| Photograph Information |
Photographer's Comments |
Camera: Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi
Lens: Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II
Location: Arnside, Cumbria, UK
Date: Feb 21, 2007
Date Uploaded: Feb 21, 2007
Viewed: 192
Comments: 13
Favorites: 0
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Arnside Tower is the oldest building in the parish of Arnside. It is a ruin of a Pele tower which were fortified structures quite unique to the north of England and often referred to as a 'poormans castle'. Pele Towers were built by the ordinary people, during the 15th century, as a defence to protect themselves, their goods and their livestock from the raiding Scots. There are around 78 towers remaining in the UK today.
They were small stone buildings with walls from 3 to 10 feet thick, square or oblong in shape. Most were on the outskirts of the Lake District, but a few were within its boundaries. Designed to withstand short sieges, they usually consisted of three storeys - a tunnel-vaulted ground floor which had no windows which was used as a storage area, and which could accommodate animals. The first floor contained a hall and kitchen, and the top floor was space for living and sleeping. The battlemented roof was normally flat for look-out purposes, and to allow arrows to be fired at raiders, and missiles hurled down on unwanted visitors.
Due to systematic dismantling and weathering and age, it is now both roofless and floorless. The tower was severely burned in 1602, probably through a domestic fire rather than as the result of an attack, but was repaired and then occupied. Between 1684 and 1690, dismantling occurred, with building materials being removed to Beetham and Knowsley.
In 1884, the now already ruinous tower was subjected to a particularly severe storm, which resulted in the destruction of most of the south west angle of the cross wall, with the South wall also being damaged. The tower is now virtually split in two, with one portion containing the four storeys with domestic rooms, and the other portion containing the five storeys with the garde-robe and the taller part of the tower.
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04/07/2007 07:07:17 PM |
| Fascinating story - never knew "normal" people built anything like this. |
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02/24/2007 03:22:55 AM |
| Seems to have been the day for castle images. I actually like the way the gray toning of the fore trees mimic the gray toning of the ruin. Nice complimentary design. |
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02/23/2007 06:17:53 PM |
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02/22/2007 06:19:46 PM |
| Very interesting history. I would love to live somewhere to be able to take pictures of historical ruins all the time. |
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02/22/2007 02:30:35 PM |
| Amazing that it lasted this long! Very nice photo and interesting history. |
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02/22/2007 01:33:25 PM |
| nice ruins I love old things. |
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02/21/2007 05:16:42 PM |
| Great history lesson! I also love the photo! |
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02/21/2007 03:34:38 PM |
| Very interesting history and a great shot. |
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02/21/2007 01:06:39 PM |
| wow. the history is really interesting and an awesome photo ! |
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02/21/2007 11:39:45 AM |
| Really nice shot, Jane; it's nice to live somewhere where there's interesting stuff to shoot, and to see the interesting stuff you've got. I wonder what this would look like if you saturated it a bit more; the grass and the sky might be a bit more vibrant, but it might change the feel too much, too (it looks kind of desolate, and I look the look for the shot). |
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02/21/2007 10:04:12 AM |
| I really appreciate you sharing this history of this! Magnificent photo to show the place, too. |
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02/21/2007 09:23:43 AM |
This is AWESOME! And what an interesting story. I am so in love with photos of the old old buildings you can see in England. Being from a country now even 250 years old yet, it blows my mind to see things that were around in the 15th century!
I love the composition of this, being on the hillside like that. It adds to the charm and drama even more.
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02/21/2007 06:47:30 AM |
This is great! I would love to plan a tour around going to as many of them as possible that are still accessable.
It stirs mental images of an ancient time which must have been very different in life style. |
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| Photographer found comment helpful. |
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