Arnside Tower

Arnside Tower is a late-medieval tower house (or Pele tower) between Arnside and Silverdale immediately to the south of Arnside Knott in Cumbria, England.

Arnside Tower was built in the second half of the 15th century. Tower houses were built throughout the border regions of northern England and southern Scotland because of the threat posed by Border Reivers. Constructed of limestone rubble, the tower was originally five storeys high, measuring 50 feet by 34 feet. The tower was built with an adjacent wing of equal height built onto the side of the tower in a style common in Scotland, but rare in English tower houses. Historian Anthony Emery suggests that the design may have been influenced by that at Ashby de la Zouch Castle, rebuilt in 1464 by Lord Hastings. The tower suffered a serious fire in 1602 but after repairs remained in use; the historian Anthony Emery states that the tower was in use until the end of the 17th century, but the historian Roy Palmer states that William Coward and his sister Agnes Wheeler lived there at the end of the 18th century.

One of the walls of the tower collapsed around 1900, and as of 2014, English Heritage considered that the condition of the castle was very bad, and that urgent works were required. Arnside Tower is a Scheduled Monument and Grade II* listed building.

The tower is in private ownership and is in a ruinous state. The local tourist board recommends that good views of the tower can be seen from the public footpath which runs alongside.

Text adapted from “Arnside Tower” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Arnside Tower ranks #6,416 of 8,764 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #349 of the 356 mapped in England. Founded c. 1475, it is older than 48% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 490 atlas entries founded in the 15th century. 6 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Liverpool, 87 km away. See how England compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