GATEHOUSE
The comprehensive gazetteer and bibliography of the medieval castles, fortifications and palaces of England, Wales, the Islands.
 
 
Home
The listings
Other Info
Books
Links
Downloads
Contact
 
Print Page 
 
Next Record 
Previous Record 
Back to list 

Tindale Tarn House

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Ternehouse; The terne howse

In the civil parish of Midgeholme.
In the historic county of Cumberland.
Modern Authority of Cumbria.
1974 county of Cumbria.
Medieval County of Cumberland.

OS Map Grid Reference: NY60555848
Latitude 54.91943° Longitude -2.61688°

Tindale Tarn House has been described as a certain Pele Tower.

There are masonry ruins/remnants remains.

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

Description

Farmhouse, formerly tower house. Late C15 for Humphrey, Lord Dacre, with extensions and alterations dated 1843 over entrance and initials T.(&) M.H. on inscribed stone set into wall. Calciferous sandstone rubble walls, over one metre thick and in places 2 metres thick in tower; wall of tower raised by about 3 courses when gabled roof added 1843; graduated slate roof with eaves modillions, yellow brick chimney stacks on stone bases. 2 storeys; 3-bay tower with 2-bay extension under common roof. Tower has projecting stone gabled porch with plank door and dated lintel. Angle buttress to left, with probable filled entrance between this and porch. Original small filled ground floor window to right; small windows above are 1843. Rear wall has large footing stones and plinth. Original ground floor entrance is filled; windows all of 1843. Extension left has plank door with plain stone surround. Ground floor 2-light sash windows with glazing bars; similar 2-pane sashes above. Rear wall includes older stonework, which may be from the curtain wall referred to by Curwen. See Transactions Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society, xi, p234, which refers to a document of 1485 mentioning 'a new built house called Ternehouse'. Overlooks Tindale Tarn and on a good defensive site. (Listed Building Report)

Considerable portions of an old pele, with its curtain walls, remain incorporated into farmbuildings dated 1823 (Curwen).
The remains of the peel abut the west side of Tarn House. It is in a good state of repair. Traces of the barmkin wall are still visible incorporated in the fabric of the house (F1 BHP 03-JUL-72). (PastScape)

Stonehouse.
Curwen describes as a pele tower with curtain walls. Curwen gives no source for his statements, but may have visited the site.
1485 Ipm of Humfrey Dacre gives a reference to a 'new built house there called Ternehouse wch (is) ...for getting of Seacole' (TCWAAS (2), xi, 234 and CRO Carlisle Ca/1485). There are other 17th century references in Household Accounts of Naworth and TCWAAS (2) xix, 108.
Important site because there is a firm date for the building. Extremely roughly coursed unsquared rubble. There may have been a tower at the west end and there may be remains of curtain walls. (Perriam and Robinson 1998)
Comments

Shown on Saxton's map of 1579 as a tower.
A building, in fact, originally of baronial status, although not a residence used by the Dacre lords but an administrative building for exploiting their estates, initially for coal mining (see Industrial History of Cumbria) and, seemingly, for cheese making in some scale in the C17.
The steward of the Dacre's may have actually been a 'gentleman' (Such a position may well have gone to a younger son of a local minor knight.) but the esteem of the family would require a reasonable status building, possibly with some martial features (like a crenellated tower), it is also likely that the building needed some defence to protect the moneys held in it and as a probably target for any local discontent.
Links to archaeological and architectural databases, mapping and other online resources

Data >
PastScape   County HER       Listing   I. O. E.
Maps >
Streetmap   NLS maps   Where's the path   Old-Maps      
Data/Maps > 
Magic   V. O. B.   Geology   LiDAR   Open Domesday  
Air Photos > 
Bing Maps   Google Maps   Getmapping   ZoomEarth      
Photos >
CastleFacts   Geograph   Flickr   Panoramio      

Sources of information, references and further reading
Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant.
It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from ANY site without proper recording and reporting.
Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.
The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
The author and compiler of Gatehouse does not receive any income from the site and funds it himself. The information within this site is provided freely for educational purposes only.
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.
Please help to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting Gatehouse if you see errors, can add information or have suggestions for improvements in functality and design.
Help is acknowledged.
*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 26/07/2017 09:21:29

Home | Books | Links | Fortifications and Castles | Other Information | Help | Downloads | Author Information | Contact
¤¤¤¤¤