History

Askerton Castle was built in the village of Askerton

Askerton

Askerton is a civil parish in the City of Carlisle district of Cumbria, England. It has a population of 162 according to the 2001 census. It includes various hamlets including Kirkcambeck and Shopford. It also covers Side Fell and Askerton Castle....

 in Cumbria around 1300. Originally the castle was an unfortified manor, but in the late-15th century William Dacre

William Dacre, 3rd Baron Dacre

William Dacre, 7th Baron Greystock, later 3rd Baron Dacre of Gilsland was an English peer, a Cumberland landowner, and the holder of important offices under the Crown, including many years' service as Warden of the West Marches....

 to build two crenellated towers on either end of the hall range, probably with the aim of increasing the living space in the property rather than simply for reasons of defence. A third tower may have been built on the north-west corner of the property, this time for defensive purposes, but has since been lost. The castle was renovated by architect Anthony Salvin

Anthony Salvin

Anthony Salvin was an English architect. He gained a reputation as an expert on medieval buildings and applied this expertise to his new buildings and his restorations...

in the 1850s.

Askerton Castle is a Grade I listed building.

Biliography

• Emery, Anthony. (1996) Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales, 1300-1500: Northern England. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521497237.