| Summary : The earthwork and partly upstanding remains of Cappleside Hall medieval lordly residence - comprising a central hall with northern and southern wings, probably a tower house - lie on a small terrace in the east side of Cappelside Hill, north of Beetham. Part of the south wing survives as upstanding fabric up to 1.5m high and 1m thick; two projecting turrets on the south side are interpreted as the remains of a garderobe chute and, less probably, a fireplace. It is not known when the hall was built: the earliest documentary reference to Cappleside dates to 1336, but the earliest specific reference to a hall is not until 1585. It was pulled down shortly after 1687 apart from the southern tower which in 1763 was converted into a barn, ruinous by 1862. Much of the outline plan of the rest of the house is traceable as earthworks. The hall is approached from the south by an earthwork terrace way. Other wall lines or buildings are visible between the terrace way and house. Scheduled. |
More information : SD 5008 8023. The remains of Cappleside Hall medieval lordly residence, surviving as a substantial masonry wall and surrounding earthworks. It is not known when the hall was built. The earliest documentary reference to Cappleside dates to 1336 while the earliest specific reference to the hall occurs in 1691, though it may already have been abandoned by this time. A documentary source dating from the 1760s describes the building as a central hall with two projecting service wings of three storeys. It was largely demolished during the 18th century, but one wing was converted into a barn in 1763. It is a fragment of this structure which survives, measuring up to 1.5 metres high and 1metre thick. Two projecting turrets on the south side are interpreted as the remains of a garderobe chute and a fireplace. Scheduled. (1)
The ruined house and surrounding earthwork features, possibly the remains of the gardens around the house, were seen on aerial photographs and lidar images. The house, which is centred at SD 5008 8022, occupied a slight east facing bowl in the side of a low ridge. (2-3)
Cappleside Hall was targeted for follow-on ground investigation in Stage 2 of English Heritage's NAIS Upland Pilot Project (covering parts of the Southern Lakes, Western Dales & Arnside), and the site briefly perambulated.
The remains are much as described by previous authorities. The site of the hall lies terraced into the east flank of Cappleside Hill at circa 40m AOD, below a slight saddle in the north-south ridge. It therefore occupies a sheltered rather than defensive position, overlooking the broad, flat-bottomed valley of Pool Darkin Brook.
The standing masonry is clearly the end wall of the south wing to a north-south hall. A projection at the south-west corner is identifiable as a garderobe as stated by auth 1, but it is less certain if that at the south-east is a fireplace: a corner position for such a feature is inherently unlikely. A low scarp circa 4-5m north of the standing wall defines a raised area, perhaps marking the edge of a robber trench and therefore the approximate internal width of the wing. At its west end, this scarp turns to the north, surely defining the front of the main hall, and then returns east again just before the modern post-and-wire field boundary that now crosses the site. The eastern of the two small fields north of this boundary was overgrown and, that to the west, sown with rape at the time of field visit, but a low, spread, L-shaped bank traceable just inside the far angle of the eastern field no doubt marks the north-east corner of a large northern wing. Traces of other scarps and banks are discernible, particularly east of the main hall; these are probably additional buildings or wall lines rather than garden earthworks as postulated by authority 2-3. A pronounced north-south scarp in the west marks the rear edge of the terrace on which the hall and its two wings sit. The main approach to the hall seems to have been from the direction of Beetham to the south: a level area immediately east of the north-south field boundary that defines the edge of the scheduled area is suggestive of a terraced way. The western or uphill side of this approach is revetted by a ruinous stone wall, along the top of which is a modern post-and-wire fence.
According to J F Curwen in 1911 (4a) and the RCHM in 1936 (4b), the surviving masonry is part of a late medieval pele tower, of possible mid-15th-century date, unvaulted on the ground floor, but described in 1770 by the Rev William Hutton as having formerly stood three storeys high with a north-south hall range attached to its north side and another 3-storey wing beyond that. The hall is first documented in 1585 when Oliver Middleton was in residence, probably leased from the Preston family. The hall and northern wing were pulled down shortly after the estate passed by marriage to Hugh, Lord Clifford, in 1687, and certainly before 1715 when the rebel George Hilton, who had joined the failed Stuart rebellion, hid in the ruins. The surviving tower was converted into a barn in 1763 when Lord Clifford alienated the estate to his tenants (4a-b), but the barn is described as ruinous by 1862 (4c). Curwen estimated that the tower measured 38 feet east-west by 26 feet, that the hall was at least 52 feet long, and that the northern wing extended for 53 feet east-west by 36 feet; he published a plan with his article (4a).
The visible earthworks all appear in general agreement with Curwen's description, although no detailed measurements of the earthworks have been taken for exact comparison. The hall was probably a tower house with fortified south wing rather than a pele tower; the presence of a garderobe suggests it acted as a solar wing at first-floor level.
Cappleside Hall lies on private land, and there is no automatic right of public access. No survey action. (4)
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