button to main menu  Old Cumbria Gazetteer
Blease Hall, Old Hutton and Holmescales
Blease Hall
Bleaze Hall
civil parish:-   Old Hutton and Holmescales (formerly Westmorland)
county:-   Cumbria
locality type:-   buildings
locality type:-   haunted house
coordinates:-   SD54928916
1Km square:-   SD5489
10Km square:-   SD58

evidence:-   old map:- OS County Series (Wmd 39 13) 
placename:-  Blease Hall
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.
"Blease Hall"

evidence:-   hearth tax returns:- Hearth Tax 1675
placename:-  High-Blees
source data:-   Records, hearth tax survey returns, Westmorland, 1674/75.
"High-Blees"
in  "Old Hutton"

evidence:-   old map:- Jefferys 1770 (Wmd) 
placename:-  Blease Hall
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
J5SD58NE.jpg
"Blease Hall"
house 
item:-  National Library of Scotland : EME.s.47
Image © National Library of Scotland

evidence:-   old map:- Cary 1789 (edn 1805) 
placename:-  Blease Hall
source data:-   Map, uncoloured engraving, Westmoreland, scale about 2.5 miles to 1 inch, by John Cary, London, 1789; edition 1805.
image
CY24SD58.jpg
"Blease Hall"
house symbol; large house 
item:-  JandMN : 129
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-   old map:- Hall 1820 (Wmd) 
placename:-  Blease Hall
source data:-   Map, hand coloured engraving, Westmoreland ie Westmorland, scale about 14.5 miles to 1 inch, by Sidney Hall, London, 1820, published by Samuel Leigh, 18 Strand, London, 1820-31.
image  click to enlarge
HA18.jpg
"Blease Ha."
circle; house 
item:-  Armitt Library : 2008.14.58
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-   old photograph:- Bell 1880s-1940s
placename:-  Bleaze Hall
item:-  panellingchestchimney piecechair
source data:-   Photograph, Bleaze Hall, the Drawing Room, Old Hutton and Holmescales, Westmorland, by Herbert Bell, photographer, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1895.
image  click to enlarge
HB0141.jpg
Vol.2 no.141 in an album, Examples of Early Domestic and Military Architecture in Westmorland, assembled 1910. 
ms at bottom:-  "141. Bleaze Hall. The Drawing Room. Kendal. K."
item:-  Armitt Library : 1958.3166.35
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-   old photograph:- Bell 1880s-1940s
placename:-  Bleaze Hall
item:-  ceilingplaster ceiling
source data:-   Photograph, Bleaze Hall, Ceiling of the Drawing Room, Old Hutton and Holmescales, Westmorland, by Herbert Bell, photographer, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1895.
image  click to enlarge
HB0142.jpg
Vol.2 no.142 in an album, Examples of Early Domestic and Military Architecture in Westmorland, assembled 1910. 
ms at bottom:-  "142. Bleaze Hall. Ceiling of the Drawing Room. Kendal. K."
item:-  Armitt Library : 1958.3166.36
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-   database:- Listed Buildings 2010
placename:-  Blease Hall
source data:-  
courtesy of English Heritage
"BLEASE HALL / / B6254 / OLD HUTTON AND HOLMESCALES / SOUTH LAKELAND / CUMBRIA / II[star] / 76703 / SD5492589167"

evidence:-   database:- Listed Buildings 2010
source data:-  
courtesy of English Heritage
"ORIGINAL GATEWAY 30 YARDS TO WEST OF BLEASE HALL / / B6254 / OLD HUTTON AND HOLMESCALES / SOUTH LAKELAND / CUMBRIA / II / 76704 / SD5489589173"

hearsay:-  
Built by Roger Bateman, cloth manufacturer, 1600. The house has a dobbie stone, a charm against spirits.

ghost story:-  
The daughter of the family living in an earlier house on this site died of sorrow when her lover failed to return from the Crusades, 13th century. Her ghostly funeral procession is seen passing, now and then.

notes:-  
possible fortified manor house

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

hearsay:-  
Probably built by Roger Bateman, about 1600.
Hanging in an attic is a dobbie stone, a holed stone; a charm to prevent ghosts from disturbing the household, prevent cream from turning, and prevent the bewitching of cattle. It is also said to be heafed like sheep: it was once stolen by a boy who felt obliged to return it.

Palmer 1945


Palmer, J H & McIntire, W T (ed): 1945: Historic Farmhouses in and around Westmorland: Westmorland Gazette (Kendal, Westmorland)

button to lakes menu  Lakes Guides menu.