Calgarth Hall

Has been described as a Possible Pele Tower

There are masonry ruins/remnants remains

NameCalgarth Hall
Alternative NamesCalfgarth
Historic CountryWestmorland
Modern AuthorityCumbria
1974 AuthorityCumbria
Civil ParishWindermere

A two storey house which dates from the early C16 onwards. It is made from limewashed stone rubble and has old slate roofs. The east front is long and low. The centre portion has two windows on the ground floor and three above. The south wing contains former barns and has the remains of a projecting chimney. A range of stables adjoin this wing. The house was the seat of the Philipson family from the early C16 to 1717. C14 door may be from an earlier house, and there is evidence of an earlier building including C15 kitchen and possible tower. (PastScape)

Calgarth Hall, on the E. bank of the lake nearly 1 m. N.W. of the modern church of St. Mary, is of two storeys; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are slate-covered. A 14th or 15th-century doorway in the side wall of the porch indicates the existence of a mediæval house and if this is in situ further indicates that the original building lay at right-angles to the existing one. The existing main block is of two dates, the S. part perhaps representing the earlier building; the N. cross-wing was built late in the 16th or early in the 17th century and the S. part seems to have been reconstructed at a later date. The Scullery is a 17th-century alteration or rebuilding and the Dairy is modern. The house belonged to the family of Philipson down to the early part of the 18th century.

The house is remarkable for its plaster decorations. (RCHME 1936)

Gatehouse Comments

House associated with ghost story so while there are numerous online references to the Hall none are architecturally or historically useful. The evidence for a tower is a wall at the back of the house which is 7'6" thick. Is this actually an early and 'over engineered' chimney stack?

- Philip Davis

Not scheduled

This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law

Historic England Scheduled Monument Number
Historic England Listed Building number(s)
Images Of England
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceSD398996
Latitude54.3889694213867
Longitude-2.9273099899292
Eastings339830
Northings499680
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

No photos available. If you can provide pictures please contact Castlefacts

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Books

  • Perriam, Denis and Robinson, John, 1998, The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria (Kendal: CWAAS Extra Series 29) p. 334 (plan)
  • Pevsner, Nikolaus, 1967, Buildings of England: Cumberland and Westmorland (Harmondsworth) p. 297
  • RCHME, 1936, An inventory of the historical monuments in Westmorland (HMSO) p. 244-5 no. 1 plan [online transcription > http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=120834]
  • Hodgson, J., 1810, Topographical and Historical Description of Westmoreland p. 216 online copy

Antiquarian

  • Hughes, E. (ed), 1962, Fleming-Senhouse Papers (Carlisle: Cumberland Record Series 2) p. 14

Journals

  • Fahy, T.G., 1964, 'The Philipsons of Calgarth' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol. 64 p. 150 online copy
  • Aitchison, G., 1935, 'Calgarth Hall' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol. 35 p. 207 online copy
  • Aitchison, G., 1934, 'Proceedings' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol. 34 p. 197 online copy
  • Collingwood, W.G., 1926, 'An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments of Westmorland and Lancashire North-of-the-Sands' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol. 26 p. 24 online copy