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Arthur's Round Table, Eamont Bridge
Arthur's Round Table
King Arthur's Round Table
locality:-   Eamont Bridge
civil parish:-   Yanwath and Eamont Bridge (formerly Westmorland)
county:-   Cumbria
locality type:-   earthwork
locality type:-   henge
coordinates:-   NY52332838
1Km square:-   NY5228
10Km square:-   NY52
SummaryText:-   Circular earthwork bounded by a ditch and bank, prehistoric.

photograph
BMF52.jpg (taken 2.6.2006)  
photograph
 Click to enlarge
BMF53.jpg (taken 2.6.2006)  
evidence:-   old map:- OS County Series (Wmd 3 16) 
placename:-  King Arthur's Round Table
item:-  Arthurian legend
source data:-   Maps, County Series maps of Great Britain, scales 6 and 25 inches to 1 mile, published by the Ordnance Survey, Southampton, Hampshire, from about 1863 to 1948.
evidence:-   poem:- Drayton 1612/1622 text
placename:-  Arthur's Table
source data:-   Poem, Poly Olbion, by Michael Drayton, published by published by John Marriott, John Grismand and Thomas Dewe, and others? London, part 1 1612, part 2 1622.
image DRY6P168, button  goto source
page 168:-  "...
And neere to this [Karl Lofts] againe, there is a piece of ground,
A little rising Bank, which of the Table round,
Men in remembrance keepe, and Arthurs Table name."
evidence:-   old print:- Camden 1695
source data:-   Print, King Arthur's Round Table, Eamont Bridge, Westmorland, in Camden's Britannia, translated and expanded by Edmund Gibson, published by A Swale, The Unicorn, St Paul's Churchyard, and by A and J Churchil, The Black Swan, Paternoster Row, London, 1695.
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CAM3E2.jpg
"A little before Loder joyns the Emot, it passes by a large round entrenchment, with a plain piece of ground in the middle, and a passage into it either side; the form whereof is this: ... It goes by the name of King Arthur's Round Table: and 'tis possible enough that it might bea Justing-place; for which reason we have represented the two Warriors on horse-back in the middle. ..."
item:-  Armitt Library : A6588.6
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old map:- Morden 1695 (Wmd) 
placename:-  King Arthur round Table
source data:-   Map, hand coloured engraving, Westmorland, scale about 2.5 miles to 1 inch, by Robert Morden, published by Abel Swale, the Unicorn, St Paul's Churchyard, Awnsham, and John Churchill, the Black Swan, Paternoster Row, London, 1695.
image
MD10NY52.jpg
"King Arthur round Table"
Double circle with entrances into the earthwork. 
item:-  JandMN : 24
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   descriptive text:- Fiennes 1698
source data:-   Travel book, manuscript record of Journeys through England including parts of the Lake District, by Celia Fiennes, 1698.
"So I returned [from Lowther Hall] 4 mile back to Peroth ... and came by a round green spott of a large circumfference which they keep cut round with a banke round it like a bench; its story is that it was the table a great Giant 6 yards tall used to dine at and there entertained another of nine yards tall which he afterwards killed; there is the length in the Church yard how farre he could leape a great many yards; ..."
evidence:-   descriptive text:- Simpson 1746
placename:-  King Arthur's Round Table
item:-  cockpit; wrestling; jousting; tournament
source data:-   Atlas, three volumes of maps and descriptive text published as 'The Agreeable Historian, or the Compleat English Traveller ...', by Samuel Simpson, 1746.
image SMP3P7, button  goto source
Page 1025:-  "..."
