Brackenhill Tower facts for kids

Brackenhill Tower is a special old building called a peel tower in Cumbria, England. It's located near the River Lyne, in a great spot for defense because it has deep valleys (ravines) on two sides. Even though parts were added later, the main tower hasn't changed much since it was built. It's the only example of a Scottish-style tower house found south of the border in England! In 1957, it was recognized as an important historic building, called a Grade II* listed building.

Building the Tower

The tower was built in 1584 by a person named Richie Graham. He was a border reiver, which means he was part of a group of people who lived near the border and sometimes raided other areas. A stone on the tower actually says the date is 1586. This tower replaced an even older one that might have been built on the same spot as early as the 1200s.

Tower Design and Features

Brackenhill Tower was built using large, uneven blocks of red sandstone from Cumbria. It has a simple rectangular shape, measuring about 11 meters (36 feet) by 8 meters (26 feet). The walls are about 12 meters (40 feet) high and 1.5 meters (5 feet) thick, making them very strong!

Inside, there are two floors above a basement with a curved, arched ceiling. There's a spiral staircase in one corner. Originally, the main door was on the first floor, reached from outside. The tower has a special double-gabled roof made of slate. It also has a decorative top edge with stone supports and battlements, like a castle. Most of the narrow windows are still the same as when it was built. They weren't made bigger, which often happened to old buildings over time.

How the Tower Changed Over Time

In 1717, another Richard Graham built a brick cottage next to the tower. It had three sections and two floors. Around this time, a new door was added to the basement of the tower, and the old first-floor door was closed up. The top floor (attic) was also updated, and two chimneys were added. The wooden roof supports were replaced either then or later in the 1800s.

New Owners and Additions

Near the end of the 1700s, the Stephenson family bought the building. They later became known as the Standish family. In 1860, they added a new dining room and kitchen. These were built from red sandstone and had a bay window with angled sides. They also built a stone walkway connecting the tower to the brick cottage. They added a special entrance porch to the tower, decorated with the Standish family's coat of arms. The Standish family used Brackenhill Tower as a hunting lodge, and they shaped the land around it for hunting.

Brackenhill Tower Today

By the end of World War II, the Carlyle family was renting the building. They bought it when the Standish family sold it in 1946. The land around the tower was used as a dairy farm.

The building stayed in private hands into the 2000s, but it started to fall apart. In 2003, it was one of three buildings from the North West of England chosen to be on a BBC TV show called Restoration. The show helped decide which historic building would get money for repairs. Brackenhill Tower was also on the English Heritage "Buildings at Risk Register" because it needed fixing. Luckily, repairs were finished in 2010, and now it's used as a place for people to stay on holiday!