An Historic Landscape Survey of Hartsop
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How to use this report
The following report is the result of archaeological survey and documentary research to examine the
historic and cultural landscape owned by the National Trust in Hartsop, Ullswater.
SECTION 1 of this report gives an INTRODUCTION to the survey area including information on
location, geology and topography. This section highlights why the survey was necessary, the
methodology and practice behind the fieldwork and the extent of documentary work undertaken.
Section 1 also contains a BRIEF HISTORICAL OUTLINE for the property.
SECTION 2 contains a detailed LANDSCAPE HISTORY for the survey area. This section includes
chapters on; historic land-use, agriculture, woodlands, industry and natural resources, historic buildings
and communications.
SECTION 3 provides MANAGEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS for all aspects of the local historic
environment.
A GLOSSARY gives a short explanation of any specialist language used in the report.
The BIBLIOGRAPHY lists all documents consulted during the production of this report.
APPENDIX 1 contains a GAZETTEER OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES AND MONUMENTS
within the survey area as listed on the National Trust Sites and Monuments Record (NTSMR).
APPENDIX 2 contains a GAZETTEER OF HISTORIC BUILDINGS listed on the National Trust
Sites and Monument Record (NTSMR) included within the survey area.
To accompany these gazetteers are five map sheets indicating the location of all identified sites,
monuments and historic buildings.
APPENDIX 3 contains details and guidance regarding all SCHEDULED ANCIENT MONUMENTS
and LISTED BUILDINGS within the survey area.
APPENDIX 4 highlights all individual ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES REQUIRING POSITIVE
MANAGEMENT.
APPENDIX 5 lists the FREQUENCY OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE TYPES encountered during
the survey.
APPENDIX 6 is a RECORD OF ALL ARCHIVAL MATERIAL associated with this report.
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An Historic Landscape Survey of Hartsop
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Acknowledgements
A debt of thanks is owed to all those who gave up their time freely to assist in the compilation of this
report. Most notably Warren Allison, Richard Clark, Stuart Cresswell, Andy Lowe and Angus
Winchester who all contributed valuable information. Thanks also to the staff at the Record Offices at
Carlisle and Kendal. The archive of William Shaw was viewed with the kind permission of Jayne Firth.
Thanks also to Judith Derbyshire, Steve Dowsen, Robert Maxwell, Mark Newman and Ken Ratcliffe at
the National Trust in thinking through many of the ideas presented in this report.
Final thanks should go to Mr. R Taylforth at Side Farm and Beckstones, Mr. J Hodgson at Hartsop Hall
Farm and Mr A and E Wear at How Green Farm for allowing me to undertake survey work while the
valley was still in the shadow of foot and mouth disease.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
SECTION 1 – INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 6
1.1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................... 6
1.1.1. Location of the survey area ..................................................................................................................... 6
1.1.2. Geology, topography and hydrology ....................................................................................................... 7
1.1.3. Background and methodology to the survey ............................................................................................ 8
1.2. BRIEF HISTORICAL OUTLINE ........................................................................................................................ 9
SECTION 2 – A LANDSCAPE HISTORY ...........................................ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
2.1. EARLY ACTIVITY....................................................................................... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
2.1.1. Prehistoric occupation ............................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.1.2. The Romano-British period ...................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.2. THE POST-ROMAN AND EARLY-MEDIEVAL PERIODS ............................. ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
2.2.1. The Pre-Conquest landscape .................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.3. THE MEDIEVAL LANDSCAPE - 1092 TO 1600 ........................................... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
2.3.1. Early enclosure and settlement 1092 - 1300 ............................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.3.2. Later enclosure and settlement 1300 - 1600 ............................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.3.3. The boundaries of the Manor of Hartsop ................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.4. THE POST-MEDIEVAL PERIOD - 1600 TO 1800 ........................................ ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
2.4.1. Society in the Post-Medieval period 1600 to 1800 ................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.4.2. The agricultural landscape 1600 to 1800 ................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.4.3. Early tourists in Hartsop .......................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.5. THE NINETEENTH CENTURY..................................................................... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
2.5.1 Landscape and society ............................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.5.2. Later tourists in Hartsop .......................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.6. THE TWENTIETH CENTURY ...................................................................... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
2.7. WOODLANDS AND WOODLAND MANAGEMENT ....................................... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
2.7.1. Enclosed woodlands ................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.7.2. Conifers and plantation woodlands .......................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.7.3. Pollards and wood pasture ....................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.7.4. Individual trees ......................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.8. THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT ....................................................................... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
