Yanwath Hall

Performance Spaces

Overview

History

Bibliographic Sources

Legend
map legend

Base layers

Data layers

Other Images

17th c. ground plan
Approach
Ground plan
Tag this record 

Venue Type & Location

Private Residence

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

Performance Spaces

Great hall

Overview

A fortified pink sandstone tower house on the S side of the River Eamont, close to the junction of the medieval route from York to Carlisle and the main road N from Kendal.

Regarded as one of the finest fortified manor houses in the country, Yanwath has 3 of the 4 wings of the courtyard remaining.

Performance History

Probable performance venue. No Dudley household records survive but entertainers under the family's patronage performed elsewhere in the late 16th c./early 17th c.

Current Status

Still part of the Lowther estate, now occupied as a farmhouse.

History of the Venue

1322 Pele tower built by John de Sutton.

15th c. 2-storey hall range along the S built by the Threlkeld family.

1520 Thomas Dudley acquired the estate through marriage to Grace, daughter & coheiress of Sir Lancelot Threlkeld of Threlkeld. Hall block partly rebuilt and enlarged.

Late 16th c. Hall subdivided horizontally, with the original roof visible only on the upper level. E side of E range and N and S walls of kitchen rebuilt; N wing built.

1654 Property purchased by Sir John Lowther from Thomas Dudley's son Christopher.

1671 Lowthers took possession of the house, now ruinous.

Record Source

REED Coventry 310; Cumb/Westmld/Glouc 69

Patrons who owned this venue

Name Dates Titles
Dudley, Edmund 1543-1614
Dudley, Thomas 0-1623

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.
  • 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.
  • Machell, Thomas. Manuscripts of the Reverend Thomas Machell, vicar of Kirkby Thore (d 1698). 5 vols. Np: npub, nd.
  • Mackenzie, James D. The Castles of England: Their Story and Structure. 2 vols. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1896.
  • 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.
  • 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, W. Douglas. 'Yanwath Hall.' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society ns 44 (1945): 55–67.
  • Somerset Fry, Plantagenet. Castles of the British Isles. New York: Dorset P, 1990.
  • Taylor, Michael W. 'Yanwath Hall, Westmorland.' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society os 1 (1867): 48–59.
  • Tipping, H. Avray. English Homes: Period I – Vol. 1 Norman and Plantagenet 1066–1485. 9 vols. London: Country Life, 1921.