High Cross (The Gatehouse Record)

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

OS Map Grid Reference: NY406015
Latitude 54.40559° Longitude -2.91589°

High Cross has been described as a Timber Castle although is doubtful that it was such.

There are uncertain remains.

Description

Site of a possible motte and bailey (an early form of castle consisting of a flat-top steep-sided earthen mound, supporting a wooden tower, and a bailey) of Medieval date. According to Dr Welsh there is a site here which may either be natural, or a possible motte and bailey. "The summit comprises a rounded elevation 2m higher than adjacent ground to E, trapezoidal in shape, greatest axis 20m, the ground to E is 14m deep, max 30m wide, across the shoulders of two spurs and the slight depression between them. At this level the hill rises 3 to 4 metres on all sides over about 15m distance. N and especially S where deep are ditches formed by flanking co-curved ridges, which could be the result of melting ice, but as mentioned above, are rather suspect in this particular location. The site deserves some scrutiny in case it has been adapted for defensive use (Dr Welsh)." (Lake District HER)

Sources of information, references and further reading

County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 15173.

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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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