Liddell Strength Tower

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; pele of Liddel; Liddel Moat

In the civil parish of Kirkandrews. In the historic county of Cumberland (Modern Authority of Cumbria, 1974 county of Cumbria).

Contained within the inner ward of [Liddell Strength castle (qv)] are the severely reduced remains of a pele tower, surviving as a turf-covered bank, up to 0.9 m high internally, enclosing an irregular sub-rectangular area, about 8 m NW-SE by 5 m transversely. No wall faces or any structural remains are exposed; probing revealed some stone content but this was inconclusive. The tower was last seen in the late 18th century as the foundations of a square building (Pennant; Hutchinson); Roy's plan of 1752 (Roy) shows at this position the roofless remains of a building, measuring about 13 m NE-SW by 8 m transversely within a wall some 2 m thick. The tower was probably erected some time after the destruction of the castle in 1346, and went out of use in the late 16th century (Curwen). (PastScape–ref. Field Investigators Comments–Keith Blood/06-MAY-1992/RCHME: Liddel Strength Survey)
Gone by time of Leland's survey. Possible site of Liddel Moat shown on West Marches map of 1590 although, if Leland is accurate, this should be The Mote (Highmoat) (qv)

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NY40187418

Air Photo from Air Photo and general mapping	1st edition OS Map from Mid to late 19th century maps
Modern Map from Landscape form and features	Modern Map from General location and route planning
Geograph British Isles occasionally has photos of the site and will usually give an idea of the surrounding landscape.

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 975069
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 33 'grey' literature, such as watching brief reports, held by H.E.R.s is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded in this website.

• Books
  • Perriam, Denis and Robinson, John, 1998, The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria (CWAAS)
    Salter, Mike, 1998, The Castles and Tower Houses of Cumbria (Malvern) p71
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p44
    Jackson, M.J.,1990, Castles of Cumbria (Carel Press) p70-2
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p88, 93
    Hugill, Robert, 1977, Castles and Peles of Cumberland and Westmorland (Newcastle; Frank Graham) p121-122
    Hutchinson, 1794, The history of the county of Cumberland Vol2 p529 http://www.archive.org/stream/historyofcountyo02hutc#page/529/mode/1up
    Roy, W., 1794, Military Antiquities of the Romans in Britain
    Pennant, T., 1774, A Tour of Scotland (3rd edition Warrington)
• Journal Articles
  • Curwen, J.F., 1910, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol10 p90-101
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p93
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol5 p50 http://www.archive.org/details/itineraryofjohnl05lelauoft