High Mains (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Denton Mains

In the civil parish of Upper Denton.
In the historic county of Cumberland.
Modern Authority of Cumbria.
1974 county of Cumbria.
Medieval County of Cumberland.

OS Map Grid Reference: NY60616500
Latitude 54.97812° Longitude -2.61685°

High Mains has been described as a Timber Castle but is rejected as such, and also as a Pele Tower but is rejected as such, and also as a Fortified Manor House but is rejected as such.

There are no visible remains.

Description

Denton Hall. Here the base-court is 85 yards long, with a ditch about 8 yards broad, and a rampart partly round it, extending to two sides, beyond which is a smaller ditch; adjoining the west side is a smaller enclosure in which is a mound; later on a pele tower was built on the mound, replacing the wooden house, and now there are farm-buildings in which the stump of the pele serves as a dairy. The so-called 'Saxon village' at High Mains, west of Over Denton church, is probably such another place. (VCH 1901)

Sources of information, references and further reading

County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 10518.

Books
- Collingwood, W.G., 1901, 'Remains of the pre-Norman Period' in H.Arthur Doubleday (ed), VCH Cumberland Vol. 1 p. 293 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Ferguson, R.S., 1882, 'Earthworks in Cumberland' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol. 6 p. 194 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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