and Kendal) p. 79-80 online copy
  Nicholson, J. and Burn, R., 1777, History and Antiquities of Westmorland and Cumberland (London) Vol. 1 p. 75 online copy
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Speed, John, 1611-12, The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain online copy)
  Manuscripts of the Reverend Thomas Machell, vicar of Kirkby Thore (d 1698) Vol. 2 p. 23 (preserved at the Cumberland Record Office)
  Anon, C17, A Plan of Kirkby Kendall / with the Castle and Park Lands . ... online copy (shown as 'Dockera Hall Lands' no building is shown and the map probably made after the destruction of the tower)
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- English Heritage, 2006, Extensive Urban Survey - Cumbria (Cumbria County Council) Download 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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