Armathwaite Castle

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Armathwaite Castle
Cumberland

Armathwaite Castle
Location
Grid reference: NY506459
Location: 54°48’20"N, 2°46’12"W
Village: Armathwaite
History
Country house
Information
Owned by: Private

Armathwaite Castle stands in the village of Armathwaite in the fells of eastern Cumberland by the River Eden. Originally built as a peel tower to defend against Scottish raiders in the 15th century, it was converted into a mansion and today is a Grade II* listed building.[1]

Details

Armathwaite Castle was built in the 15th century on a strong point along the west side of the River Eden by the Skelton family, possibly by John Skelton in 1445.[2][3][4][5] The castle was a four-storied pele tower and protected the Eden valley from raiders from the north.[3][5]

In 1712 the castle passed into the Sanderson family, one of whom, Robert Sanderson, made the castle the centre of a collection of antiquities and relics, and from there to the Milbournes and in 1846 onto William Lowther, the Earl of Lonsdale.[6] In the late 18th and 19th centuries the castle was converted into a mansion, faced with ashlar cut stone in a classical style, with an adjacent wing for offices.[4][5]

The castle remains privately owned.[7]

References

  1. National Heritage List 1145496: Armathwaite Castle
  2. Jefferson, p. 399.
  3. Jump up to: 3.0 3.1 Fry, p. 179.
  4. Jump up to: 4.0 4.1 Mackenzie, p. 295.
  5. Jump up to: 5.0 5.1 5.2 Pettifer, p. 34.
  6. Jefferson, p. 400.
  7. National Heritage List 1145496: Armathwaite Castle
  • Fry, Plantagenet Somerset (1980). The David and Charles Book of Castles. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-7976-9. 
  • Jefferson, Samuel (1838). History and Antiquities of Carlisle. Carlise, UK: Samuel Jefferson. 
  • Mackenzie, James D. (1896). The Castles of England: Their Story and Structure. II. New York: Macmillan. OCLC 504892038. 
  • Pettifer, Adrian (2002). English Castles: A Guide by Counties. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press. ISBN 978-0-85115-782-5.