Holmside Hall (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Holmside Old Hall; Lanchester

In the civil parish of Burnhope.
In the historic county of Durham.
Modern Authority of Durham.
1974 county of County Durham.
Medieval County of County Palatinate of Durham.

OS Map Grid Reference: NZ20594963
Latitude 54.84118° Longitude -1.68070°

Holmside Hall has been described as a certain Fortified Manor House.

There are major building remains.

This is a Grade 2 listed building protected by law*.

Description

Holmside Hall, the ancient seat of the Tempests and Whittinghams is of pre-C15 date. Many traces survive of the old house, the moat being almost entire. The west courtyard wall is original and a line of ancient buildings ran along the north of the courtyard. It is believed that the west end of this range was the chapel. "The house appears to be C19 or C20 in date but in the out-buildings are windows and doors of Medieval date"

The Hall seems to have belonged to a class of mansions inferior to the peel or castle, yet built with some view to defence. Part of the old court-yard is remaining; the Chapel forms the North side, and its West window is still perfect, of two lights under a square label, with the cinquefoil and two blank shields in the spandrils. Above this West window a mutilated figure is fixed in the wall, with a full moony face, and a kind of round helmet or pot en tete. I should almost conjecture this to be a rude piece of Roman sculpture, removed from the Station which may probably have furnished the coins and squared stones used in building this chantry of the Umfrevilles. The original lights of the Hall are narrow, strongly guarded with mullions and iron bars, but the gables have been taken down, and the house enlarged towards the South, and it now presents a confused mass of buildings of very different dates, with outshots and additions on all sides, including in its interior a number of small ill-connected apartments. The moat includes a ruined garden and orchard, and a stone throw to the West stands another small old building defended by its separate moat. The situation is in a hollow flat, and a few centuries ago the gloomy hall of the Tempests must have been nearly immersed in wood and morass. (Surtees)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1329908 , 1185990 , and others
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 24391.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) D11890; D1317.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Wikipedia entry
  Abaroth's World
Books
- Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles and Tower Houses of County Durham (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 34
  Emery, Anthony, 1996, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 1 Northern England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 103
  Corfe, Tom (ed), 1992, 'The Visible Middle Ages' in An Historical Atlas of County Durham p. 28-9
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 139
  Hugill, Robert, 1979, The Castles and Towers of the County of Durham (Newcastle; Frank Graham) p. 57
  Pevsner, N., 1953, Buildings of England: Durham (Harmondsworth) (London) p. 168
  Gould, Chalkley, 1905, 'Ancient Earthworks' in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Durham Vol. 1 (London) p. 356 online copy
  Boyle, J.R., 1892, Comprehensive Guide to the County of Durham: its Castles, Churches, and Manor-Houses (London) p. 450
  Surtees, R., 1816 (1972 Reprint), The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham Vol. 2 p. 324 online transcription
Periodical Articles
- Ryder, P.F., 1987, 'Holmside Hall' Durham Archaeological Journal Vol. 3 p. 89-94
  Hadcock, R.N., 1939, 'A map of mediaeval Northumberland and Durham' Archaeologia Aeliana (ser4) Vol. 16 p. 148-218 esp 200

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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