Gleaston Castle, Aldingham

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Glaiston; Muchland; Gleason

In the civil parish of Aldingham.
In the historic county of Lancashire (Modern Authority of Cumbria, 1974 county of Cumbria).

Castle, now in ruins, rectangular in plan with towers to angles, three surviving. Probably early C14 in date, dismantled in 1458, and abandoned in the late C15. The west and south towers are in good condition, but the rest of the castle is rather poor. It is made from dressed stone with some ashlar dressings. Probably never fully completed.

This site has been described as a;
Masonry Castle.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Masonry ruins/remnants 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 75785)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SD26157145

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; 38056

County Sites and Monuments Record number; 2330

• Web site links
  • http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_north/96/gleastoncastle.htm
    http://www.visitcumbria.com/sl/gleastoncastle.htm
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 1998, The Castles and Tower Houses of Cumbria (Malvern) p52-3
    Perriam, Denis and Robinson, John, 1998, The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria (CWAAS) p381-3
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p269
    Jackson, M.J.,1990, Castles of Cumbria (Carel Press) p56-7
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p245
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p234
    Gibson, Leslie Irving, 1977, Lancashire Castles and Towers (Dalesman Books)
    Pevsner, Nikolaus, 1969, Lancashire, 2. The rural north (Harmondsworth) p130
    Farrer, William and Brownbill, J. (eds), 1914, VCH Lancaster Vol8 p321-4
    Curwen, J.F., 1913, Castles and Fortified Towers of Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire North of the Sands (Kendal) p142-4
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Fishwick, 1907, in Fishwick and Ditchfield (eds), Memorials of Old Lancashire Vol2 p11
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p187-8
    Barber, H., 1894, Furness and Cartmel Notes p114-9
    Roper, W.O., 1880, Churches, Castles and Ancient Halls of North Lancashire Vol1 p110-2
    West, T., 1805, Antiquites of Furness p81-2, 211, 310, 386-8
    Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol1 p150
• Journal Articles
  • 1924, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol24 p260-5, 361-4
    Kendall, 1906, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol6 p184-90
    Kendall, 1903-4, Barrow Naturalist Field Club Vol17 p65-9
    Fishwick, H., 1901, 'The Old Castles of Lancashire.' Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society Vol19 p64-5
    Cowper, H. Swainson, 1893-4, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol13 p37-49
    Hayman, 1882, The Antiquary Vol5 p102-4 [slight]
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p272
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol5 p222