2.8.1. Beckstones Farm ...................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.8.2. Hartsop Hall Farm ................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.8.3. Howe Green Farm .................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.9. INDUSTRIES AND NATURAL RESOURCES .................................................. ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
2.9.1. Charcoal burning ..................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.9.2. Bark peeling.............................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.9.3. Potash making .......................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.9.4. Quarries and stone extraction .................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.9.5. Caudale Moor slate quarry ...................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.9.6. Hartsop Hall lead mine ............................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.9.7. Low Hartsop or Myers Head lead mine ................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.9.8. Dodd End lead mine ................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.9.9. Kirkstone Pass lead mine ......................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.9.10. Caiston Glen lead mine .......................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.9.11. Hogget Gill lead smelter......................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.9.12. The iron bloomery .................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.9.13. Hartsop corn mill ................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.9.14. Peat......................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.9.15. Bracken ................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.10. EVIDENCE OF AGRICULTURE .................................................................. ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
2.10.1. Arable agriculture .................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.10.2. Pastoral agriculture ............................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.11. WATER MANAGEMENT AND DRAINAGE .................................................. ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
2.12. COMMUNICATION.................................................................................... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
2.12.1. Routeways ............................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
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2.12.2. Bridges and clapperbridges .................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.13. MISCELLANEOUS AND UNCLASSIFIED SITES .......................................... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
SECTION 3 – MANAGEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS .................ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
3.1. MANAGEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS FOR INDIVIDUAL SITES .................. ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
3.2. SETTLEMENT AND BUILDING RECOMMENDATIONS .................................. ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
3.2.1.General Recommendations ........................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.3. BOUNDARY RECOMMENDATIONS .............................................................. ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
3.3.1. Walls and wall furniture ........................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.3.2. Hedges and hedgebanks ........................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.3.3. Railings and fencing ................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.4. WOODLAND AND TREE PLANTING RECOMMENDATIONS .......................... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
3.4.1. General recommendations ........................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.4.2. Recommendations for particular woodlands ............................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.4.3. Plantation woodlands ............................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.4.4. Pollards .................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.4.5. Individual trees ......................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.5. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR INDUSTRIAL MONUMENTS .............................. ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
3.5.1. Management of industrial sites and buildings .......................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.6. LAND USE RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................ ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
3.6.1. Agriculture................................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.7. WATER MANAGEMENT AND DRAINAGE .................................................... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
3.7.1. General recommendations ........................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.8. COMMUNICATIONS .................................................................................... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
3.8.1. Walkers cairns .......................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.8.2. Footpath repairs ....................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.9. PRIORITIES FOR FUTURE RESEARCH AND INTERPRETATION ................... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
4.0. GLOSSARY .......................................................................................ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
5.0. BIBLIOGRAPHY .............................................................................ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
APPENDIX 1 - GAZETTEER OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES AND MONUMENTSERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINE
APPENDIX 2 - GAZETTEER OF HISTORIC BUILDINGS .............ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
APPENDIX 3 –SCHEDULED ANCIENT MONUMENTS AND LISTED BUILDINGSERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINE
APPENDIX 4 - ARCHAEOLOGICAL FEATURES REQUIRING POSITIVE MANAGEMENTERROR! BOOKMARK NOT
APPENDIX 5 - FREQUENCY OF SITE TYPES .................................ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
APPENDIX 6 - LIST OF ARCHIVE MATERIAL PRODUCED BY THIS REPORTERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
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List of Figures
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7
Figure 8
Figure 9
Figure 10
Figure 11
Figure 12
Figure 13
Figure 14
Figure 15
Figure 16
Figure 17
Figure 18
Boundary of the survey area
Plan of the cup marks at Beckstones Farm, from Beckensall, S.
