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 

Skinburness

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;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

In the civil parish of Silloth On Solway.
In the historic county of Cumberland.
Modern Authority of Cumbria.
1974 county of Cumbria.
Medieval County of Cumberland.

OS Map Grid Reference: NY13585634
Latitude 54.89430° Longitude -3.34896°

Skinburness has been described as a Pele Tower although is doubtful that it was such, and also as a probable Bastle.

There are uncertain remains.

Description

Tower or stonehouse site.
Shown as a tower symbol on the 1590 map.
Further work necessary to establish the site. (Perriam and Robinson 1998)
Comments

It is difficult to really known what the symbols on the 1590 map actually meant. They mainly refer to sites that are now lost and which were never gentry status sites. This suggests these were not pele towers. It is more likely they were some form of bastle or stonehouse. The lack of survival of such houses in this area, as opposed to their fairly frequent survival in the higher Pennine lands, may reflect the good agricultural quality of this land producing wealth (once the area was politically stabilised and decriminalised) which allowed for the building of brand new farmhouses and farmbuildings in the C18/C19.
Presumably this was at or near to the borough of Skinburgh which was swept out to sea in 1305, though some earthworks of that town may remain. The 'tower' post-dated the town.
PastScape records 'Air photographs reveal earthworks that may be the remains of substantial walls (centred at NY 1358 5634), which may be part of the port described above. There is also evidence of possible building foundations (NY 1362 5639) and it is uncertain whether these are associated with the Grange or port. (Oblique aerial photograph reference number NMR NY1356/25 (17339/10) 27-JUL-1999)' Are any of these possible buried walls related to this lost building?
Either of the features seen on an air photograph may have been this tower. The 'tower' is not mentioned in the online NMR record or listed, as a defensible building, in the Cumbria HER mapping data. It may be recorded in the paper versions of these records.
Links to archaeological and architectural databases, mapping and other online resources

Data >
PastScape                
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.
This record last updated 26/07/2017 09:21:53

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