A Hidden Manor House and Medieval Tower, Broughton Tower | Life in the Past Series

Set back from the village of Broughton-in-Furness, hidden by trees, stands the interesting and suitably impressive Broughton Tower.

Currently private flats Broughton Tower started life as a 14th Century pele tower, much like those found in towns like Dalton-in-Furness. The tower, much like many others, was erected to defend against the ever growing possibility of Scottish attacks. Something that was a common threat at this time as the Scots were performing constant raids on England. In the picture above you can see the original pele tower, with its typical crenelated Medieval style, in the centre of the large complex of buildings.

Much like the castle at Dalton the tower was most likely used as a manorial court, a place where local disputes and wrong doings could be brought in front of the monorail lord and brought to a conclusion. The tower even as a dungeon which could be used to hold wrong doers before further punishment.

The tower was constructed by the Broughton family, Lords of the Manor of Broughton. They stayed in the town until 1487 when Sir Thomas Broughton was killed in the battle of Stoke. Thomas had allied himself with Lambert Simnel and fought against the Kings men for him. On his death his seat at Broughton was seized by the crown and given to the 1st Earl of Derby.

Some hundred and seventy years later the 7th Earl of Derby was executed for his allegiance to Charles II. It was then, in 1658, that the tower and the seat was passed to the Sawrey family. They kept ownership of the tower until the 1920s. The Sawreys, during the 18th Century, turned the tower into a manor house. A grand extension was added to the original 14th Century tower creating a much larger and impressive structure, the structure we can see today.

The whole site was turned into flats in recent times, which are now in private ownership. This means that the historic site is off limits for any visitors but you can walk along a public footpath through a nearby field and be rewarded with great views of the structure, including the original 14th Century tower.

The manor house and original tower are a real piece of hidden heritage, tucked away out of sight behind the small town of Broughton, and is a real treat to stumble across!

An Enchanting Medieval Fortification, Piel Castle

Across the water from Roa Island near Barrow is the peaceful island of Piel and standing upon it are the enchanting ruins of Piel Castle, a once extensive and imposing building.

The Abbot of Furness built Piel Castle on the southeastern point of Piel Island during the 14th Century. This was built as Edward III had granted Furness Abbey a license to crenellate on the island in 1327. There would have been an earlier fortification on the island but it is difficult to determine to what size and style as the current castle is most likely built where it would have been. The early castle was no doubt made from wood also which would leave little evidence today.

The Castle was built to guard the deep-water harbour at the southern tip of the Furness Peninsula against Scottish raiders and, most likely, pirates! A lot of trade took place through the harbour so any raids or piratical attack could have caused major problems for the Abbey and local tradesmen.

The castle was seized into the king's hands in 1403 as the Abbot, John de Bolton, had been accused of a lack of maintenance. It did later return to the abbey's ownership in 1411. Sadly by the time of the dissolution of the monasteries the castle was in a state of decay and was too ruinous to be used. It was then left unused and slowly fell into even more of a ruinous state, with parts of the curtain walls becoming victim to erosion and the building becoming the picturesque ruins we can see today.

The site consists of a large keep, inner and outer baileys as well as a towered curtain wall. An impressive building in its time and an impressive ruin today! The ruins are under the care of English Heritage and are free to look around and on certain occasions a stairway to the top of the castle keep is opened to the public.

The castle is certainly worth a visit as is the island itself, Piel.

The island is beautiful and picturesque with not only the castle but several small houses, wildlife in abundance, a camp site, a 18th Century pub and even a king!

Whoever is landlord of the pub becomes the King of Piel. This is a tradition that is said to date back to the time of Lambert Simnel when he attempted to usurp the English throne. Simnel and his army landed on Piel in 1487 on their way to battle the King. Whether it does date back to this time is anyones guess but still any new landlord is crowned as King of Piel at an unusual ceremony. The soon to be king is seated on an ancient wooden thrown, wearing a helmet, holding a sword while beer is poured over his head. Odd for certain but quite a spectacle. Once crowned the king can even appoint knights! Usually local fisherman or even anyone who buys a whole round for everyone in the pub.

