Hayton Castle, Cumberland (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Aspatria; Haton; Hatton

In the civil parish of Hayton And Mealo.
In the historic county of Cumberland.
Modern Authority of Cumbria.
1974 county of Cumbria.
Medieval County of Cumberland.

OS Map Grid Reference: NY10974174
Latitude 54.76263° Longitude -3.38429°

Hayton Castle, Cumberland has been described as a certain Tower House.

There are major building remains.

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

Description

Castle now house. C14 or C15 tower, with C16 and C17 additions for the Musgrave family. Large blocks of dressed red sandstone, with stone parapet, on chamfered plinth. Graduated greenslate roof with sandstone chimney stacks. 2 storeys with attic, 8 bays of double span. Core of tower to rear with flanking C16 extensions in an L-shape; the angle of the L infilled in C17 to form large rectangular building. C19 top-glazed panelled door in late C17 bolection architrave under segmental pediment containing carved heads and urn with shaped finials. Left bays have C16 double-chamfered cross-mullioned windows with glazing bars under hoodmoulds, and smaller 3-light attic windows. Right bays have sash windows in late C17 architraves. Left return has plank door within C20 wooden porch, this and the windows in C16 surrounds under hoodmoulds; some windows have cross mullions and glazing bars. Right return has sash windows in late C17 architraves. Rear of 4 gables,the oldest part supported by 2 large wedge-shaped buttresses. C15-C17 windows at different levels, some under hoodmoulds. Coat-of-arms on left side wall and internal armorial panel on stairs dated 1609 and both to Musgrave family. Thick internal walls containing many medieval and C16 features fully described and planned Martindale, 1913. (Listed Building Report)

Hayton Castle is 15th cent. largely rebuilt c.1665 repaired 1719. There was formerly a chapel of ease adjacent to the castle which continued in use to the beginning of the present century, then fell into decay, no present traces (Whellan).
On the second floor of the castle, built into an old window in the east wall is a stone inscribed:- 'this chapel was repaired at ye proper cost of Anne Musgrave in ye year 1719 (Curwen). (PastScape)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1216980
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 9580.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 3025.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Old Cumbria Gazetteer
Books
- Cooper, Nicholas, 1999, Houses of the Gentry, 1480-1680 (Yale University Press) p. 308
  Perriam, Denis and Robinson, John, 1998, The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria (Kendal: CWAAS Extra Series 29) p. 15
  Salter, Mike, 1998, The Castles and Tower Houses of Cumbria (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 58
  Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 48 (slight)
  Jackson, M.J.,1990, Castles of Cumbria (Carlisle: Carel Press) p. 60
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 86
  Hugill, Robert, 1977, Castles and Peles of Cumberland and Westmorland (Newcastle; Frank Graham) p. 92-3
  Pevsner, N., 1967, Buildings of England: Cumberland and Westmorland (Harmondsworth: Penguin) p. 136
  Curwen, J.F., 1913, Castles and Fortified Towers of Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire North of the Sands (Kendal: CWAAS Extra Series 13) p. 373-4
  Whellan, Wm, 1860, The history and topography of the counties of Cumberland and Westmoreland p. 207 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Martindale, J.H., 1913, 'Hayton Castle, Aspatria' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol. 13 p. 234-43 (plan) 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), 1901, Calendar of Patent Rolls Edward IV, Edward V, Richard III (1476-85) p. 545-6 online copy

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The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
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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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