High Head Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Highhead; Heyheved; Hehed; Heighheved; Heghaved; Hyghett; Highened; Highed; Highyate; Hegatcastle; Highgate

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

High Head house rebuilt 1748 for H Richmond Brougham incorporating C16 work. It is on the site of a castle founded in 1326 and given a licence to crenellate, to William Lengleys, in 1342. Nothing of C14 castle survives, and there are no earthworks associated with it. A hall was built in 1550. Burnt in 1956 and since a ruin, though plans have been made to restore it.

This site has been described as a;
Fortified Manor House.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Nothing visible remains.

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1342 Oct 6.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NY40355433

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; 11369

County Sites and Monuments Record number; 4510

• Web site links
  • http://www.ihbc.org.uk/context_archive/22/High%20Head%20Castle.htm
    http://www.visitcumbria.com/pen/highheadcastle.htm
• Books
  • Perriam, Denis and Robinson, John, 1998, The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria (CWAAS) p206-7
    Salter, Mike, 1998, The Castles and Tower Houses of Cumbria (Malvern) p60
    Emery, Anthony, 1996, Greater Medieval Houses Vol1 (Cambridge) p263
    Jackson, M.J.,1990, Castles of Cumbria (Carel Press) p61-2 [plan]
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p93
    Hugill, Robert, 1977, Castles and Peles of Cumberland and Westmorland (Newcastle; Frank Graham) p94-5
    Curwen, J.F., 1913, Castles and Fortified Towers of Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire North of the Sands (Kendal) p189, 209-10
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p316-7
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p413
    Lysons, D. and S., 1816, Magna Britannia Vol4 Cumberland p. cciii-ccvi, 93 [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.asp?pubid=404]
    Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol1 p41
• Journal Articles
  • 20-1-1984; 3-2-1985; 23-1-1987; 20-10-1989, Cumberland News
    Martindale, 1911, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol11 p379-84
    Cory, 1874-5, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol2 p105-8
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Cal. of Inquistions, Miscellaneous (Chancery) 2 (1307-49)
    Calendar of Patent Rolls (1340-43) p536
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/cumbeng.html#cumb21]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p97