Castlefacts³

Pennington Eller Barrow

Has been described as a Rejected Timber Castle (Motte)

There are earthwork remains

Name	Pennington Eller Barrow
Alternative Names	Coninger Wood; Ella-barrow
Historic Country	Lancashire
Modern Authority	Cumbria
1974 Authority	Cumbria
Civil Parish	Pennington

A tumulus shaped like an 'inverted vessel' situated c. half a mile SE of Castle Hill (SD 27 NE 13) measuring 400 ft in circumference with a maximum height of 50 ft. West described the field called Ellabarrow as "a name probably obtained from a large tumulus or artificial mount now covered with trees ..... which has perhaps been formed with materials brought from a large excavation in the field...." (Cowper).

An elongated turf covered mound in the form of a long barrow has a modern bank encircling its base, obliterating any possible ditch or retaining circle. The orientation and shape of the mound make it suspect as a barrow and possibly indicates a natural or industrial feature (F1 FDC 16-JUN-58).

The position of the mound, overlooked on three sides, further supports a non-antiquity classification but its appearance is certainly artificial - probably a spoil mound (F2 FRH 17-JAN-67).

Gatehouse Comments

Jackson writes has been considered a motte. Nothing about the current form of the mound is suggestive of a motte. While it is only 200m from the parish church it is not a focus for routes. Can be dismissed as a motte, or any form of medieval residential site, on morphological grounds.

- Philip Davis

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law

Not Listed

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)

37790

County Historic Environment Record

maps.cumbria.gov.uk/eggp/eggp.aspx?dept=Environment&scriptname=1%20Historic%20Environment

OS Map Grid Reference	SD265774
Latitude	54.1874504089355
Longitude	-3.12783002853394
Eastings	326500
Northings	477440