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Pendragon Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Mallerstrang

In the civil parish of Mallerstang.
In the historic county of Westmorland.
Modern Authority of Cumbria.
1974 county of Cumbria.

OS Map Grid Reference: NY78170264
Latitude 54.4182° Longitude -2.3375°

Pendragon Castle has been described as a certain Timber Castle, and also as a certain Masonry Castle, and also as a probable Tower House.

There are masonry ruins/remnants remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*.

Description

Fortified tower-house on a spur with deep ditch from circa 1173 with later additions and alterations. A licence to crenellate was granted in 1309, to Robert Clifford, and it is possible that the castle was enlarged at this time. In 1341 the Scots burnt the castle so severely that it was abandoned. Rebuilt in 1360, the castle was lived in until 1541 but another fire (this time accidental) ruined the building, and it stayed in this condition until extensively restored in 1660 for Lady Anne Clifford. Dismantled c 1685. The tower is now in poor condition with walls 2.5m thick and 8m high. It is 20m square. Surviving earthworks consist of a deep ditch enclosing the site on the side away from the river and with the steep scarp towards the river, forming a roughly circular enclosure. (based on PastScape report)

Pendragon Castle (NY 7817 0264) which is situated on a spur overlooking the River Eden, was surveyed by RCHME in 1993. The tower is north-facing and has a later garderobe tower projecting from its south-west angle. The interior of the tower is choked with debris and there are heaps of turf-covered rubble all around the exterior; despite this a number of the tower's intra-mural vaulted chambers are well preserved. The ditch surrounding the tower encloses an area about 54m in diameter; the tower is situated slightly to west of centre within this. At its widest points the ditch is between 14.5m - 18m and its internal scarp has a maximum depth of 4.8m. The narrow north-west causeway leads to a range of 17th century buildings suggesting that this was a secondary entrance and not the original as RCHME-1936 prefers. A painting by Buck (1736) shows that the foundation mounds to the north-west of the ditch are the remains of the ancillary buildings erected by Anne Clifford in 1660 as part of the restoration of the castle. The remains consist of a linear range of buildings on the river bank within which at least 5 separate rooms can be identified. The overall dimensions of the block are 57m by 8.5m; it is partly overlain by a post medieval field barn and the west wall has been re-used and subsequently rebuilt as a field wall. To the north of the castle, built into the natural slope, is a possible corn-drying kiln. The circular hollow measures 5.3m internally and is a maximum of 1.3m deep. The top of the kiln is surrounded by a small bank of upcast up to 1.8m wide and there is an opening at the front 1.1m wide. About 100m north-east of the tower is a low-lying patch of ground which may have been landscaped to form a pond. On the west side of the Eden is a possible prospect mound overlooking the tower. It seems likely that both these features are related to Anne Clifford's occupancy of the castle. (PastScape–ref. Field Investigators Comments–Amy Lax/01-DEC-1993/RCHME: Howgill Fells Project Phase 2)

The PastScape description of the site seems to miss much of the earlier history. Clearly this started as a ringwork castle with timber buildings in a location which commanded a minor and secondary route through the Pennine hills. It, at some point, gained an Arthurian legendary association - possibly quite early in its history and seems then to have been rebuilt as a masonry castle probably by Robert Clifford about 1309. Quite how much this rebuilding was inspired by Arthurian associations is unknowable but comparison with Tintagel Castle may be informative. The isolated location and limited functional use may be as much the reason for abandonment as any damage by the Scots in the mid C14. Lady Anne Clifford rebuilding was clearly the work of a very particular individual and the rapid abandonment of her new house merely emphasises the isolated location of Pendragon.

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1309 July 16 (Click on the date for details of this licence.).

Links to mapping and other online resources
Data >
PastScape   County HER   Scheduling   Listing   I. O. E.
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Sources of information, references and further reading

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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.
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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.
This record last updated on Friday, May 3, 2013
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