Thistlewood Farmhouse (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;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

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

OS Map Grid Reference: NY39604361
Latitude 54.78381° Longitude -2.94062°

Thistlewood Farmhouse has been described as a certain Pele Tower.

There are major building remains.

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

Description

Farmhouse consisting of a fortified tower and an extension. It was probably built in the early C15 with C16 alterations and the extension was built in the late C17. The tower has thick red sandstone rubble walls with flush quoins, now under a gabled red sandstone slate roof with small banded red sandstone chimney stacks. The extension has dark-pink coursed sandstone rubble walls with flush cream sandstone quoins and eaves cornice, on chamfered plinth. The roof is of Welsh slate with bottom courses of sandstone slate. There are banded red sandstone chimney stacks. The tower is rectangular and two storeys high and the extension is also two storeys high, with four bays. (PastScape)

Fortified tower and extension. Probably early C15 with C16 alterations and late C17 extension. Tower has thick red sandstone rubble walls with flush quoins, now under gabled red sandstone slate roof with small banded red sandstone chimney stacks. Extension of dark-pink coursed sandstone rubble walls with flush cream sandstone quoins and eaves cornice, on chamfered plinth. Welsh slate roof with bottom courses of sandstone slate; banded red sandstone chimney stacks. Rectangular tower of 2 storeys over basement, with lower 2-storey, 4-bay extension. Tower has basement loops; the other small original windows at various levels have been blocked and replaced by 2- and 3-light late C16 stone-mullioned windows under hoodmoulds. Extension has central C20 door in chamfered C17 surround under drip mould. 2-light stone-mullioned windows under drip moulds. Interior of the tower is thought to be of some interest but unable to gain access at the time of survey. Small single-storey additions to tower are not of interest. (Listed Building Report)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1326687
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 510864.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 4516.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Visit Cumbria
  Old Cumbria Gazetteer
Books
- Perriam, Denis and Robinson, John, 1998, The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria (Kendal: CWAAS Extra Series 29) p. 221 (plan)
  Salter, Mike, 1998, The Castles and Tower Houses of Cumbria (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 90
  Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 48 (slight)
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 90
  Pevsner, N., 1967, Buildings of England: Cumberland and Westmorland (Harmondsworth: Penguin) p. 146
  Bewley, E.T., 1902, The Bewleys of Cumberland p. 33-6 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Collingwood, W.G., 1923, 'An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments of Cumberland' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol. 23 p. 240 online copy

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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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