Ubarrow Hall (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Yewbarrow Hall; Ubery-hall

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

OS Map Grid Reference: NY50390259
Latitude 54.41665° Longitude -2.76582°

Ubarrow Hall has been described as a certain Pele Tower.

There are major building remains.

This is a Grade 2 listed building protected by law*.

Description

Tower House, probably medieval, and attached C17 Farmhouse with later alterations. Tower: rubble walls formed of boulders, crowstepped gable and stone lintels and cills. 2 storeys, previously higher. Entrance at first floor from external stone stair, 2 small windows on ground floor. Interior has vaulted undercroft with stone fireplace and wide chimney; kingpost roof, probably C16; remains of circular stair in East corner. House: roughcast render with slate drip; graduated slate roof, 2 end chimney stacks. 2 storeys. Central stone porch with slate roof and side benches, C19 board door. C20 casements to either side. 2 C19 sashes with single vertical glazing bar above. Interior has exposed beams; beef loft over fireplace; C19 board partitions; old plank doors, court cupboard with enriched panels in kitchen. (Listed Building Report)

Ubarrow Hall (Plate 16), 450 yards S.E. of the church, is of two storeys; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are slate-covered. The pele-tower forming the S.W. part of the house is of late mediæval date, but the existing wing to the N.E. was added or re-built in the 17th century. The tower (32 ft. by 22 ft. externally) is now of two storeys but was formerly higher. It is lit by rectangular windows, some of them probably enlargements from earlier loops. The ground-stage has a plain barrel-vault and the floor above had a circular staircase in the E. angle. The existing roof is of king-post type and probably of the 16th century. The 17th-century wing has some exposed ceiling-beams, a two-stage cupboard of the local type, with pendants and fluted fascia and some panelled doors of the same age.
Condition—Fairly good. (RCHME 1936)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1212960
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 11732.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 4047.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Matthew Emmott's Castle Blog
  Charles Taylor's ecastles
  Old Cumbria Gazetteer
Books
- Perriam, Denis and Robinson, John, 1998, The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria (Kendal: CWAAS Extra Series 29) p. 368 (plan)
  Salter, Mike, 1998, The Castles and Tower Houses of Cumbria (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 91
  Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 274 (slight)
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 493
  Hugill, Robert, 1977, Castles and Peles of Cumberland and Westmorland (Newcastle; Frank Graham) p. 190-1
  Pevsner, Nikolaus, 1967, Buildings of England: Cumberland and Westmorland (Harmondsworth) p. 271
  Palmer, J.H., 1944, Historic Farmhouses in and around Westmorland (Kendal) p. 124
  RCHME, 1936, An inventory of the historical monuments in Westmorland (HMSO) p. 158 no. 4 online transcription
  Curwen, J.F., 1913, Castles and Fortified Towers of Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire North of the Sands (Kendal: CWAAS Extra Series 13) p. 207-8
  Hodgson, J., 1810, Topographical and Historical Description of Westmoreland p. 210 online copy
  Nicholson, J. and Burn, B., 1777, The History and Antiquities of the Counties of Westmorland and Cumberland (London) Vol. 1 p. 133 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Collingwood, W.G., 1926, 'An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments of Westmorland and Lancashire North-of-the-Sands' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol. 26 p. 26 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.
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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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