Henry's Castle

Summary

Former dwelling, late medieval with sixteenth or seventeenth century modifications, converted to a field barn in the nineteenth century.

Reasons for Designation

Henry's Castle, with late-medieval origins, C16 or C17 modifications and converted to agricultural use in the C19, is listed at Grade II* for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* an unusual late-medieval building form with a heated first floor and latrine that makes an important contribution to our knowledge and understanding of early, possibly defensive, dwellings in the north of England;

* a building of considerable external character, reflecting the local vernacular in its materials, construction, and detailing;

* an evolved dwelling, whose phased development spans the late-medieval period through to the C19, and still retains its legible original plan form and character;

* for its high-status oak roof structure and other timberwork thought to be C14 or C15, which illustrate medieval carpentry methods and techniques;

* for the survival of significant features, including an original first-floor garderobe projection, extensive late-medieval structural carpentry, and the remains of an external corbelled chimney.

History

Early C21 studies of this building have suggested that it is late-medieval in date, perhaps as early as the C14 or as late as the mid-C16. While clearly a building of some age, historical documentation is virtually absent and the earliest documentary source relating to it is the Corn Rent Map Map of 1836. Here, it is depicted as a rectangular building standing within ‘Stonehouse Field’. The building was part of an estate associated with nearby Tullithwaite Hall whose tenant was Richard Willison and the owner John Scott. Stonehouse is a term used historically in parts of Cumbria such as the 1603 Survey of Gilsland, and is usually interpreted today as a bastle or special stone-built structure of some form, possibly defensive in nature.

Bastles are thick-walled fortified farms with a heated first floor and ground floor stock housing, commonly constructed during the C16 in the border areas of England and Scotland. While this example resembles a bastle in some respects, including its vernacular construction and heated first floor living space, it is considered to be too small, to have too thin walls and lacks the social context of bastles proper. The building's form overall indicates a late-medieval date as it retains a truss of a C15 type, and the provision of a corbelled chimney and a garderobe are highly unusual features which also suggest an early date. No evidence survives of a stairway link, although if this building originally had a quasi-defensive purpose then access to the top floor may have been via a removable ladder. An earlier suggestion that the high status roof structure was brought to the site during the C16 from the demolished Tullithwaite Hall is feasible but can not be substantiated.

The building was subsequently modified, by the insertion of a fireplace to the ground floor, and large timber mullioned windows to the west elevation. This was likely to convert the ground floor to domestic accommodation probably in the C16 or C17. By the C19, the building had been converted to a field barn: ground floor timber stalls were inserted, and the first floor formed a hay loft with a sink mow. There are indications in the south gable that a lean to was formerly attached. More recently the building has been locally referred to as “Henry’s Castle”, as it was once owned by the farmer Henry Willison.

The building fell out of use and into disrepair. In 2025 a programme of conservation work was undertaken including repair of the roof structure, stabilising some masonry and applying limewash to the exterior and interior.

Details

Former dwelling, possibly late medieval with C16 or C17 modifications, converted to a field barn in the C19.

MATERIALS: angular limestone rubble laid in random courses, with large rough quoins at the corners. Limewashed in 2025. It has a Westmorland slate roof with sandstone ridge, and rough coping to the north and south ends.

PLAN: a rectangular building orientated north-south, measuring 7m by 4.5m with walls an average of 0.77m thick. The original vertical plan had a heated first floor over animal housing/store below. The ground floor was subsequently converted to domestic accommodation, and in the C19 the building became a stable with hayloft and sink mow.

EXTERIOR: two storeys of rubble construction limewashed, beneath a pitched roof of graduated slate. It is built directly onto the bedrock of a knoll and has a prominent boulder plinth seen especially on the east side. The east elevation has rough quoins at either end and a projecting chimney stack supported by three rough corbels. A second stone projection supported on two sets of paired corbels with a lintel and a blocked opening above are a garderobe. There is a central square window to each floor, with stone lintels (and sills to the inside); the windows have rough oak frames exhibiting two slots for timber mullions. The west elevation has a single entrance to the ground floor, with a blocked window opening to the right, and an upper opening forming a pitching door. The north gable has rough quoins at either end and two irregularly positioned slit vents (splayed with a stone sill and lintel to the inside) and a possible square vent or owl hole near the apex. The south gable has a blocked ground floor slit vent, and the upper parts appear to have been partially rebuilt, and a timber lintel incorporated. There are indications that a lean to was formerly attached.

INTERIOR: limewashed walls.

The ground floor room has an inserted byre to the south with a concrete feeding passage and three stalls with upright posts and timber planks. The ceiling is supported by a substantial east-west beam on the south side, with a pair of transverse beams fitted into it. This probably supported a former firehood The eastern beam is chamfered with runout stops at the north end. There are six east-west beams running between the main walls, all thick and rectangular in section and supporting the floorboards of the floor above. There are further sawn timber beams running north-south. The south wall has a shallow curved central recess of a former fireplace with one corbel stone.

The first floor room has a thick timber plank floor of wide boards with a C19 sink mow to the south end where hay was removed to the ground floor. The room is open to the roof, which is supported by a single central truss; this comprises a simple pair of principal rafters with arched braces between the principal rafters and a short collar at the top. The braces are attached via long mortice and tenon joints with numerous pegs. All timber is very neatly hand-finished, and the collar is chamfered; the precise, shallow design of the central truss suggests a high-status piece of carpentry. There is a single hand-finished purlin per pitch, each partnered with a new oak purlin. The rafters meet at the apex, but there is a ridge plank south of the truss supported by a steel ridge beam. The upper part of the north elevation has an engaged truss of simple tie beam form with hand finished timber and pegged joints. The east elevation has a fireplace on the north side with a heavy stone lintel and splayed opening; the flue is blocked inside and there is graffiti carved into the jambs. A further blocked opening at the south end of the elevation is the entrance to the garderobe. The south gable has a central tapering recess, forming the flue of a former chimney. As in the north gable there is a simple tie beam truss set into the upper part of the wall, which has been cut through to accommodate the flue.

Sources

Books and journals
Brunskill, RW, Traditional Buildings of Cumbria, (2002)
Perriam, Denis, Robinson, John, The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria, (1998)

Other
Tithe Map & Corn Return records of 1832. Stonehouse Field (No. 266). The record shows that at this time the tenant was Richard Willison, the owner John Scott.
Building Survey: ‘Bastle’, Garthrow, Underbarrow, Cumbria. April/May 2016 by Clive Bowd & Mark Basey-Fisher (CVBG)

End of official list entry

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