"That which the Country People call King Arthur's Round Table is a little to the South of the Conflux of the Lowther and Eimot. There's a Trench on the Inside of it, by which some think it was a Place for Justs and Tournaments; but others that it was only a Cockpit, or a Ring to wrestle in. ..."
evidence:-   descriptive text:- Simpson 1746
placename:-  King Arthur's Table
source data:-   Atlas, three volumes of maps and descriptive text published as 'The Agreeable Historian, or the Compleat English Traveller ...', by Samuel Simpson, 1746.
image SMP4P189, button  goto source
"... at a little Distance from the Conflux of the Eimont and Lodor, (at"
image SMP4P190, button  goto source
"which is the round Trench, called King Arthur's Table) ..."
evidence:-   old map:- Bowen and Kitchin 1760
placename:-  King Arthurs Round Table
source data:-   Map, hand coloured engraving, A New Map of the Counties of Cumberland and Westmoreland Divided into their Respective Wards, scale about 4 miles to 1 inch, by Emanuel Bowen and Thomas Kitchin et al, published by T Bowles, Robert Sayer, and John Bowles, London, 1760.
image
BO18NY42.jpg
"K. Arthurs Round Table."
double circle 
item:-  Armitt Library : 2008.14.10
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old map:- Jefferys 1770 (Wmd) 
placename:-  King Arthurs Round Table
source data:-   Map, 4 sheets, The County of Westmoreland, scale 1 inch to 1 mile, surveyed 1768, and engraved and published by Thomas Jefferys, London, 1770.
image
J5NY52NW.jpg
"King Arthurs Round Table"
double circle 
item:-  National Library of Scotland : EME.s.47
Image © National Library of Scotland
evidence:-   old map:- Donald 1774 (Cmd) 
placename:-  King Arthurs Round Table
source data:-   Map, hand coloured engraving, 3x2 sheets, The County of Cumberland, scale about 1 inch to 1 mile, by Thomas Donald, engraved and published by Joseph Hodskinson, 29 Arundel Street, Strand, London, 1774.
image
D4NY52NW.jpg
"King Arthurs Round Table"
circle of hachures or dots 
item:-  Carlisle Library : Map 2
Image © Carlisle Library
evidence:-   descriptive text:- West 1778 (11th edn 1821) 
source data:-   Guide book, A Guide to the Lakes, by Thomas West, published by William Pennington, Kendal, Cumbria once Westmorland, and in London, 1778 to 1821.
image WS21P171, button  goto source
Page 171:-  "... Near Eamont bridge is Arthur's round table, and at a small distance from it is Mayburgh, both of remote antiquity, and doubtful use. The first may be presumed to have been a place of public exhibition for martial exercises, ..."
evidence:-   old map:- West 1784 map
placename:-  King Arthurs Round Table
source data:-   Map, hand coloured engraving, A Map of the Lakes in Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire, scale about 3.5 miles to 1 inch, engraved by Paas, 53 Holborn, London, about 1784.
image
Ws02NY42.jpg
item:-  Armitt Library : A1221.1
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old text:- Clarke 1787
placename:-  Arthur's Round Table
placename:-  Round Table
item:-  Arthurian legend
source data:-   Guide book, A Survey of the Lakes of Cumberland, Westmorland, and Lancashire, written and published by James Clarke, Penrith, Cumberland, and in London etc, 1787; published 1787-93.
image CL13P008, button  goto source
Page 8:-  "..."
"About three hundred yards from Lowther Bridge, by the road-side, is a monument of antiquity, called by some Arthur's Round Table, by others simply the Round Table. Authors differ widely as to the origin and use of this place; but there cannot, I think, be a doubt, that it hath been a place for the exercise of arms. It is round, about an hundred and twenty feet diameter, surrounded by a broad ditch, (two openings excepted, which are diametrically opposite to each other,) and all round is a sloping bank of earth, seemingly intended for the accommodation of spectators."
"If we allow this to have been a place for the exercise of chivalry, the name of Arthur's Round Table may not improbably be esteemed the genuine one. King Arthur is said to have lived much at Carlisle, and most of the old songs and poems concerning him and his knights have their scene laid in this country, and with these the popular traditions accurately agree, as we shall see hereafter: it is farther remarkable, that the old songs were lost in English, but were afterwards translated from the French, in which language they had been preserved almost entire."
