Wharton Hall

Performance Spaces

Overview

History

Bibliographic Sources

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Venue Type & Location

Private Residence

Site Name: Wharton Hall
Location: Wharton Hall
County: Westmorland
Location Type: Countryside - at determined location

Performance Spaces

Great hall

Overview

The limestone tower house of the Wharton family is located in peaceful countryside on the W bank of the River Eden S of Kirkby Stephen.

Partly in ruins, the gatehouse and NE ranges of the courtyard, including the medieval hall, solar and service rooms of the original manor house, remain.

Performance History

Possible performance venue. Performance records from the family's years at Wharton do not survive but entertainers under the Barons' patronage appeared elsewhere in the north in the early 17th c. The family had been principally resident at Healaugh Priory, Yorkshire West Riding, since the late 16th c.

Current Status

Now a privately owned farmhouse.

History of the Venue

ca. 1415 Original hall with cross-wings built by Richard Wharton.

ca. 1540 New 1st floor hall and great kitchen built in the SE wing extension of the original hall by the 1st Baron Wharton.

ca. 1559 SW gatehouse range and NW range built.

1728 Robert Lowther of Mauld's Meaburn, Westmorland, acquired the manor after its confiscation from the 6th Baron & 1st Duke of Wharton.

1777 'The hall is now in ruins and desolate, inhabited by no human creature but a poor hind' (Nicolson and Burns, History and Antiquities 1.561).

ca. 1785 Restoration and conversion of the NE and W wings by James Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale, for use as a farmhouse.

Record Source

REED Cumb/Westmld/Glouc 71, 75, 80, 86, 90, 100, 102, 122, 129, 131--2, 177, 202, 204, 208

Patrons who owned this venue

Name Dates Titles
Wharton, Philip 1555-1625 3rd Baron
Wharton, Philip 1613-1696 4th Baron

Bibliographic Sources

View a list of abbreviations.

  • Curwen, John F. The Castles and Fortified Towers of Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire North-of-the-Sands. Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, es. Kendal: Titus Wilson, 1913.
  • Curwen, John F. 'Wharton Hall, Westmorland.' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society ns 2 (1902): 257–63.
  • Emery, Anthony. Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales 1300–1500. 3 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1996–2006.
  • Hugill, Robert. Castles and Peles of Cumberland and Westmorland. Newcastle upon Tyne: Frank Graham, 1977.
  • King, David J. Cathcart. Castellarium Anglicanum: An Index and Bibliography of the Castles in England, Wales and the Islands. 2 vols. Millwood, NY, London and Nendeln, Liechtenstein: Kraus International Publications, 1983.
  • Mackenzie, James D. The Castles of England: Their Story and Structure. 2 vols. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1896.
  • Nicolson, Joseph, and Richard Burn. The History and Antiquities of the Counties of Westmorland and Cumberland. 2 vols. London: W. Strahan & T. Cadell, 1777.
  • Perriam, D.R., and J. Robinson. The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria: An Illustrated Gazetteer and Research Guide. Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, es. Kendal: Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, 1998.
  • Pettifer, Adrian. English Castles: A Guide by Counties. Woodbridge: The Boydell P, 1995.
  • Pevsner, Nikolaus. Cumberland and Westmorland. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth, Midd: Penguin Books, 1967.
  • Robinson, John Martin. A Guide to the Country Houses of the North West. London: Constable, 1991.
  • Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England. An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Westmorland. London: HMSO, 1936.
  • Simpson, Rev. Dr. 'Wharton Hall and the Wharton Family.' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society os 1 (1867): 224–37.
  • Woodhouse, Adrian. 'Smythson Revisited.' Country Life 185 (26 Dec. 1991): 36–9.