Dalton in Furness

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Dalton Castle

In the civil parish of Dalton Town With Newton.
In the historic county of Lancashire (Modern Authority of Cumbria, 1974 county of Cumbria).

Three storey pele tower built between 1314 and 1360. Repaired in 1545 and used as a prison and then courtroom. Altered and repaired in C19, and now used as museum. National Trust Project Reference No.: 9245 refers to an "Excavation of Dalton Castle dungeon". However, none of the major sources listed in the National Trust site bibliography mentions any form of archaeological intervention at the Castle. Two alternative possiblities seem to exist: Firstly that the excavation referred to concerns the discovery of a passage in the thickness of the north wall by a workman removing "the decayed joists of that portion of the ground floor immediately above the dungeon"in 1906 (Gaythorpe, 1910, p323), or, secondly, that a reference made by Close in 1805 (Ibid. p317), to "a deep excavation called the dungeon..." has been misinterpreted.

This site has been described as a;
Pele Tower.
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 388510)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SD22617394

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 38203

Web site links

http://www.visitcumbria.com/sl/dalcas.htm
http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_north/96/daltoncastle.htm

Books

Salter, Mike, 1998, The Castles and Tower Houses of Cumbria (Malvern) p47
Perriam, Denis and Robinson, John, 1998, The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria (CWAAS) p381
Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p269
Cope, Jean, 1991, Castles in Cumbria (Cicerone Press) p118-20
Jackson, M.J.,1990, Castles of Cumbria (Carel Press) p52
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p245
Gibson, Leslie Irving, 1977, Lancashire Castles and Towers (Dalesman Books)
Pevsner, Nikolaus, 1969, Lancashire, 2. The rural north (Harmondsworth) p112
Farrer, William and Brownbill, J. (eds), 1914, VCH Lancaster Vol8 p308-309
Curwen, J.F., 1913, Castles and Fortified Towers of Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire North of the Sands (Kendal) p191, 274-5
Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
Fishwick, 1907, in Fishwick and Ditchfield (eds), Memorials of Old Lancashire Vol2 p18-19
Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p184-5
West, T., 1805, Antiquites of Furness p345-7

Journal Articles

Melville, J., 1971, 'Dalton Castle' Archaeological Journal Vol127 p266-7
Kelly, 1929, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol29 p234-41
Gaythorpe, H., 1910, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol10 p312-30
Fishwick, H., 1901, 'The Old Castles of Lancashire.' Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society Vol19 p65-6

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The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English Heritage and other individuals and organisations.

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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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