"The History of the Order of the Round Table is briefly this: King Arthur observing many quarrels about precedency among his knights, about the year 516 caused a Round Table to be made, at which all the Order, the Sovereign himself not excepted, took their seats promiscuously: To this Table none were admitted but those who had given sufficient proof of their valour and dexterity in the use of arms. As there are some who even deny the existence of King Arthur, I shall not insist farther on this subject, but refer them to other authors, whose province it is more particularly to inquire into these affairs: I shall, however, add from Favine, (lib.5. p.97.) a list of the first table of these knights."
"ARTHUR, King of Great Britain."
"Galaad. / Percival. / Lancelot. / Gawaine. / Boors. / Lyonnel. / Helias le Blanc. / King Baudomages. / King Ydiir. / King Rions. / King Karadoc of Wales. / The King of Clare. / The Duke of Clarence. / Hector de Marests. / Blioberis. / Gueriot. / Keux de Seneschal. / Yrien the Son of King Vrian. / Brunor the Black. / Bedonier the Constable. / Agloual. / Securades, and / Patrides."
"Caxton's old book exhibits a greater number, with the distinguishing epithet of each; but this seems to come nearest the truth, or rather the ancient story."
"..."
evidence:-   old text:- Camden 1789 (Gough Additions) 
placename:-  Round Table, The
placename:-  Arthur's Castel
item:-  Little Round Table
source data:-   Book, Britannia, or A Chorographical Description of the Flourishing Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland, by William Camden, 1586, translated from the 1607 Latin edition by Richard Gough, published London, 1789.
image CAM2P161, button  goto source
Page 161:-  "..."
""Within a mile of Perith, but in Westmoreland, is a ruin, as some suppose of a castle, within a flite shot of Loder, and as much of Emot water, standing almost as a mediamnis between them. The ruine is of some called the Round table, and of some Arthur's castel. ...""
"..."
image CAM2P162, button  goto source
Page 162:-  "... a large circular earthwork, single trenched, the ditch within 29 yards diameter, the two entrances opposite to each other north-west and south-east. This is called Arthur's Round Table. A small distance from this to the south is another such earthwork, consisting only of a low rampart, and called the Little Round Table."
evidence:-   old map:- Cary 1789 (edn 1805) 
placename:-  King Arthurs Round Table
source data:-   Map, uncoloured engraving, Westmoreland, scale about 2.5 miles to 1 inch, by John Cary, London, 1789; edition 1805.
image
CY24NY52.jpg
"K. Arthurs Round Table"
circle 
item:-  JandMN : 129
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   descriptive text:- Baker 1802
placename:-  Arthur's Round Table
source data:-   Perspective road map with sections in Lancashire, Westmorland, and Cumberland, by J Baker, London 1802.
pp.25-26:-  "... A circular entrenchment seen near the road is called Arthur's round table, supposed by some to have been a place for tournaments in the Saxon times, and by others to have been erected in commemoration of a peace concluded here between the kings of England Scotland and Wales. ..."
evidence:-   old print:- Otley 1823 (8th edn 1849) 
placename:-  King Arthur's Round Table
source data:-   Engraving, King Arthur's Round Table, Yanwath and Eamont Bridge, drawn by T Binns, engraved by O Jewitt, on p.68 of A Descriptive Guide of the English Lakes, by Jonathan Otley, 8th edition, 1849.
image  click to enlarge
O80E20.jpg
item:-  Armitt Library : A1180.21
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   descriptive text:- Otley 1823 (5th edn 1834) 
placename:-  King Arthur's Round Table
source data:-   Guide book, A Concise Description of the English Lakes, the mountains in their vicinity, and the roads by which they may be visited, with remarks on the mineralogy and geology of the district, by Jonathan Otley, published by the author, Keswick, Cumberland now Cumbria, by J Richardson, London, and by Arthur Foster, Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria, 1823; published 1823-49, latterly as the Descriptive Guide to the English Lakes.
image OT01P082, button  goto source
Page 82:-  "King Arthur's Round Table is a circular plot of ground about forty yards in diameter, encompassed by a trench and bank of earth; with places of entrance on two opposite sides. It is situated between the rivers Eamont and Lowther, rather more than a mile from Penrith, on the road to Kendal."
