Piel Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Fouldry; The Peel of Fouldry; The Pile of Fotheray; Fowdray; Peele

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

Originally fortified in the Reign of King Stephen (1135-54). A licence to crenellate was granted in 1327 to the Abbot and Convent of Furness and the visible remains probably date from that period. Dismantled 1403 and partly rebuilt circa 1429, The castle was ruinous by 1537. It was renovated in the mid C19. The monument is an enclosure castle consisting of a keep, gatehouse, inner and outer baileys, an inner and outer moat, curtain walls and towers. Excavations and survey in 1983-4 produced very few remains of medieval occupation, but showed that there was more than one building phase. Cobble rubble with red sandstone dressings. Incomplete 3-storey keep now of 2 long cells with north gatehouse; east side collapsed. Inner defence on 2 sides has gatehouse to west and corner towers. Less complete outer bailey with section of wall and freestanding towers linked by mound and ditch. Keep: chamfered plinth; offset diagonal buttresses and mid-point buttresses; pointed, 2-light windows originally with quatrefoils. Vaulted gatehouse has moulded, pointed arch with clinging figure carved on keystone; hexagonal clasping buttresses. Internal spiral stair to left is lit by slits each side of the buttress; wall bows out at another spiral stair on right return. Projection at south-east corner has different floor levels. Vaulted look-outs at corners of parapet. Inner defence: 2-storey west gatehouse with pointed arches and 2 flights of steps against wall to north; north-west tower is 5-sided. Furness Abbey engaged in much trade through Piel Harbour and fortified this site soon after the Scottish invasions of 1316 and 1322. The castle provided a secure warehouse for contraband goods including Flemish wool. Henry IV briefly took possession but not before the abbots had the roof stripped to ensure the King did not install revenue men. In 1487 Lambert Simnel and an army of mercenaries landed at Piel intending to dethrone Henry VII; their march ended in defeat at the Battle of Stoke.

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.

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1327 Sept 26.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This site is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 388354)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SD232636

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; 37706

County Sites and Monuments Record number; 2618

• Web site links
  • http://www.visitcumbria.com/sl/pielcas.htm
    http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_north/96/pielcastle.htm
    http://www.lancshalls.co.uk/Barrow/pielcastle.htm
    http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/conProperty.158
• Books
  • Yates, Sarah (ed), 2002, Heritage Unlocked; Guide to free sites in the North West (English Heritage) p40-1
    Perriam, Denis and Robinson, John, 1998, The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria (CWAAS) 390-1
    Salter, Mike, 1998, The Castles and Tower Houses of Cumbria (Malvern) p82-3
    Emery, Anthony, 1996, Greater Medieval Houses Vol1 (Cambridge) p240, 263
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p272
    Cope, Jean, 1991, Castles in Cumbria (Cicerone Press) p78-81
    Jackson, M.J.,1990, Castles of Cumbria (Carel Press) p81-2 [plan]
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p247
    Gibson, Leslie Irving, 1977, Lancashire Castles and Towers (Dalesman Books)
    Colvin, H.M., Ransome, D.R. and Summerson, John, 1975, The history of the King's Works, Vol3: 1485-1660 (part 1) (London) p179n
    Pevsner, Nikolaus, 1969, Lancashire, 2. The rural north (Harmondsworth) p189-90
    Farrer, William and Brownbill, J. (eds), 1914, VCH Lancaster Vol8 p309-11
    Curwen, J.F., 1913, Castles and Fortified Towers of Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire North of the Sands (Kendal) p188, 224-6
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Fishwick, 1907, in Fishwick and Ditchfield (eds), Memorials of Old Lancashire Vol2 p17-18
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p185-7
    Roper, W.O., 1880, Churches, Castles and Ancient Halls of North Lancashire Vol1 p192-32
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p408
    West, T., 1805, Antiquites of Furness p367-74
    Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol1 p154
• Journal Articles
  • Newman, R., 1987, ‘Excavations and survey at Piel Castle, near Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol87 p101-116 [plan]
    Youngs, S.M., Clark, J. and Barry, T.B., 1985, ‘Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1984' Medieval Archaeology Vol29 p168
    Newman R., 1984?, ‘Excavation at Piel Castle, Cumbria, 1983' R Newman, Newsbulletin, CBA Group 3 p18-19
    Curwen, J.F., 1910, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol10 p271-287 [Plans]
    Fell, 1903-4, Barrow Naturalists' Field Club Vol17 p231-8 [history]
    Fishwick, H., 1901, 'The Old Castles of Lancashire.' Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society Vol19 p59-61
    Harrison, 1876-7, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol3 p232-40
    Harrison, 1876-7, Barrow Naturalists' Field Club p21-4
• Guidebooks
  • Harrison, S., Wood, J. and Newman, R., 1998, Furness Abbey (English Heritage)
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Calendar of Patent Rolls (1327-30) p169
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/durhameng.html#lancs24]