By Desmond Holmes

The earliest documentary evidence we have for the castles of the Barony of Kendal is the treaty of 1216 made between Gilbert FitzReinfred, Baron of Kendal, and King John. Gilbert supported the barons’ rebellion of 1215 against King John; its failure resulted in his suing for peace and the imposition by John of a crippling fine and the seizure of Gilbert’s fortresses, the castles of Morhull and Kendal.

The site of Morhull was lost. Historians, including the late Dr William Farrer, suggested that it probably lay somewhere in the vicinity of Dockacres Farm. As a result of research done by Paul Booth and members of his group, investigations were made in the Dockacres area. There was discovered a concentration of medieval pottery and finds which archaeologists now accept as proof of the existence of a large and important household during the medieval period. Whether the complex of buildings listed in an Inquisition of 1347 were of stone or timber cannot be ascertained, the site having been completely destroyed by gravel workings.

Tom Clare, an archaeologist who worked on the rescue excavations, is convinced that the buildings were entirely of timber construction and consequently would have left no remains. It should be noted, however, that there are accounts of the 18th and early 20th centuries of the remains of mortared freestone walls on the site. It is perhaps possible that these walls had replaced the pallisades of an early motte and bailey castle.

Fortunately at Kendal, the caput of the Barony, there are substantial remains of two castles. A motte and bailey, probably Norman, stands on high ground 730 yards west of Highgate. The large level area on its western and northern flanks is the former Beast Banks cattle fairground. This castle consisting of an earthen mound protecting a triangular shaped bailey has not been excavated and its builder is not known. This type of structure was in widespread use during the Norman period and good examples can be seen at Sedbergh, Halton, and Hornby. It was probably replaced in the late 11th or early 12th century by the stone castle which stands on the hill to the east of the town.

Built on a site dominating the borough of Kendal and the upper Kent Valley, it takes the form of an enclosure castle. It relied on the strength and height of a roughly circular curtain wall surrounded by a deep dry ditch to protect the residential and domestic buildings built within the courtyard or bailey. There is no evidence of a keep but there are substantial remains of four wall towers. The southern tower is the largest and could have provided accommodation for the castle’s constable, the official responsible for the defence and maintenance of the castle. It may have been the tower which in 1409 Agnes, the widow of John Parr (Lord of Kendal), was awarded as part of her dower described as the ’Troutebeck tower ‘, together with a granary and shares in a stable and dovecote, all within the castle.

The entrance to the castle was from the north through a gatehouse of which very little remains. Excavations have revealed it had round fronted towers. It would probably have had a portcullis, and a drawbridge would have been required to cross the ditch. The ruins of the hall built on cellars stands to the east of the gatehouse site. The Royal Commission Survey of 1956 suggests a 14th century date. The earlier hall and domestic buildings may have been originally of timber. A complete excavation of the castle courtyard could give us much more information.

Gilbert FitzReinfred acquired the Barony of Kendal by his marriage to Heloise de Lancaster, whose ancestors had been Lords of Kendal from at least the early 12th century. Their descendants, the Brus, Roos, and Parr families continued to hold Kendal castle until 1571 when William Parr, Marquis of Northampton, died without legal heirs. A survey made in 1572 for his widow Helen details the ruinous state of the castle; only the hall block and the dove cote remained within the courtyard. Helen exchanged her dower rights with Queen Elizabeth for lands elsewhere and the Queen disposed of the castle and park lands, separating it from the Barony.

After passing through the hands of numerous owners the castle was acquired by Kendal Corporation and opened to the public to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Jubilee in 1897. William Parr’s sister Katherine, who married Henry VIII, was, according to the 17th century historian Sir Daniel Fleming, born in Kendal castle. Her parents were, however, attached to the court as her father was Comptroller to Henry VIII, and they had a house in Blackfriars near the Royal Palace of Brideswell. If Sir DanieI is correct there must have been compelling reasons for Katherine’s mother to travel north to Kendal for the birth. Queen Katherine died in 1548 at Sudeley castle in Gloucester, the home of her fourth husband, Thomas Seymour. Some years ago her prayer book was acquired for the town and is now on display in Kendal’s Town Hall. A letter from Katherine to her brother William was sold quite recently at Sotheby’s.

The history of the castle suggests that the Parrs, an extremely ambitious family who acquired estates in Northamptonshire and were drawn to the Court, lost interest in Kendal castle as a residence and allowed it to fall into a condition beyond repair.

Notes and Queries

[Ed] Morhull is also spelt Mourholme in other document, hence the name of the Society

Now We Shall Never Know By Tom Clare

The succinct article on the castles of the Barony of Kendal raised again the question of whether Mourholme was of timber or stone. Whilst it is possible some of the stonework reported at earlier times – and sometimes attributed to Roman docks, etc – belonged to the mediaeval structure, no solid evidence was found in the salvage reconnaissance undertaken in 1974. This is, however, not surprising; the portion of the presumed site then remaining being too small to be an indicator of anything other than rubbish pit. Rather than be convinced that the building was wholly of timber, I believe the evidence does not allow us to say what materials were used. One possible clue is, however, the apparent smoothness of the ridge on which Hallsteads barn stood prior to the commencement of quarrying. The barn is thought to have stood on the site of the castle and the smooth character of the ground not usually what we would have expected if the site had once been a substantial masonry structure. But we should not forget that half-timbered buildings usually require light masonry and that the rebuilding of many manor houses in stone in the 14th century and after allow the suspicion of a late use of timber ‘fortifications’ in the area.

Works consulted:

• Nicholson and Burn, History of Westmorland and Cumberland (1777).
• Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, Westmorland (1936)
• William Farrer, Records of Kendale, Vol 1 (1923).
• Tom Clare, Archaeological Sites of the Lake District (1981).

Published in Mourholme Magazine Issue 5 Autumn 1983 and Issue 6 Winter 1983