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Kentmere Hall, Kentmere
Kentmere Hall
locality:-   Kentmere
civil parish:-   Kentmere (formerly Westmorland)
county:-   Cumbria
locality type:-   buildings
coordinates:-   NY45120423
1Km square:-   NY4504
10Km square:-   NY40

photograph
BMF70.jpg (taken 4.6.2006)  
photograph
BPT18.jpg (taken 17.10.2008)  
evidence:-   old map:- OS County Series (Wmd 27 9) 
placename:-  Kentmere 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.
evidence:-   hearth tax returns:- Hearth Tax 1675
placename:-  Kentmere hall
source data:-   Records, hearth tax survey returns, Westmorland, 1674/75.
"Kentmere hall"
in  "Kentmere"
evidence:-   old map:- Jefferys 1770 (Wmd) 
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
J5NY40SW.jpg
"Hall"
circle, labelled in italic lowercase text; settlement, farm, house, or hamlet? 
item:-  National Library of Scotland : EME.s.47
Image © National Library of Scotland
evidence:-   old text:- Clarke 1787
placename:-  Kentmere Hall
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 CL13P137, button  goto source
Page 137:-  ""
"There is a beam in the house of Kentmere-Hall said to be laid up by him: I wrote to a Mr Birket of Kentmere to see if he could find any date upon it, who wrote me the following plain, but sensible letter."
"To Mr JAMES CLARKE,"
"Land-Surveyor, &c. PENRITH, CUMBERLAND."
"SIR,"
""I RECEIVED your letter, and have taken the dimensions of the beam at Kentmere Hall, which is 30 feet in length, and 13 inches by 12 and a half in thickness; but there is no inscription upon it, as you mentioned in your letter; but I shall inform you what has been given by tradition, (and I had it from a man that was 104 years old when he died.) When the Hall was building, and the workmen gone to dinner, this man, whose name was Herd, happened to be there, and while they were at dinner laid it up himself. He lived at Troutbeck Park, in a cottage house there, and was remarkable for his strength. At the time the Scots frequently made incursions into England, he with his bows and arrows killed them in coming of the mountains at a place which still retains the name of Scot-Rake, which is about a mile distant from where he lived. One of the kings of England hearing of him, sent for him to London, and got him a bow made, which he said was no bow for a man; they then made him another, he tied them together and broke them. At that time there was a man the most capital wrestler in the kingdom, which he was to wrestle with; the first fall was not satisfactory to the man; they took hold again, and Herd broke his back, threw him off the stage, and asked if that was a fair fall? The king asked what he would have for his journey, he only asked for the little place where he lived, and it still retains the name of Herd's house. There is at the Hall a pair of the largest buck horns that any person now living has ever seen, they are a yard long, with seven knaps on each horn, and the round part as thick as a"
image CL13P138, button  goto source
Page 138:-  ""common scythe shaft at the thickest part. This is the best information I can give you, and what has always been common report. I am, SIR,"
""Yours, &c."
"MATT. BIRKET."
"Kentmere, the 1st of March 1786."
""P.S. I think the man's name was Hugh Herd.""
"..."
evidence:-   old text:- Camden 1789 (Gough Additions) 
placename:-  Kentmere Hall
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 CAM2P153, button  goto source
Page 153:-  "..."
"At Kentmere was settled from the reign of John the antient family of Gilpin, from whom descended the pious Bernard, rector of Houghton le Spring, born here about 1517. Their antient hall still remains with a tower."
evidence:-   old map:- Cary 1789 (edn 1805) 
source data:-   Map, uncoloured engraving, Westmoreland, scale about 2.5 miles to 1 inch, by John Cary, London, 1789; edition 1805.
image
CY24NY40.jpg
"Hall"
house symbol; large house 
item:-  JandMN : 129
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- Green 1814 (plate 10) 
placename:-  Kentmere Hall
source data:-   Print, uncoloured soft ground etching, Kentmere Hall, Kentmere, Westmorland, by William Green, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1814.
image  click to enlarge
GN0910.jpg
Plate 10 in Sixty Small Prints. 
printed at top right:-  "10"
printed at bottom:-  "KENTMERE HALL. / Published at Ambleside Augst. 1, 1814, by Wm. Green."
item:-  Armitt Library : A6656.10
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- Green 1814 (plate 10) 
placename:-  Kentmere Hall
source data:-   Print, tinted soft ground etching, Kentmere Hall, Kentmere, Westmorland, by William Green, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1814.
