Middleton Hall

Performance Spaces

Overview

History

Bibliographic Sources

Legend
map legend

Base layers

Data layers

Other Images

17th c. ground plan
17th c. ground plan detail
17th c. view
Approach from the S
Ground plan
View from the SW
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Venue Type & Location

Private Residence

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

Performance Spaces

Great hall

Overview

Situated on elevated ground rising from the E bank of the Lune River near the road N to Penrith, Middleton Hall was a walled, stone rubble manor house built on an H-shaped plan.

Most of the curtain wall as well as the hall block remains.

Performance History

Although household accounts for the Middleton family do not survive, there is evidence that Thomas Middleton patronized a minstrel who toured elsewhere in the mid-15th c. It is possible that the minstrel performed at Middleton for his lord.

Current Status

Privately owned farmhouse.

History of the Venue

14th c. Thomas de Middleton was in posession of the manor in the reign of Edward III (1327--77). House built late 14th c.

15th c. Wings extended E, curtain walls and gatehouse built. Additional windows inserted in the hall.

1542 Renovated and extended by John Middleton.

1647 Hall roof reconstructed.

ca. 1672 Estate sold after death of last direct male descendant John Middleton to Benjamin Middleton (no relation).

18th c. Estate sold to Dr Adam Askew of Newcastle upon Tyne.

1777 'Middleton hall...is now made use of only as a farm-house' (Nicolson & Burn, 257).

early 19th c. Ruinous apart from a section used by a farmer.

ca. 1850 Kitchen block demolished and oak panelling from the guest hall relocated to Conishead Priory.

Record Source

REED York 1.76

Patrons who owned this venue

Name Dates Titles
Middleton, Thomas 0-1480

Bibliographic Sources

View a list of abbreviations.

  • Curwen, John F. 'Middleton Hall, Westmorland.' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society ns 12 (1912): 107–12.
  • 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.
  • Department of the Environment. List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest. Np: Npub, nd.
  • 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. Antiquary on Horseback: the first publication of the collection of the Rev. Thomas Machell, Chaplain to King Charles II towards the history of the Barony of Kendal. Ewbank, Jane M., ed and trans. Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Transactions es 19. Kendal: Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, 1963.
  • Machell, Thomas. Manuscripts of the Reverend Thomas Machell, vicar of Kirkby Thore (d 1698). 5 vols. Np: npub, nd.
  • 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.
  • Taylor, Michael Waistell. Old Manorial Halls of Westmorland and Cumberland. Cumberland and Westmorland Archaeological and Antiquarian Society es. Kendal: Titus Wilson, 1892.