Bardsea Hall

Has been described as a Questionable Fortified Manor House

There are no visible remains

NameBardsea Hall
Alternative Names
Historic CountryLancashire
Modern AuthorityCumbria
1974 AuthorityCumbria
Civil ParishUrswick

"Bardsea - ....The manor was formerly a member of Muchland and afterwards of Furness, retaining its manorial court till the beginning of the last century {18th} when the customary tenants became free, and the hamlet with the exception of the hall and its farm, again merged in the manor of Muchland....The family of Bardsey or Bardsea, held the manor till the reign of Charles I, Nicholas the last of the line dying in the 18th of that King the elder heiress Elizabeth married - Anderton of Clayton William & Christopher Anderton who were living in 1672 occupied the manor of Bardsea. In the same century lord Molineux purchased it for a hunting seat, and soon afterwards it became the property of Christopher Wilson, who married Margaret daughter of John Braddyll, of Conishead Priory esq., and his descendant Thomas Richmond Gale Braddyll esq., is the present possessor" (Baines).

BARDSEA HALL is a ruinous heap. There was a family named de BARDSEY linign here at one time who received their grant of land at the conquest or soon after. The last of the line seems to have been one NICHOLAS de BARDSEY, who is mentioned in a trust deed for the free school at URSWICK SD 27 SE 12 and who died in the reign of JAMES I (Collins 1953).

The site of BARDSEA HALl is occupied by a row of 20c private residences. Only a group of former outbuildigns of no great age remain at the corner of the junction of WHITE GILL LANE with the main road through BARDSEA (F1 ASP 06-JUN-58). (PastScape)

Gatehouse Comments

The reason for Perriam and Robinson including this site of a medieval hall in a gazetteer of 'fortified buildings' is obscure. Although this was a manorial centre the form of the medieval building is not known but doesn't seem to be described as either a tower or moated. The Bardsea family who held the manor as sub-tenants were not gentry. The C19 building on the site was a hunting lodge built in a gothic revival style with a tower.

- Philip Davis

Not scheduled

Not Listed

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceSD300748
Latitude54.1644897460938
Longitude-3.0725200176239
Eastings330050
Northings474800
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

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Books

  • Perriam, Denis and Robinson, John, 1998, The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria (Kendal: CWAAS Extra Series 29) p. 380
  • Collins, H.C., 1953, Lancashire Plain and Seaboard (J.M. Dent). 216
  • Farrer, William and Brownbill, J. (eds), 1914, VCH Lancashire Vol. 8 p. 332 online transcription
  • Jopling, C.M., 1843, Sketch of Furness and Cartmel p. 23 online copy
  • Baines, E., 1836, History of the County Palatine and Duchy of Lancaster (London: Fisher, Son, and Jackson) Vol. 4 p. 402

Journals

  • Postlethwaite, T.N., 1920, 'Some Papers from Bardsea Hall Muniment Chest' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol. 20 p. 154- online copy