High Head Castle
Encyclopedia
High Head Castle is a large fortified manor house
in the English
county of Cumbria
. It is located between Carlisle and Penrith
. The house is now little more than a ruin with just the mere exterior walls and certain foundations surviving. It is currently privately owned, and the owners have now for some time been trying to restore it to its former glory.
The site was originally occupied by the Kings Castle in the Forest of Inglewood. The earliest written record is of the original castle is from 1272. This castle was a medieval square pele tower within a curtain wall
.
The first known occupants of the house were the Richmond family who bought and extended the house in the 16th century. Only its western wing remains, with its unmistakable straight headed mullioned windows with round-arched lights under hood moulds, although attached to the south-west corner of this wing is the basement of a square tower which presents evidence of 14th century work.
The house was later sold to the Baron Brougham and Vaux
who made some alterations. One member of the family, H. Richmond Brougham, had a new facade built in 1744-8. It is eleven bays long, with a pedimented three-bay centre, and a walled front garden with coupled Ionic columns. When the Broughams no longer required the house they rented it out for some time. The only known people to have rented it were the Cavaghan family (co-foundeders of Cavaghan & Gray
) who lived in the house for around three years during the thirties.
The castle was largely destroyed by fire in 1956, and is now little more than a shell. Both the medieval wing and the principal house are Grade 2 listed. Adjacent is a fine stable quadrangle with heavy rustication, a steep pediment gable and cupola.
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
in the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
county of 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...
. It is located between Carlisle and Penrith
Penrith, Cumbria
Penrith was an urban district between 1894 and 1974, when it was merged into Eden District.The authority's area was coterminous with the civil parish of Penrith although when the council was abolished Penrith became an unparished area....
. The house is now little more than a ruin with just the mere exterior walls and certain foundations surviving. It is currently privately owned, and the owners have now for some time been trying to restore it to its former glory.
The site was originally occupied by the Kings Castle in the Forest of Inglewood. The earliest written record is of the original castle is from 1272. This castle was a medieval square pele tower within a curtain wall
Curtain wall (fortification)
A curtain wall is a defensive wall between two bastions of a castle or fortress.In earlier designs of castle the curtain walls were often built to a considerable height and were fronted by a ditch or moat to make assault difficult....
.
The first known occupants of the house were the Richmond family who bought and extended the house in the 16th century. Only its western wing remains, with its unmistakable straight headed mullioned windows with round-arched lights under hood moulds, although attached to the south-west corner of this wing is the basement of a square tower which presents evidence of 14th century work.
The house was later sold to the Baron Brougham and Vaux
Baron Brougham and Vaux
Baron Brougham and Vaux , of Brougham in the County of Westmorland and of High Head Castle in the County of Cumberland, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1860 for the lawyer, Whig politician and former Lord Chancellor Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux,...
who made some alterations. One member of the family, H. Richmond Brougham, had a new facade built in 1744-8. It is eleven bays long, with a pedimented three-bay centre, and a walled front garden with coupled Ionic columns. When the Broughams no longer required the house they rented it out for some time. The only known people to have rented it were the Cavaghan family (co-foundeders of Cavaghan & Gray
Cavaghan & Gray
Cavaghan & Gray is a food manufacturing business based in Carlisle, England, which is now owned by Northern Foods. Up until 2004, when the London Road factory closed, it was the largest employer in Carlisle. The firm still has sites at Eastern Way and Durranhill Riverside...
) who lived in the house for around three years during the thirties.
The castle was largely destroyed by fire in 1956, and is now little more than a shell. Both the medieval wing and the principal house are Grade 2 listed. Adjacent is a fine stable quadrangle with heavy rustication, a steep pediment gable and cupola.