William Wordsworth wrote a poem in 1806 about Piel Castle. He had visited Piel in 1794 and his wife owned a picture of the castle painted by their friend and Wordsworth’s patron Sir George Beaumont. The poem is called 'Elegiac Stanzas Suggested by a Picture of Peele Castle in a Storm, Painted by Sir George Beaumont' and is a lament on the death of his brother at sea, but also for his own youth and imagination. You can read this poem in full here.

The island and castle has an interesting and vivid history with traditions still upheld today and is perfect for a day trip in the summer months, catching the boat across the channel to Piel's shores.

A Motte Without a Bailey and a Manor Without a Town, Aldingham

Aldingham is a small hamlet perched on the east coast of Furness, made up of a Church, some houses and a large old peoples home. Back in the Norman period though Aldingham was a much larger and important town!

1066 and Norman forces crossed the channel from France to England. They met with Anglo Saxon forces on land near to Hastings. Here they fought tirelessly until eventually defeating the Saxon army and thus conquering England. This was the start of the Norman age in Britain and saw many changes to the way everyone lived. Jump forward some 40 odd years later and Furness saw its first Norman lord move to the area, Michael Le Fleming.

Standing precariously on the edge of a cliff face just under 1 mile down the beach from Aldigham is the remains of a once impressive motte and bailey castle. Michael Le Fleming built this castle sometime between 1107 and 1111, after King Henry I had granted him the lands lying eastward of Abbey Beck and southwards of the moors of Birkrigg and Swarthmoor. This land became the manor of Aldingham. Motte and bailey castles sprung up all over Britain after the Norman Conquest to aid in the Normanisation of the country and to keep control of the local inhabitants. Le Fleming being the first Norman lord to move to Furness must have been faced with quite a daunting task. To come to the very northwestern corner of the kingdom, an area constantly disputed by England and Scotland, a place with a mix of people from varying cultural backgrounds. There were Saxons, Norse men (Vikings) and even Celts all living in the area with out any real rule. How could one man manage to control and lord over such a place and mix of people? His new motte and bailey castle must have helped!

It is thought that the castle site started as a ringwork sometime before 1102, built by Roger the Poitevin, before becoming a motte and bailey castle. At the base of the current castle remains is a large ditch looping around the base of the motte. This is probably evidence of the original ringwork structure, the inner earthwork being added by the Le Flemings later. Looking at the motte site today there is something quite clearly missing, the bailey! Where is it? You might ask. Well, unfortunately, as is often the case with such sites built on the coastline, erosion has destroyed it. The bailey would have once sat next to the motte on its southeast side. With in this bailey would have been other buildings associated to the castle, like stables and storage houses. In some cases followers of the lord would live in the bailey, in the case of Aldingham it is hard to determine as it no longer exists and there aren't many records to tell us.

Coastal erosion was as much a problem in the Middle Ages as it is today and could have forced the lord to move out of the motte and bailey to another manor a little further inland to the north.

Sitting at the bottom of the hill on which the motte stands is a raised area of land surrounded by water. This is thought to be a moated manor where the inhabitants of the motte, most likely still the Le Fleming family, moved, away from the the threat of erosion. A timber structure would have sat upon the slightly raised earth mound; much like that which would have adorned the motte. A moat was dug around the mound, which was filled with water, something it is still filled with today. The moat would provide defense and there would most probably have been a timber palisade surrounding the manor inside the moat.

What is quite apparent when looking at both the motte and the moated manor is that they are pretty far away from the current village of Aldingham. Odd, yes? Well in the 12th century it would not have been quite so far away from the town. It would still be the same distance away from the church but there would have been a whole town spreading out between the two, creating the manor of Aldingham. A large and important town in the Furness area. But, much like the bailey, costal erosion has claimed the land and the town upon it. Archeological surveys have identified and excavated several middens along the current beach. A midden was basically a dumping ground during the Middle Ages. Large holes would be dug into the ground where domestic waste matter could be placed. After many hundreds of years bones, shells, grains and corns are left, which provide key dating material. These middens are some of the only evidence left of the town that once thrived here but provide an insight into the lives and diet of the people who lived there.