".. The dates and purposes of these two interesting pieces of antiquity [Mayburgh], are left entirely to conjecture."
evidence:-   old text:- Gents Mag
source data:-   Magazine, The Gentleman's Magazine or Monthly Intelligencer or Historical Chronicle, published by Edward Cave under the pseudonym Sylvanus Urban, and by other publishers, London, monthly from 1731 to 1922.
image G825A515, button  goto source
Gentleman's Magazine 1825 part 1 p.515  "Compendium of County History. - Westmorland."
"At the South end of the village of EAMONT is a curious circle, consisting of a high dyke of earth and a deep foss within, commonly called Arthur's Round Table. Various are the conjectures respecting it."
evidence:-   descriptive text:- Ford 1839 (3rd edn 1843) 
placename:-  Arthur's Round Table
source data:-   Guide book, A Description of Scenery in the Lake District, by Rev William Ford, published by Charles Thurnam, Carlisle, by W Edwards, 12 Ave Maria Lane, Charles Tilt, Fleet Street, William Smith, 113 Fleet Street, London, by Currie and Bowman, Newcastle, by Bancks and Co, Manchester, by Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh, and by Sinclair, Dumfries, 1839.
image FD01P133, button  goto source
Page 133:-  "..."
"... Arthur's Round Table, on the banks of the stream, an amphitheatre twenty-nine yards in diameter, surrounded by a ditch and mound. ... Antiquarians have hazarded several but unsatisfactory conjectures, as to the uses of these mysterious structures. They are evidently of British origin, ..."
evidence:-   old map:- Ford 1839 map
placename:-  Arthur's Round Table
source data:-   Map, uncoloured engraving, Map of the Lake District of Cumberland, Westmoreland and Lancashire, scale about 3.5 miles to 1 inch, published by Charles Thurnam, Carlisle, and by R Groombridge, 5 Paternoster Row, London, 3rd edn 1843.
image
FD02NY52.jpg
"Arthur's Round Table"
item:-  JandMN : 100.1
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old text:- Harper 1907
placename:-  King Arthur's Round Table
source data:-   Guidebook, The Manchester and Glasgow Road, by Charles G Harper, published by Chapman and Hall Ltd, London, 1907.
HP01p126.txt
Page 126:-  "..."
"... the Lowther is crossed at Lowther Bridge. Beside the river and immediately skirting the road, is the earthwork known as "King Arthur's Round Table," an ancient raised platform whose purpose can only be guessed at. Not King Arthur, but the Norse settlers, are held to have been the originators of it, as the stage whereon their rude displays of arms were held: in particular a duel known as "holmegang," a species of gladiatorial combat in which the opponents were armed with knives, bound together, and then compelled to fight to the death. Such are the fearful memories of this now peaceful scene. ..."
evidence:-   site plan:- Historical Monuments 1936
placename:-  King Arthur's Round Table
source data:-   Site plan, uncoloured lithograph, King Arthur's Round Table, Eamont Bridge, Yanwath and Eamont Bridge, Westmorland, scale about 1 to 1900, published by Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England, London, 1936.
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HMW147.jpg
On p.252 of the Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Westmorland. 
printed, top  "KING ARTHUR'S ROUND TABLE / In Yanwath parish"
RCHME no. Wmd, Yanwath and Eamont Bridge 12 
item:-  Armitt Library : A745.148
Image © see bottom of page
notes:-  
 Prehistsoric earthwork, about 150x160 feet bounded by ditch and bank.
person:-    : English Heritage
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