Arnside Tower

Arnside Tower
Cumbria, England
Arnside Tower
Arnside Tower
Coordinates 54°11′03″N 2°50′01″W / 54.1841°N 2.8335°W / 54.1841; -2.8335Coordinates: 54°11′03″N 2°50′01″W / 54.1841°N 2.8335°W / 54.1841; -2.8335
Grid reference grid reference SD457768
Type Tower house
Site information
Owner private
Open to
the public		 no
Condition Ruined
Site history
Materials Limestone rubble

Arnside Tower is a late-medieval tower house (or Pele tower) between Arnside and Silverdale immediately to the south of Arnside Knott in Cumbria, England.

History

View showing the collapsed wall & some of the exposed internal structure of the tower. Silverdale Moss is visible in the background

Arnside Tower was built in the second half of the 15th century; tower houses were then often built in the insecure areas of northern England and southern Scotland.[1] Constructed of limestone rubble, the tower was originally five storeys high, measuring 50 feet by 34 feet.[2] The tower was built with an adjacent wing of equal height built onto the side of the tower in a style common in Scotland, but rare in English tower houses.[3] Historian Anthony Emery suggests that the design may have been influenced by that at Ashby de la Zouch Castle, rebuilt in 1464 by Lord Hastings.[4] The tower suffered a serious fire in 1602 but after repairs remained in use; the historian Anthony Emery states that the tower was in use until the end of the 17th century, but the historian Roy Palmer states that William Coward and his sister Agnes Wheeler lived there at the end of the 18th century.[5]

One of the walls of the tower collapsed around 1900, and as of 2014, English Heritage considered the condition of the castle to be very bad and urgent works are required.[6] Arnside Tower is a Scheduled Monument and Grade II* listed building.[7][8][9]

Tourism

The tower is in private ownership and is in a ruinous state. The local tourist board recommends that good views of the tower can be made from the public footpath which runs alongside. [10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Emery, p.183.
  2. ↑ Emery, p.183; Arnside Tower, Gatehouse webpage, accessed 22 April 2011.
  3. ↑ Pettifer, p.265.
  4. ↑ Emery, p.184.
  5. ↑ Emery, p.184; Roy Palmer, ‘Wheeler , Agnes (bap. 1734, d. 1804)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 1 June 2017
  6. ↑ Heritage at Risk Register 2014 North West, English Heritage, p. 36, retrieved 23 September 2015
  7. ↑ Heritage at Risk Register 2014, p.36.
  8. ↑ Historic England, "Arnside Tower (1007142)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 20 December 2016
  9. ↑ Historic England, "Arnside Tower (1312275)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 20 December 2016
  10. ↑ "Arnside – Arnside Tower". visitcumbria.com. Retrieved 23 September 2015.

Bibliography

  • Emery, Anthony. (1996) Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales, 1300-1500: Northern England. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-49723-7.
  • Pettifer, Adrian. (2002) English Castles: a Guide by Counties. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press. ISBN 978-0-85115-782-5.
  • Drone video of the tower showing exterior and interior of the remains
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