It is quite clear that Aldingham has had a rich and interesting history, from its motte and bailey castle to its moated manor and missing town. It is a site well worth exploring, there is a public footpath that runs up to the motte for a slightly closer look or you could walk along the beach to see it from bellow.  The moated manor is on private land but can be seen from the road and the motte. It is also well worth visiting Aldingham Church, a building that dates back, in part, to the 12th Century and has many interesting features.

Ruined Walls of a Medieval Fortification, Gleaston Castle

On the road out of Gleaston, having past the water mill, a castle expands out from a farm yard into an adjoining field. This is Gleaston Castle, a structure erected sometime around the 13th Century.

The Castle is generally believed to have been started in the mid 13th century by John De Harrington I, who was a descendant of Michael Le Fleming the first Norman to settle in the area. He constructed the south west tower and part of the west wall. It was not until 1325, 28 years later that he or his son, John De Harrington II, continued construction at the Castle. This work was completed around 1340 and the De Harrington family took residence here for 118 years. It is in 1457 that William de Harrington, the last lord of Aldingham and Muchland, died and the castle was passed on. Eventually, by marriage, the castle passed to Thomas Grey, great grandfather of Lady Jane Grey, future Queen of England. In his ownership the castle fell into a state of decay and was a ruin by 1540. At a later date when the castle was in the ownership of the Preston's one of the South towers was made habitable for the family to live in until the early 1600s. Following this the Castle had many varying owners until being bought by a local farming family, the Websters, in 1926. The family still owns the Castle today and their farm sits right next to the ruins.

The Castle is set out with four tower buildings at the corners of four curtain walls. It, in a lot of ways, is much like your typical children's play set castle, if not quite as extensive. Gleaston Castle was never fully completed which may suggest its need as a fortification became obsolete. It is suggested that the Castle was built in reaction to the Scottish wars that were taking place at the time. Many castles were erected across Furness and Cumbria during this period including Dalton, Piel, Broughton, Millom and Sizergh Castles. Gleaston was probably built to replace an earlier castle that had been overwhelmed by the Scots. It is entirely possible that the Castle was built to replace the mote and bailey castle at Aldingham (which we will look at in a future post) that would have been of wooden construction. A new stone castle would have been a lot stronger and more able to withstand a Scottish attack. Also the positioning at Gleaston may have been more defendable than at Aldighman. Obviously this is purely conjecture on our part but it is reasonable to believe. With the Scottish Wars and raids not lasting particularly long the castle may have become redundant before even being finished, thus being left incomplete. As stated above the Castle was made fit for habitation in certain areas by later owners but as a working fortification it was unfinished.

Earlier we mentioned Thomas Grey, father of Lady Jane Grey, being in ownership of Gleaston Castle. Well it is thought that Lady Jane Grey herself visited the Castle not long before becoming Queen of England! The circumstances of her visit and if she really did are unclear but it is certainly nice to think that she may have. In the present day the Castle is in a very ruinous state with most of its curtain walls missing and it's towers being empty shells. It is hard to imagine the Castle today as it would have looked when it was fresh. The southern towers are the best preserved but the north western tower is slowly crumbling away and the north eastern has completely disappeared. Even being in such a dilapidated state the Castle certainly has a romantic and aesthetically pleasing look to it. The ruined walls with the ivy growing up them makes for some lovely photographs, even if the ivy won't be helping the structure in the long run. Although  it may be holding it together for now.

Gleaston Castle is unfortunately not open to the public as it is on private land but you can see it well from the road leading past it. You can easily find the Castle by foot or by car, head to Gleaston then head north past the water mill towards Scales and you will find it as you go. The Castle is a wonderful relic of a time gone by and is quite lovely to see. If you get the chance to venture past it take a moment to stop and look, think of its past and the people who once lived and visited here!

The next instalment of Furness Hidden Heritage will be released earlier than usual on Monday 23rd December. The blog will then go on a break over Christmas and will return on Tuesday 7th January.

Engraving by Samuel and Nathaniel Buck 1727.

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