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Bewley Castle, Bewley
Bewley Castle
locality:-   Bewley
civil parish:-   Bolton (formerly Westmorland)
county:-   Cumbria
locality type:-   castle (remains) 
locality type:-   pele tower (?) 
coordinates:-   NY64822115
1Km square:-   NY6421
10Km square:-   NY62
evidence:-   old map:- OS County Series (Wmd 9 13) 
placename:-  Bewley Castle
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.
"Bewley Castle (Remains of)"
evidence:-   old map:- Saxton 1579
placename:-  Buley Castle
source data:-   Map, hand coloured engraving, Westmorlandiae et Cumberlandiae Comitatus ie Westmorland and Cumberland, scale about 5 miles to 1 inch, by Christopher Saxton, London, engraved by Augustinus Ryther, 1576, published 1579-1645.
image
Sax9NY62.jpg
Building with two towers, symbol for a castle.  "Buley cast:"
item:-  private collection : 2
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old map:- Mercator 1595 (edn?) 
placename:-  Buley Castle
source data:-   Map, hand coloured engraving, Westmorlandia, Lancastria, Cestria etc, ie Westmorland, Lancashire, Cheshire etc, scale about 10.5 miles to 1 inch, by Gerard Mercator, Duisberg, Germany, 1595, edition 1613-16.
image
MER5WmdA.jpg
"Buley ca."
circle, building/s, tower, tinted red 
item:-  Armitt Library : 2008.14.3
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old map:- Speed 1611 (Wmd) 
placename:-  Buley Castle
source data:-   Map, hand coloured engraving, The Countie Westmorland and Kendale the Cheif Towne, scale about 2.5 miles to 1 inch, by John Speed, 1610, published by George Humble, Popes Head Alley, London, 1611-12.
image
SP14NY62.jpg
"Buley Cast"
circle, buildings, tower 
item:-  Armitt Library : 2008.14.5
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old map:- Jansson 1646
placename:-  Buley Castle
source data:-   Map, hand coloured engraving, Cumbria and Westmoria, ie Cumberland and Westmorland, scale about 3.5 miles to 1 inch, by John Jansson, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1646.
image
JAN3NY62.jpg
"Buley cast."
Buildings and tower, flag not visible. 
item:-  JandMN : 88
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   hearth tax returns:- Hearth Tax 1675
placename:-  Bewley Castle
source data:-   Records, hearth tax survey returns, Westmorland, 1674/75.
"Bewley Castle"
in  "Bolton"
evidence:-   old map:- Seller 1694 (Wmd) 
placename:-  Bulley Castle
source data:-   Map, hand coloured engraving, Westmorland, scale about 8 miles to 1 inch, by John Seller, 1694.
image  click to enlarge
SEL7.jpg
"Bulley Cast."
circle; castle 
item:-  Dove Cottage : 2007.38.87
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old map:- Morden 1695 (Wmd) 
placename:-  Buley Castle
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
MD10NY62.jpg
"Buley Castle"
Circle, tower with a flag. 
item:-  JandMN : 24
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old map:- Badeslade 1742
placename:-  Buley Castle
source data:-   Map, uncoloured engraving, A Map of Westmorland North from London, scale about 10 miles to 1 inch, with descriptive text, by Thomas Badeslade, London, engraved and published by William Henry Toms, Union Court, Holborn, London, 1742.
image  click to enlarge
BD12.jpg
"Buley Cast."
circle, italic lowercase text; castle 
item:-  Dove Cottage : 2007.38.62
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old map:- Simpson 1746 map (Wmd) 
placename:-  Buley Castle
source data:-   Map, uncoloured engraving, Westmorland, scale about 8 miles to 1 inch, printed by R Walker, Fleet Lane, London, 1746.
image
SMP2NYR.jpg
"Buley Cast."
item:-  Dove Cottage : 2007.38.59
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old text:- Morgan 1759
placename:-  Buley Castle
source data:-   MG02q054.txt
"Below Crockenthorp, on the opposite side of the river, surrounded with a thick wood, the ruins of Buley-castle are seen, now consisting only of one shattered tower. This was an ancient retreat of the Bishops of Carlisle."
evidence:-   old map:- Bowen and Kitchin 1760
placename:-  Buley Castle
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
BO18NY51.jpg
"Buley Cas. to ye Bishop of Carlisle"
circle and line 
item:-  Armitt Library : 2008.14.10
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old map:- Jefferys 1770 (Wmd) 
placename:-  Bewley Castle
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
J5NY62SW.jpg
"Bewley Castle"
building 
item:-  National Library of Scotland : EME.s.47
Image © National Library of Scotland
evidence:-   old text:- Camden 1789 (Gough Additions) 
placename:-  Buley Castle
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 CAM2P158, button  goto source
Page 158:-  "..."
"Buley castle is said to have been erected at different times by several bishops, and there is remaining an account of several ordinations held there. It is now a mean and ruinous building."
evidence:-   old map:- Cary 1789 (edn 1805) 
placename:-  Bewlay Castle
source data:-   Map, uncoloured engraving, Westmoreland, scale about 2.5 miles to 1 inch, by John Cary, London, 1789; edition 1805.
image
CY24NY62.jpg
"Bewlay Castle"
house symbol; castle 
item:-  JandMN : 129
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old photograph:- Bell 1880s-1940s
placename:-  Bewley Castle
source data:-   Photograph, Bewley Castle, Interior from the South West, Bewley, Bolton, Westmorland, by Herbert Bell, photographer, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1895.
image  click to enlarge
HB0098.jpg
Vol.1 no.98 in an album, Examples of Early Domestic and Military Architecture in Westmorland, assembled 1910. 
ms at bottom:-  "98. Bewley Castle. Interior from the South West. Morland. W."
item:-  Armitt Library : 1958.3165.98
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old photograph:- Bell 1880s-1940s
placename:-  Bewley Castle
source data:-   Photograph, Bewley Castle from the South, Bewley, Bolton, Westmorland, by Herbert Bell, photographer, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1895.
image  click to enlarge
HB0099.jpg
Vol.1 no.99 in an album, Examples of Early Domestic and Military Architecture in Westmorland, assembled 1910. 
ms at bottom:-  "99. Bewley Castle from the South. Morland. W."
item:-  Armitt Library : 1958.3165.99
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   site plan:- Historical Monuments 1936
placename:-  Bewley Castle
source data:-   Site plan, uncoloured lithograph, Bewley Castle, Bolton, Westmorland, scale about 1 to 290, published by Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England, London, 1936.
image  click to enlarge
HMW033.jpg
On p.44 of the Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Westmorland. 
printed, top  "BEWLEY CASTLE, BOLTON / REMAINS OF SOUTHERN PORTION"
RCHME no. Wmd, Bolton 2 
item:-  Armitt Library : A745.33
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   database:- Listed Buildings 2010
placename:-  Bewley Castle
source data:-  
courtesy of English Heritage
"BEWLEY CASTLE / / / BOLTON / EDEN / CUMBRIA / II[star] / 422650 / NY6478421149"
source data:-  
courtesy of English Heritage
"Ruin, formerly residence of bishops of Carlisle. Substantial remains of south end, up to 30 feet high, date from late C14/early C15. Ashlar and rubble, roofless; one ground floor room retains segmental barrel vault. Remains of 2 garderobes. Various windows survive. For full description, plan, and photograph see R.C.H.M. Scheduled Ancient Monument."