2002
Plan of the Romano-British farmstead near Hartsop Hall Farm,
from RCHME. 1936
The boundaries of the Manor of Hartsop
The development of early-enclosure in Hartsop
Depiction of Brother Field, Low Hartsop Field and (High)
Hartsop Field in 1764 (D/Lons/L/Plans)
The redrawn Enclosure Award map for Overdale in Hartsop,
1861-1865 (WQR/I/74)
The location of the grazing pastures in High and Low Hartsop
The later agricultural landscape of Hartsop
Plan of woodland archaeology recorded in the Hartsop demesne
Survey of land at Beckstones and Dubhow (D/Lons/L5/13)
The 1863 First Edition 6 inch Ordnance Survey map showing
Brothers Water
The 1899 Second Edition 6 inch Ordnance Survey map
showing Brothers Water
The 1863 First Edition 25 inch Ordnance Survey map showing
part of Hayeswater Gill
The 1915 Second Edition 25 inch Ordnance Survey map
showing part of Hayeswater Gill
Walls in need of repair on Beckstones Farm
Walls in need of repair on Hartsop Hall Farm.
Walls in need of repair on Howe Green Farm
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2
7
9
17
after 17
20
26
27
after 29
41
53
57
57
58
58
65
66
67
List of Photographs
Photograph 1
Photograph 2
Photograph 3
Photograph 4
Photograph 5
Photograph 6
Photograph 7
Photograph 8
Photograph 9
Photograph 10
The survey area seen from the Kirkstone Pass
The panel of prehistoric cup marks at Beckstones Farm
View of the valley head enclosure in Dovedale
View of intakes along Hayeswater Gill
The valley side enclosure known as New Forest
The landscape within the survey area today
A view of Hartsop Hall Farm
The wheel pit and stone piers at Low Hartsop lead mine
View over Brother Field and High Hartsop Field
A robbed wall and walkers cairn on the high fell
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1
7
14
16
21
30
31
47
52
74
The copyright for all photography in this report belongs to the National Trust, except for Photograph 4,
© Ronald Mitchell.
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Section 1 – Introduction
1.1. Introduction
The following report is the result of archaeological survey and documentary research to
examine the historic and cultural landscape around Hartsop in the southern part of the
Ullswater valley. It represents one of a series of such surveys of properties owned by the
National Trust in the Lake District that also includes; Great Langdale, Watendlath and
Ashness, Hawkshead and Claife, Wasdale Head and Coniston.
The purpose of historic landscape survey is threefold; the construction of a historic and
cultural narrative for the local landscape, the identification of all sites and monuments of
archaeological or historic importance within the survey area and the production of
management recommendations for both individual sites and landscapes.
1.1.1. Location of the survey area
The survey area includes all valley bottom and fellside land from the Kirkstone Pass as far
north as Beckstones Farm just south of Patterdale. Brothers Water is situated close to the
heart of the survey area (centred at NY 40251275), the area surveyed is contained on the
five Ordnance Survey 1:10000 sheets NY 30 NE, NY 31 SE, NY 40 NW, NY 41 SW and
NY 41 NW.
Photograph 1 – The survey area seen from the Kirkstone Pass
The survey area comprises some 3640 acres. Of this total around 3500 acres are currently
maintained as pasture or meadow within the tenancies of three farms; Beckstones, Hartsop
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Hall and Howe Green. The only significant area of woodland within the survey area is Low
Wood, comprising some 172 acres to the west of Brothers Water.
The boundary of the survey area is outlined in red in figure 1. The survey boundary is a
product of the present land holding of the National Trust and is not designed to reflect any
earlier pattern of land ownership or ancient boundary.
Figure 1 – Boundary of the survey area
1.1.2. Geology, topography and hydrology
The survey area is located within the broad band of Borrowdale volcanic rock laid down to
form the rugged heart of the Lake District some 450 million years ago. The altitude within
the survey area ranges from 150m OD on the valley bottom close to Brothers Water, to 822m
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OD on the top of Hart Crag. The crags are most well developed in the south-western part of
the survey area, especially around Dove Crag. The glacial corries are not particularly well
formed in the area, although Caudale Head is a fine example.
Soils within the lower parts of the survey area are mostly poorly drained, podsolised brown
earths. These soils are characterised by a brown mineral upper layer and a pale, acidic lower
part from which minerals, nutrients and so on have been leached away by water. On the
higher ground the soils are characterised by gleyed soils with impeded drainage and a peaty
top layer; some deeper accumulations of peat occur locally.
