Sockbridge

89 SOCKBRIDGE (D.b.)

(O.S. 6 in. ^(a)III, S.E., ^(b)VII, N.E.)

Sockbridge is a small parish and hamlet on the N. border of the county 8 m. N.N.W. of Shap. Sockbridge Hall is the principal monument.

Secular

^a(1). Sockbridge Hall (Plate 17), house and outbuildings, at the N.E. end of the hamlet. The House is of two storeys; the walls are of rubble, partly ashlar-faced, and the roofs are slate-covered. It formerly belonged to the family of Lancaster and passed to the Lowthers early in the 17th century. The main block seems to have been largely if not entirely re-built in the middle or second half of the 16th century. At the end of the same century the E. wing was added and in the 17th century a small wing was added on the E. side of the main block and partly on the site of a small original wing. A pele-tower, formerly existing to the E. of the main block, was destroyed c. 1830 and the materials are said to have been re-used in one of the lodges of Lowther Park. The main block retains a number of 16th-century stone windows with moulded labels; some of these are of three square-headed and transomed lights; one on the E. side, now blocked, is of three lights with four-centred heads while the window below has elliptical-headed lights; a doorway on this side has a triangular arch in a square head. The S. gable is crow-stepped with moulded copings. The E. wing retains a number of windows of three square-headed and transomed lights with moulded labels. In the middle of the range is an entrance passage; the doorway at the S. end has chamfered jambs and four-centred head. A doorway in the W. wall has a triangular head. In the N. wall one window is of three elliptical-headed lights. Inside the building some of the ceiling-beams are exposed. In the main block is a large fireplace with a segmental arch. A doorway in the main cross-wall may be of earlier date than the rest of the building and above it is a large shaped corbel. The staircase has some re-used 17th-century balusters and on the first floor is some late 17th-century panelling.

The Outbuilding, S.W. of the house is partly of the 17th century with an added 18th-century wing. The outbuilding W. of the house is of c. 1700, and has a series of seven doorways in the E. wall and two ranges of loop-lights.

Condition—Good.

Monuments (2–10)

The following monuments, unless otherwise described, are of the 17th century and of two storeys; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are slate-covered. Some of the buildings have exposed ceiling-beams.

Condition—Good or fairly good.

^a(2). Croftfoot, house and outbuildings 200 yards S.W. of (1). The House, now two tenements, was built c. 1700 and has later additions. The doorway has embattled enrichment on the lintel. Inside the building is a spice-cupboard with a panelled door and a fireplace with a corbelled head. The Outbuilding, E. of the house retains an original doorway. A second outbuilding, S.E. of the house, was formerly a dwelling and contains a panelled cupboard with the date 1700.

^b(3). House, on the S.E. side of the road 400 yards S.W. of (1), retains some original windows.

^b(4). Stone House, 60 yards S.W. of (3), was built probably late in the 16th century with a 17th-century porch on the S. Inside the building is a late 17th-century panelled partition.

^b(5). The Old School, N. of (4), is of one storey and has been reduced in size. It retains two original windows and part of a large truss of crutch-form. A barn, S. of the building is of late 17th-century date.

^b(6). Wordsworth House, formerly Sockbridge House, N. of (5), is of two storeys with attics. The main block has a doorway with the initials and date R. and E.D. (for Reginald and Elizabeth Dobson) 1699 on the head; the windows, of mullion and transom type, have moulded architraves and the angles of the building are rusticated. The N. wing is of rather earlier date. Inside the main block, the late 17th-century staircase (Plate 56) has twisted balusters and square newels. The S.E. room is lined with panelling and in the W. wall is a panelled cupboard.

^b(7). House, on the N.W. side of the road immediately opposite (3), seems to have been altered in 1741, the date on the doorway.

^b(8). House on the N. side of the road at Tirril nearly ¼ m. S.S.W. of (1), was built early in the 18th century. The S. doorway has the initials and date T.S. 1712.

^b(9). Tirril Hall, 200 yards S.E. of (8), retains some original windows.

^b(10). Cellaron, house and barn on the S.W. edge of the parish 1¼ m. S.S.W. of (1). The House was re-built c. 1700 and retains some windows of that date. The Barn, N. of the house, has a doorway with the initials and date C. and F.A. 1694 above it.