photograph
BXF10.jpg  Painting by Edna Andrews, 1914.
(taken 31.8.2012)  
photograph
BXF11.jpg  Painting by Edna Andrews, 1914.
(taken 31.8.2012)  
Faded; framed, hanging in All Saints, Bolton, 2012.
hearsay:-  
 The remains are mostly 14th century; rectangular enclosure and two towers, in ruins; it is said to date to about 1250. It was used as the residence of the bishops of Carlisle.
story:-  
 Poet Anthony Whitehead of Reagill:-
"Lang sen when moss-troopers and thieves fra the Borders
At neets when 'twas meun leet oft meayde a foray,
When the Armstrongs and Hardens outschemed the March Wardens
And fowt them sae fiercely they were fwore'd ta gie way."
Christmas 1598, and the housekeeper, Margaret Dawe, alone in the castle, sitting by the fire making rushlights with sheep's fat. She answered a knock at the door, welcoming in a tall decrepit old woman in a thick cloak looking for shelter from the storm. The woman, after a drink of ale, fell asleep by the fire; Maragret thought to herself:-
"Faix, but I maun hae gien ye ower strang a posset. It's varra queer, but women dinna wear such strange things as these."
The stranger was wearing great boots with spurs - a man's wear. Margaret upped the pot of hot sheep's fat and poured it into the open mouth of the sleeping man, then went to the tower to raise the alarm. Sir Richard Musgrave, returning home got in after a skirmish and found the dead man within, none other than Belted Will, the notorious borderer.
"Then they trailed the man-woman far into the forest,
And buried him snuggle under some trees,
Though unshrouded or shriven he got extreme unction
At least summet like it, wi' hot cannel grease."

Robertson, Dawn & Koronka, Peter: 1992: Secrets and Legends of Old Westmorland: Pagan Press (Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria) &Cumbria CC (library service)
notes:-  
 14th century tower and hall

Perriam, D R &Robinson, J: 1998: Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria: CWAAS:: ISBN 1 873124 23 6; plan and illustrations
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