Murton

69 MURTON (F.c.)

(O.S. 6 in. ^(a)X, S.W., ^(b)XV, N.E.)

Murton is a parish adjoining that of Appleby on the E. Murton Hall is the principal monument.

Secular

^a(1). Murton Hall stands on the E. side of the village. It is of two storeys; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are slate-covered. The E. part of the main block, now a cow-house, dates probably from the second half of the 14th century. The middle part of the main block was built or re-built in the second half of the 16th century and the W. end of the block is probably a slightly later addition. The long wing projecting to the N. was added in the second half of the 17th century and the small wing or dairy on the same side dates probably from late in the same century. The N. front of the original block has a late 14th-century window (Plate 31) now converted into a doorway; it was of three trefoiled ogee lights in a square head with a moulded label stepped up above the middle light; the spandrels are carved with blank shields, figure-subjects and ears of corn. The 16th-century part of the front has an embattled and crow-stepped porch with three blank shields above the doorway; the latter has a triangular arch in a square head; the inner doorway has a four-centred head; farther W. is a five-light transomed window with a moulded label and a blocked doorway. The upper windows are also of the 16th century and have moulded labels, as have those in the W. end. The back of this block has similar windows, one of four transomed lights. One of the chimney-stacks of this block is finished with an octagonal gabled lantern of the 14th century and probably re-set. Inside the main block, the original part retains a 14th-century fireplace with moulded jambs and shouldered triangular arch; the upper storey has an original roof of three bays, with curved principals, tie-beams and king-posts with longitudinal struts. The 16th-century part has a fireplace with a four-centred arch, and there is a second, of similar form, on the first floor. Some 17th-century panelling and some panelled doors remain. The projecting N. wing has 17th-century stone doorways and windows with mullions and labels. The roof is of the same period and of six bays; in the S. wall is a blocked segmental arch, perhaps of a former fireplace. Built into a garden-wall is the traceried head of a two-light 14th-century window.

Condition—Fairly good.

Monuments (2–6)

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.

^b(2). Brackenber Hall (Plate 19), nearly 1½ m. S.S.W. of (1), is of three storeys. The N. front retains its original stone-mullioned windows and has moulded stringcourses between the storeys; the doorway has moulded jambs and an embattled sinking on the lintel. Inside the building are some panelled doors and a late 17th-century staircase with turned balusters and square newels with ball terminals.

^a(3). Cottage, two tenements, in Murton village 100 yards W. of (1), has a doorway with embattled sinking on the lintel and a cornice; two windows have moulded architraves and cornices.

^a(4). Cottage, formerly inn, at the S. angle of the cross-roads 100 yards W.S.W. of (1), has a re-set lintel with the initials and date W.M. 1677. Inside the building is a muntin and plank partition of the local type.

^a(5). Hilton Hall, at the W. end of Hilton village and ¾ m. S. of (1), has been much re-built, perhaps in 1764, but has a lintel with the initials and date T.E.H. 1682.

^b(6). Langton, house over 1½ m. S.W. of (1), retains an original four-light window and two doorways with initials and dates on the lintels, the eastern T. and B.K. 1654 and the western R. and I.P. 1697. Another doorway of the 17th century remains on the N. side.

Unclassified

^b(7). Earthwork (called Druidical Judgment Seat on O.S.) occupies the end of a spur (about 550 ft. above O.D.) nearly ½ m. S.S.W. of (2), and forms a roughly oval enclosure of about ¾ acre, with a shallow ditch across the neck of the spur and continued round the other sides, following the contour. A causeway crosses the ditch on the N.W. side. The work has features in common with Castle Hill, Dufton.

Condition—Fairly good.

^b(8). Mounds on Brackenber Moor, W. and S.W. of Brackenber hamlet, are five in number. (a) 370 yards N.W. of (7), is 38 ft. in diameter and 2 ft. high; it has been damaged in the middle. (b) 53 yards N.W. of (a), is 18 ft. in diameter and 2½ ft. high. (c) and (d) about 300 yards N.W. of (a), are 23–25 ft. in diameter and 2 ft. high; both have been much damaged. (e) 590 yards W.N.W. of (c), was probably about 42 ft. in diameter and 3 ft. high; it has been damaged in the middle.

^b(9). Mound (called Roman Fortress on O.S.) on the N. side of the Appleby-Brough road, W. of Hilton beck, has been formed by cutting a slight ditch on a natural spur and steepening the scarps. The work forms an oval, about 60 ft. by 40 ft., with a rampart carried round, except on the S. side.