Pendragon Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Mallerstrang

In the civil parish of Mallerstang.
In the historic county of Westmorland (Modern Authority of Cumbria, 1974 county of Cumbria).

Fortified tower-house on a spur with deep ditch from circa 1173 with later additions and alterations. A licence to crenelate was granted in 1309, to Robert Clifford, and it is possible that the castle was enlarged at this time. In 1341 the Scots burnt the castle so severely that it was abandoned. Rebuilt in 1360, the castle was lived in until 1541 but another fire (this time accidental) ruined the building, and it stayed in this condition until extensively restored in 1660 for Lady Anne Clifford. Dismantled c 1685. The tower is now in poor condition with walls 2.5m thick and 8m high. It is 20m square. Surviving earthworks consist of a deep ditch enclosing the site on the side away from the river and with the steep scarp towards the river, forming a roughly circular enclosure.

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

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1309 July 16.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This site is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 73359)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NY78170264

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; 14759

County Sites and Monuments Record number; 02003

• Web site links
  • http://members.rott.chello.nl/tjemmes/pen.html
    http://www.castlexplorer.co.uk/england/pendragon/pendragon.php#castle
    http://www.visitcumbria.com/pen/pendragon.htm
• Books
  • Perriam, Denis and Robinson, John, 1998, The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria (CWAAS) p300-1
    Salter, Mike, 1998, The Castles and Tower Houses of Cumbria (Malvern) p79
    Emery, Anthony, 1996, Greater Medieval Houses Vol1 (Cambridge) p263
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p271
    Cope, Jean, 1991, Castles in Cumbria (Cicerone Press) p76-7
    Jackson, M.J.,1990, Castles of Cumbria (Carel Press) p77-9 [plan]
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p493
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p274
    Hugill, Robert, 1977, Castles and Peles of Cumberland and Westmorland (Newcastle; Frank Graham) p154-5
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker) p274-5
    Pevsner, Nikolaus, 1967, Buildings of England: Cumberland and Westmorland (Harmondsworth) p275
    Thompson, M., 1965, Mallerstang, A Westmorland Dale p13-18
    RCHME, 1936, An inventory of the historical monuments in Westmorland (HMSO) p163-4
    Curwen, J.F., 1932, Later Records of North Westmorland p56,102,121-2,282
    Curwen, J.F., 1913, Castles and Fortified Towers of Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire North of the Sands (Kendal) p66-7, 120-4, 454
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p291-2
    Taylor, M.W., 1892, The Old Manorial Halls of Westmorland and Cumberland (CWAAS extra series Vol8) p33-5
    Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol2 p312
• Journal Articles
  • 17-10-1989, The Independent
    1908, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle Vol3 p258-65
    1902, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol2 p408-9
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/durhameng.html#west4]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p484
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol5 p146
• Other sources and unpublished works (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • Coulson, C., Handlist of English Royal Licences to Crenellate 1200-1578