A Virtual Walk through Mallerstang

Part 2: North from Pendragon Castle

The Helm Wind

England has only one "named wind" - the Helm Wind. This is usually associated with a ferocious wind that, from time to time, sweeps down from Cross Fell, further along the Eden Valley. But Mallerstang has its own version of the same wind, which sweeps over Mallerstang Edge, affecting especially the central part of the dale. This can be equally fierce and can blow for two days or more, sometimes sounding like an express train! 

It comes mainly in the spring or autumn, but it can occur at any time of the year. And, as for its better known big brother, the coming of a Helm Wind is accompanied by the formation of a dense cap of cloud (a "Helm Bar") which, forms along Mallerstang Edge - as seen in the photo.

 

Helm Bar over Mallerstang Edge

 

Pendragon Castle

Pendragon Castle

As we continue to walk north from Outhgill (either along the road, or on the footpath beside the river), we come to Pendragon Castle. This was reputed to have been founded by Uther Pendragon, the father of King Arthur. Uther is said to have tried to divert the Eden to provide a moat, but...

"Let Uther Pendragon do what he can

"The Eden will run where the Eden ran"

According to legend, Uther Pendragon and a hundred of his men were killed here when the Saxon invaders poisoned the well. There are also claims that the Romans built at least a temporary fort here, along the road between their forts at Brough and Bainbridge. But (apart from legend and supposition), there is no real evidence that there was any building here before the Normans built their castle in the 12th Century.  The castle is now only a ruin - but a romantic ruin, set in glorious scenery.

 

NOTE: Pendragon castle is on private land. Access is permitted, but care must be taken - 

it is in a potentially dangerous condition despite some recent restoration.

 

 
Just beside the castle there is the only side road in Mallerstang, apart from farm tracks. It is known locally as "Tommy Road"  - for reasons that are not at all clear! It makes its very scenic way over Wharton Fell to link us with Ravenstonedale. One of the most spectacular views of Mallerstang (and one of my favourite sights), comes when you look back to the dale from Tommy Road in winter... 

From Tommy Road

Mallerstang Edge from Tommy Road

This view also reminds me of Wilfred Gibson's poem about the drover walking through Mallerstang, caught in a snowstorm 

- see the  "Poems" page.

 

Lady Anne

Lady Anne Clifford

Pendragon Castle ca 1730

 

 

Lynchette

Lynchets

 

Parish Boundary

Boundary Stone at Water Yat

 

Both the church and the castle had fallen into a ruinous state by 1643 when, after years of litigation, Lady Anne Clifford finally came into her inheritance as Countess of Westmorland at the age of 60. 

After rebuilding her main properties in Skipton, Appleby, and Brougham, she turned her energetic attention to Mallerstang. By 1660 she had rebuilt Pendragon Castle, and that year she spent Christmas there. Three years later she finished restoring the church and set up an endowment to support a minister - who was also to act as schoolmaster for the children of the dale.

 

 

This formidable woman had many legal battles with her tenants over rents and other dues. One of her chief opponents was Robert Atkinson of Blue Grass (now Dale Foot farm). This former Captain in Cromwell‘s army was one of the leaders of a rebellion against King Charles II, but the ”Kaber Rigg Plot" fizzled out, and Robert Atkinson was executed at Appleby Castle in August 1664.

Unfortunately, after Lady Anne's death her successors had no use for Pendragon Castle; the lead was stripped from the roof, and the castle soon began to deteriorate - in a print of 1732, trees are already growing through the roof.

 

 

 

Continuing our walk northwards, just beyond Dale Foot we come to a flat area, known an Watter Yat, where the Eden makes a broad loop (and where, in summer, many people stop to have a picnic - or even to camp by the riverside). On the raised ground to the west are the "Giants Graves" - three oblong mounds, which are probably Bronze Age burial mounds.

 

A few hundred yards to the northeast, there is the site of a Bronze Age settlement (only visible when the shadows, or a light sprinkle of snow pick out the faint traces). 

Just beyond this, there are the much clearer hillside terraces, or lynchets, which certainly date from medieval times, and may be part of the Bronze Age settlement.....

 

 

 

- but we have strayed over the parish boundary, so our walk through Mallerstang has ended!

 

The Name Mallerstang

This is almost certainly a combination of the Celtic words moel bryn, meaning "bare hill" - as also in the name Malvern - and the Norse word stong, meaning a land mark. (There have been other, less convincing, explanations of the name).

The "bare hill" refers to Wild Boar Fell; and perhaps this adds a small piece of evidence for some special Celtic connection here (even if not with Uther Pendragon)!  In the north-west, quite a few traces of the older Celtic names survive, for example in the names of the River Eden, Penrith, and Cumbria.

For More Information, read:

"Mallerstang Dale, a Guide to the Head of the Eden", by John Hamilton

ISBN 1874092214 But quicker by post from The Thrang, Ł8.00 incl p&p

© John Hamilton - Thanks to Annie for the sketches.

(Click here for Books Page  and contact details)

Click here to go back to Home page

Or here, for poems (mentioning Mallerstang), by Wilfred Gibson 

Or here, to go back to Part 1 of the "Virtual Walk"

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