image  click to enlarge
GN1010.jpg
Plate 10 in Sixty Small Prints. 
printed at top right:-  "10"
printed at bottom:-  "KENTMERE HALL. / Published at Ambleside Augst. 1, 1814, by Wm. Green."
item:-  Armitt Library : A6653.10
Image © see bottom of page
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 KENTMERE Hall flourished the Gilpin family, of whom was Bernard Gilpin, 'the Apostle of the North.' It is a tower-like edifice, under a mountain browed with mighty craggs. When it was building, the Cork lad of Kentmere, a barbarian of the name of Herd, lifted a chimney beam of the kitchen into its place, 6 feet from the earth: it still remains, and is 30 feet long and 13 inches by 121/2thick. At the age of 42 this man killed himself with the Herculean task of tearing up trees by the roots."
evidence:-   descriptive text:- Ford 1839 (3rd edn 1843) 
placename:-  Kentmere Hall
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 FD01P139, button  goto source
Page 139:-  "..."
"... Kentmere Hall, an ancient tower, that unwearied apostle of the north, and sincere confessor of the gospel, Bernard Gilpin, some time rector of Houghton-le-Spring, in Durham, was born. ..."
image FD01P159, button  goto source
Page 159:-  "..."
"[Kentmere Tarn] ... Near it stands the ancient Hall, a tower building."
evidence:-   old text:- Martineau 1855
source data:-   Guide book, A Complete Guide to the English Lakes, by Harriet Martineau, published by John Garnett, Windermere, Westmorland, and by Whittaker and Co, London, 1855; published 1855-76.
image MNU1P175, button  goto source
Page 175:-  "... Kentmere Hall,- the birthplace of Bernard Gilpin, in 1517. ..."
evidence:-   old photograph:- Bell 1880s-1940s
item:-  grindstone
source data:-   Photograph, black and white, Kentmere Hall, Kentmere, Westmorland, by Herbert Bell, photographer, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1890s.
image  click to enlarge
HB0614.jpg
stamped on reverse:-  "HERBERT BELL / Photographer / AMBLESIDE"
item:-  Armitt Library : ALPS274
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old photograph:- Bell 1880s-1940s
placename:-  Kentmere Hall
source data:-   Photograph, Kentmere Hall from the West, Kentmere, Westmorland, by Herbert Bell, photographer, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1894.
image  click to enlarge
HB0159.jpg
Vol.2 no.159 in an album, Examples of Early Domestic and Military Architecture in Westmorland, assembled 1910. 
ms at bottom:-  "159. Kentmere Hall from the West. Kendal. K."
item:-  Armitt Library : 1958.3166.53
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old photograph:- Bell 1880s-1940s
placename:-  Kentmere Hall
source data:-   Photograph, Kentmere Hall from the East, Kentmere, Westmorland, by Herbert Bell, photographer, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1894.
image  click to enlarge
HB0160.jpg
Vol.2 no.160 in an album, Examples of Early Domestic and Military Architecture in Westmorland, assembled 1910. 
ms at bottom:-  "160. Kentmere Hall from the East. Kendal. K."
item:-  Armitt Library : 1958.3166.54
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old photograph:- Bell 1880s-1940s
placename:-  Kentmere Hall
source data:-   Photograph, Kentmere Hall, Kentmere, Westmorland, by Herbert Bell, photographer, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1894.
image  click to enlarge
HB0161.jpg
Vol.2 no.161 in an album, Examples of Early Domestic and Military Architecture in Westmorland, assembled 1910. 
ms at bottom:-  "161. Kentmere Hall. Kendal. K."
item:-  Armitt Library : 1958.3166.55
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old photograph:- Bell 1880s-1940s
placename:-  Kentmere Hall
source data:-   Photograph, Kentmere Hall, the Tower, Kentmere, Westmorland, by Herbert Bell, photographer, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1894.
image  click to enlarge
HB0162.jpg
Vol.2 no.162 in an album, Examples of Early Domestic and Military Architecture in Westmorland, assembled 1910. 
ms at bottom:-  "162. Kentmere Hall, The Tower. Kendal. K."
item:-  Armitt Library : 1958.3166.56
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- Taylor 1892
placename:-  Kentmere Tower
source data:-   Print, halftone photograph, Kentmere Tower ie Kentmere Hall, Kentmere, Westmorland, published for the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, by Titus Wilson, Kendal, Westmorland, and by Charles Thurnam and Sons, Carlisle, Cumberland, 1892.
