Millees (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;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

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

OS Map Grid Reference: NY389723
Latitude 55.04144° Longitude -2.95765°

Millees has been described as a probable Pele Tower, and also as a probable Bastle.

There are no visible remains.

Description

NY 389 723 Supposed tower, now destroyed.
Cole, states 'Millees was built by Graham Graham, second son of Richard of Netherby some time between 1552 and 1590... William Graham certainly had the wealth to build a tower like his uncle's at Kirkandrews... the tower may have been demolished in the 17th century by Sir Richard Graham to rebuild the nearby church.' However, Cole gives no documentary reference to a tower house. It is not shown on the 1590 map, but is shown as a tower at 'Milneleis' on the 1607 platt.
Nothing to be seen today. (Perriam and Robinson 1998)

Comments

The given map reference is from Perriam and Robinson but a small settlement called Millees is centred about NY38577267 450m North West of the given site. As the house of a significant member of the large Graham Clan probably a bastle-house rather than a peel-house. A grander tower house of some form is not impossible but there is a tendency to assume such buildings on little or no evidence.
The Dacre list appears to list William Graham as the second son of Richard of Netherby, rather than Graham (a forename, unsurprisingly, not used by the Grahams). Has either Perriam and Robinson or Cole mistranscribed the name.

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 1390052.
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.)
- Old Cumbria Gazetteer
Books
- Salter, Mike, 1998, The Castles and Tower Houses of Cumbria (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 98 (slight)
  Perriam, Denis and Robinson, John, 1998, The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria (Kendal: CWAAS Extra Series 29) p. 236
Periodical Articles
- Graham, T.H.B., 1914, 'The Debatable Land Part II' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol. 14 facing p. 148 online copy online copy of 1607 platt online copy of 1552 map
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Dacre List of The Clan of the Grahams dated 23 August 1561 - National Archives SP 59/9 ff. i97-203 (Partly transcribed in Stevenson, J. (ed), 1866, Calendar of State Papers Foreign, Elizabeth Vol. 4 1561-62 no. 422 online transcription; fully transcribed in Spence, R.T., 1980, 'The Graham Clans and Lands on the eve of the Jacobean Pacification' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol. 80 p. 79-102 online copy)
  Scrope List of 1602 - Richard Bell's manuscript History of the Borders, ff. 211-215 in the Library of the Dean and Chapter at Carlisle; fully transcribed in Spence, R.T., 1980, 'The Graham Clans and Lands on the eve of the Jacobean Pacification' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol. 80 p. 79-102 online copy)
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Cole, J.R., 1982, A survey of the Debatable Land and Glen Tarras c. 1449-1620 (Thesis for Manchester University) p. 76-7

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant.
It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from ANY site without proper recording and reporting.
Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.

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.
The author and compiler of Gatehouse does not receive any income from the site and funds it himself. The information within this site is provided freely for educational purposes only.

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.

Please help to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting Gatehouse if you see errors, can add information or have suggestions for improvements in functality and design.
Help is acknowledged.

Data >	PastScape
Maps >	Streetmap	NLS maps	Where's the path	Old-Maps
Data/Maps >	Magic	V. O. B.	Geology	LiDAR	Open Domesday
Air Photos >	Bing Maps	Google Maps	Getmapping	ZoomEarth
Photos >	CastleFacts	Geograph	Flickr	Panoramio