Dacre Castle

In the civil parish of Dacre.
In the historic county of Cumberland (Modern Authority of Cumbria, 1974 county of Cumbria).

Three storey tower house you see today was probably built in the mid C14 to replace the original, of circa 1307 when William de Dacre may have been given a licence to crenellate. (This licence was for for Dunmallogt not Dacre but does show he was considering building at time, but it is likely the earlier building predated 1307) This was so badly damaged by the Scots in 1317 that it required a complete rebuild. Dacre seems to have been abandoned for the most part of C16 and C17, until in 1674 Thomas Lennard, Lord Dacre, made it habitable once again. Some earthworks of a partly overlain moat.

This site has been described as a;
Tower House.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Major remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This site is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 73750)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NY46032648

Modern Map from Good for landscape form and features	Modern Map from Good for general location
Air Photo from	1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 11089

County Sites and Monuments Record number; 2949

• Web site links
  • http://www.visitcumbria.com/pen/dacrecas.htm
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 1998, The Castles and Tower Houses of Cumbria (Malvern) p45
    Perriam, Denis and Robinson, John, 1998, The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria (CWAAS) p182-3
    Emery, Anthony, 1996, Greater Medieval Houses Vol1 (Cambridge) p204
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p40
    Jackson, M.J.,1990, Castles of Cumbria (Carel Press) p51-2 [plan]
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p84
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p217
    Hugill, Robert, 1977, Castles and Peles of Cumberland and Westmorland (Newcastle; Frank Graham) p77-80
    Pevsner, Nikolaus, 1967, Buildings of England: Cumberland and Westmorland (Harmondsworth) p117
    Curwen, J.F., 1913, Castles and Fortified Towers of Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire North of the Sands (Kendal) p191,269-72
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p308-10
    Taylor, M.W., 1892, Old Manorial Halls of Westmorland and Cumberland (CWAAS extra series Vol8) p278-286
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1853, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol2 p213-6
    Jefferson, S., 1840, History of Cumberland (Carlisle) Vol1 p176-81
    Lysons, D. and S., 1816, Magna Britannia Vol4 Cumberland p. cciii-ccvi [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.asp?pubid=404]
    West, T., 1805, Antiquites of Furness p345-7
    Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol1 p39
• Journal Articles
  • 1983, Medieval Archaeology Vol27 p172
    Leech, R.H., 1982, 'Dacre Castle' 129th Annual Meeting, Cumbria and Lake District 1982, CAA p28
    1947, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol47 p226-7
    Oswald, 1929, Country Life Vol65 p480-6
    Taylor, 1866-73, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol1 p140-7
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/cumbeng.html#cumb17]