Arnside Tower

This L-shaped pele tower is situated 2km from Arnside and is the oldest building in the parish. According to Historic England, it was built sometime in the 15th century, but the exact date is unknown. The tower was built to provide protection to families against the Border Reivers who were unscrupulous raiders, and many more towers and peles were built between the River Lune and the Scottish Borders.

The L-shaped design is unusual for Cumbria as the design was mainly seen in Scotland, and a great example of one is Sorbie Tower in Newton Stewart.

The L-shape provided several advantages for the occupants including increased living space, enhanced defence and could be easily extended if needs be.

The tower originally had five storeys which possibly had similar functions to those seen at Sorbie Tower: The ground floor may have housed service areas including a kitchen, cellars and dairy; The first floor may have been the central living space with a chapel, while the upper floors may have been rooms for sleeping and storage.

The tower was damaged in a fire in 1602 and after being repaired and modernised, was in use for another 200 years. It was damaged again during a storm in 1884 and the South-west wall collapsed, rendering it uninhabitable.

There is very little left of the inside of the building but you can see doorways and fireplaces on each level and what could have been a piscina on the first floor. Otherwise it is a bit of an empty shell. Though some structural repairs have been made over recent years, in an Historic England report in 2022, the tower's condition was described as 'very bad'. Sadly there are no plans to make the tower safer, so it's not recommended that you get too close to it.

Rather coincidentally, when we visited Arnside Tower on our Easter break to Lancashire in 2025, we almost bumped into Simon and his glamorous assistant who visited the same day during their Easter break to the Lakes. What are the chances? Simon had also brought along unsung hero Red5 to take some lovely drone shots, so the photos are a bit of a collaboration. Thankfully we avoided cows on our visit in the afternoon, but Simon had to tip-toe through a herd in the morning as the tower is close to a working farm. Worth bearing in mind if you have Bovinophobia like me.