image  click to enlarge
TY5046.jpg
Tipped in opposite p.219 of The Old Manorial Halls of Cumberland and Westmorland, by Michael Waistell Taylor. 
item:-  Armitt Library : A785.46
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- Taylor 1892
placename:-  Kentmere Hall
source data:-   Print, plan of Kentmere Hall, Kentmere, Westmorland, published for the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, by Titus Wilson, Kendal, Westmorland, and by Charles Thurnam and Sons, Carlisle, Cumberland, 1892.
image  click to enlarge
TY5047.jpg
Tipped in between pp.220-221 of The Old Manorial Halls of Cumberland and Westmorland, by Michael Waistell Taylor. 
item:-  Armitt Library : A785.47
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- Taylor 1892
placename:-  Kentmere Hall
source data:-   Print, halftone photograph, Kentmere Hall, Kentmere, Westmorland, published for the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, by Titus Wilson, Kendal, Westmorland, and by Charles Thurnam and Sons, Carlisle, Cumberland, 1892.
image  click to enlarge
TY5048.jpg
Tipped in between pp.220-221 of The Old Manorial Halls of Cumberland and Westmorland, by Michael Waistell Taylor. 
item:-  Armitt Library : A785.48
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   site plan:- Curwen 1913
placename:-  Kentmere Hall
source data:-   Site plan, lithograph, Kentmere Hall, Westmorland, scale about 1 to 390, published for the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society by Titus Wilson, Kendal, Westmorland, 1913.
image  click to enlarge
CW0155.jpg
On p.288 of The Castles and Fortified Towers of Cumberland, Westmorland, and Lancashire North of the Sands, by John F Curwen. 
printed at lower left:-  "Kentmere Hall / Westmorland / John F. Curwen."
item:-  Armitt Library : A782.55
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- Curwen 1913
placename:-  Kentmere Hall
source data:-   Print, halftone photograph, Kentmere Hall, Westmorland, published for the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society by Titus Wilson, Kendal, Westmorland, 1913.
image  click to enlarge
CW0156.jpg
Tipped in opposite p.290 of The Castles and Fortified Towers of Cumberland, Westmorland, and Lancashire North of the Sands, by John F Curwen. 
printed at lower left:-  "KENTMERE HALL."
item:-  Armitt Library : A782.56
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   site plan:- Historical Monuments 1936
placename:-  Kentmere Hall
source data:-   Site plan, uncoloured lithograph, Kentmere Hall, Kentmere, Westmorland, scale about 1 to 390, published by Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England, London, 1936.
image  click to enlarge
HMW082.jpg
On p.130 of the Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Westmorland. 
printed, upper left  "KENTMERE HALL"
RCHME no. Wmd, Kentmere 2 
item:-  Armitt Library : A745.82
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   database:- Listed Buildings 2010
placename:-  Kentmere Hall
source data:-  
courtesy of English Heritage
"KENTMERE HALL AND ATTACHED BARN / / / KENTMERE / SOUTH LAKELAND / CUMBRIA / II[star] / 76478 / NY4510004236"
evidence:-   database:- Listed Buildings 2010
source data:-  
courtesy of English Heritage
"SHIPPON &HAYBARN ADJOINING SOUTH EAST CORNER KENTMERE HALL / / / KENTMERE / SOUTH LAKELAND / CUMBRIA / II / 76479 / NY4512404234"

photograph
BSB68.jpg (taken 3.2.2010)  

photograph
CAX06.jpg  by E Armstrong, Kendal.
(at Townend, Troutbeck)
(taken 8.6.2014)  
hearsay:-  
 Home of the Gilpin Family. It is said that king John awarded the hall to Richard Gilpin for killing a ferocious wild boar - the 'last wild boar in England', about 1325.
William Gilpin was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field, 1485.
Bernard Gilpin, born here 1517, was an influential churchman, involved in the Reformation, known as the Apostle of the North. He was sent to the Tower to be executed, but on the journey his horse fell and he broke a leg. The delay saved his life, Mary died and Elizabeth reinstated him as Archdeacon at Durham.
notes:-  
 14th century tower and later hall

Perriam, D R &Robinson, J: 1998: Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria: CWAAS:: ISBN 1 873124 23 6; plan and illustrations
personal
person:-   clergyman
 : Gilpin, Bernard
place:-   birthplace
date:-   1517
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