Castlefacts³

Kitridding

Has been described as a Rejected Fortified Manor House, and also as a Rejected Pele Tower

There are no visible remains

Name	Kitridding
Alternative Names	Swainshawbank Abbey; Swainshaw-bank Abbey; Kit-ridding
Historic Country	Westmorland
Modern Authority	Cumbria
1974 Authority	Cumbria
Civil Parish	Lupton

'Near the limits of Preston-Patrick township, on a hill, are large and strong foundations, surrounded by a moat, with a road to it, and called by some Swainshaw-bank Abbey, by others Kit-ridding' (Perriam and Robinson).

The above quotation is actually from the Rev J Hodgson's Topographical and Historical Description of Westmoreland, published in 1810. However, Perriam and Robinson, who use the quote as evidence of a medieval moated tower house having existed at Kitridding, which they site to SD 581 843, are probably in error, and the site referred to by Hodgson is rather the prehistoric/Romano-British defended enclosure (UID 43113) on the eastern saddle of Kitridding Hill. Certainly the other references cited by Perriam and Robinson in support of their suggestion of a tower house at Kitridding are confused and actually relate to Kirkby Thore Hall (UID 13571) in the Eden valley or to nearby Kitridding farmhouse (SD 58034 83903) (Marcus Jecock and Rebecca Pullen/19-JUL-2013/EH: NHPP 6304 NAIS Upland Pilot Project). (PastScape)

Kitridding, house, has an original doorway with an elliptical head and a chimney-stack with a cylindrical flue. Inside the building is a two-stage cupboard of the local type with turned pendants and fascia with the initials and date I. and A.T. (16)94. There are also some early 18th-century panelled doors. (RCHME)

Gatehouse Comments

To be fair to Perriam and Robinson they do clearly cite the source of their quote which they seem to have got from the Cumbria SMR (although this is a reference to a site in square SD5884). Their other main source, the RCHME Inventory, is not for Kirby Thore Hall but is clearly for Kitridding Farmhouse. However, their description of the house as 2 star listed is wrong and does refer to Kirby Thore. Confabulating Hodgson's 'moat' with Kitridding Farm, seemingly purely on the bases of name, was probably not helpful.

- Philip Davis

Not scheduled

Not Listed

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

1390382

County Historic Environment Record

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

OS Map Grid Reference	SD581843
Latitude	54.2526588439941
Longitude	-2.64459991455078
Eastings	358100
Northings	484300