Clifton Hall in the civil parish of Clifton

Clifton, Cumbria

Clifton is a small linear village and civil parish south east of Penrith in Cumbria, England.-History and geography:The civil parish of Clifton has its western boundary defined by the River Lowther, to the north and east lie the civil parishes of Brougham and Great Strickland, to the south is the...

, Cumbria

Cumbria

Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...

, England, was a 15th century fortified manor house which was home to the Clifton family for almost 600 years. Only the tower block now survives as small pele tower which stands on its own beside a farmyard, next to the M6

M6 motorway

The M6 motorway runs from junction 19 of the M1 at the Catthorpe Interchange, near Rugby via Birmingham then heads north, passing Stoke-on-Trent, Manchester, Preston, Carlisle and terminating at the Gretna junction . Here, just short of the Scottish border it becomes the A74 which continues to...

 motorway.

In its design, the Hall does not have the usual massive walls associated with such towers and it is thought that it was built in the 16th century. The tower measures 33 ft (10.1 m) by 26 ft (7.9 m) and comprises three floors, with the ground floor being divided into a number of smaller rooms.

At Clifton Hall, the windows are larger than in some of the other older peles; there is also a newel

Newel

A newel, also called a central pole, is an upright post that supports the handrail of a stair banister. In stairs having straight flights it is the principal post at the foot of the staircase, but it can also be used for the intermediate posts on landings and at the top of a staircase...

 stair in the south-west corner leading upstairs and to the roof. Some archaeological excavations have uncovered the remains of a Medieval hall and cross-wing. The present tower replaced the cross-wing and in the 17th century a new larger hall was built on the south side. Some restoration work was carried out on the building in 1979.

This site is a scheduled monument and is now in the care of English Heritage

English Heritage

English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...

.