THE EDGE
VACATION & HOLIDAY GUIDE TO
CUMBRIA & THE LAKE DISTRICT
Penrith Castle Cumbria
THE EDGE
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PENRITH CASTLE Location: OS ref NY 512299 Sheet 90. On the hill looking over the town.
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Penrith Castle was built from 1398 onwards, after John de Dreux had given William de Strickland a perpetual lease with provision to build a small fort. The original building was extended and the whole given a licence to crenelate. The castle was further upgraded in the early C15 before being given to Richard Duke of Gloucester, later to become King Richard III. The Duke made further improvements, but by 1572 the castle was partly ruinous, much stone having been taken away for use in other buildings in the town.
In the 1640s during the Civil War the castle was headquarters for General Lambert, but not for long. Most of the action in the area took place around Eamont Bridge a mile to the south. The castle is now not much more than a shell of three high walls though it has an impressive motte and is well situated at the top of the town.
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