More information : (NY 7817 0264) Pendragon Castle (NR) (Remains of) (NAT) (1)
Late 12th c pele tower, burnt and restored on two occasions the last restoration being in 1660 by Lady Anne Clifford, who added an enclosing wall and other buildings. These have disappeared and the tower was dismantled c.1685. The earthworks consist of a deep ditch enclosing the site on the side away from the river and, with the steep scarp towards the river, forming a roughly circular enclosure.
Two causeways cross the ditch, that on the NW being probably the original entrance. Foundation mounds to the NW of the ditch. "The tower...is now hardly anywhere standing above the second storey and...fallen masonry...obscures many of the still existing features". (2)
The pele 20.0m square, is in poor condition, its 2.5m thick walls reaching a maximum height of approximately 8.0m. (See photograph). Earthworks are as described by the Commission with the well defined ditch averaging 3.0m in depth. There are no coherent remains of foundations to the north west of the ditch. Published survey (25") revised. (3)
Pendragon Castle (NY 7817 0264) which is situated on a spur overlooking the River Eden, was surveyed by RCHME in 1993. The tower is north-facing and has a later garderobe tower projecting from its south-west angle. The interior of the tower is choked with debris and there are heaps of turf-covered rubble all around the exterior; despite this a number of the tower's intra-mural vaulted chambers are well preserved.
The ditch surrounding the tower encloses an area about 54m in diameter; the tower is situated slightly to west of centre within this. At its widest points the ditch is between 14.5m - 18m and its internal scarp has a maximum depth of 4.8m. The narrow north-west causeway leads to a range of 17th century buildings suggesting that this was a secondary entrance and not the original as authority 2 prefers.
A painting by Buck (1736) shows that the foundation mounds to the north-west of the ditch are the remains of the ancillary buildings erected by Anne Clifford in 1660 as part of the restoration of the castle (4a, b). The remains consist of a linear range of buildings on the river bank within which at least 5 separate rooms can be identified. The overall dimensions of the block are 57m by 8.5m; it is partly overlain by a post medieval field barn and the west wall has been re-used and subsequently rebuilt as a field wall.
To the north of the castle, built into the natural slope, is a possible corn-drying kiln. The circular hollow measures 5.3m internally and is a maximum of 1.3m deep. The top of the kiln is surrounded by a small bank of upcast up to 1.8m wide and there is an opening at the front 1.1m wide.
About 100m north-east of the tower is a low-lying patch of ground which may have been landscaped to form a pond. On the west side of the Eden is a possible prospect mound overlooking the tower (NMR No NY 70 SE 80). It seems likely that both these features are related to Anne Clifford's occupancy of the castle.
Full details are contained in the NMR archive. (4)
Pendragon Castle A fortified tower-house dating from the 12th century with later additions and alterations; extensively restored in 1660 for Lady Anne Clifford. Dismantled in c1685. Grade 1. (5)
Listed by Cathcart King. (6)
Listed with plan and illustrations. (7)
Pendragon castle probably received a licence to crenellate in 1309 and parts of the masonry work may date from this time. The Licence to Crenellate is not enrolled in the state rolls but in the Calendar of Chancery Warrents 1244-1326 p. 291. It records that Robert Clifford, briefly Marshall of England, may crenellate his castles of Brouham and Pendragon in C. Westmorland. (8)
Please see the Pendragon Survey for more information. (9-11) |