The survey area contains three bodies of water, two of which are owned by the National
Trust. The first is Brothers Water, a shallow lake that occupies the valley floor to west of
Hartsop. The lake was formed after the valley floor was dammed by outwashed morainic
material close at the point where Hayeswater Gill reaches the valley bottom. The second is
Angle Tarn, a high level tarn, sitting in a hollow carved by ice and replenished by water
falling within its catchment area.
The third body of water, Hayeswater, is owned by United Utilities, although the shoreline
does belong to the National Trust. Hayeswater is located in a small glaciated valley between
High Street and Grey Crag to the east of Hartsop. Hayeswater is hemmed in by a series of
moranic mounds formed through recessional retreat along its north-western edge, making it
particularly suited for use as a reservoir. The lake was purchased from James William
Lowther in 1908 and a dam erected soon afterwards.
1.1.3. Background and methodology to the survey
Fieldwork for this report was carried out by Jamie Lund, the National Trust regional
archaeologist between November 2001 and March 2002.
Prior to fieldwork the existing National Trust Sites and Monuments Record (NTSMR) was
consulted to identify any known archaeological sites within the survey area. A search was
also made of the SMR maintained by the Lake District National Park Authority.
Details of all archaeological sites identified during field survey were recorded on pro-forma
sheets and their positions recorded onto a 1:2500 scale map wherever coverage allowed,
otherwise using enlargements taken from 1:10000 scale maps. A complete list of all sites and
monuments recorded appears in APPENDIX 2.
Field survey also included an examination of all standing and relict boundaries within the
survey area. Details of all boundaries, including the position of all gates, stiles and other wall
furniture, were recorded at a scale of 1:2500 or 1:10000 and a description recorded on a proforma. This information, along with any useful historic documents, provides the basis for the
interpretation of the sequence of enclosure outlined in the report.
A search of the relevant historic documents and archives relating to the survey area was also
undertaken at the Cumbria Record Offices at Kendal and Carlisle. A complete list of all
documents referred to in the text appears in the BIBLIOGRAPHY.
A list of the associated survey archive, including hand-written survey information,
photographs and transcriptions of archive material, appears in APPENDIX 6.
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1.2. Brief Historical Outline
The earliest archaeological evidence for human activity within the survey area is the panel of
prehistoric rock art recently discovered near Beckstones Farm. These pecked ‘cup marks’ are
believed to have been made during the Neolithic period some 5000 years ago. There is no
evidence to suggest that there existed any permanent settlement in the area around Hartsop
during the Neolithic, nor during the later-prehistoric period between 3000 BC and 43AD.
The only evidence for activity during this period is the possible prehistoric burial mound
situated close to the confluence of Kirkstone Beck and Dovedale Beck. Adjacent to the
possible burial mound is a Romano-British farmstead thought to have been occupied
sometime around the second century AD. Two Roman roads pass through the survey area.
The first runs across High Street along the eastern edge of the survey area, the second
descends the Kirkstone Pass and continues through the valley to the west of Brothers Water
towards Patterdale.
In the seventh century the Lake District valleys were absorbed into the Anglian kingdom of
Northumbria. The lack of archaeological evidence from this period makes any detailed
understanding of life and society in the region difficult. The name Hartsop has Old English
origins and means ‘valley of the deer’. This may be an indication that the valley was settled
or regularly visited sometime between the seventh and ninth centuries. While Northumbrian
rule may have encouraged an influx of settlers into some parts of the Lake District, many
areas are thought to have remained densely wooded until the tenth century and the arrival of
Norse speaking peoples to the Cumbrian coast. The Norse settlers appear to have moved
inland, even as far as the central fells, clearing woodland and establishing small farming
communities.
The Norman Conquest after 1066 resulted in great change to the pattern of settlement and
society across the medieval landscape of Northern England, although for part of the latereleventh century the northern Lake District remained part of the kingdom of Strathclyde. As
a result of the Norman victory at Carlisle in 1092 large parts of unoccupied land in what is
now Cumbria was allotted to Norman Lords, many of whom settled with their retinues to
occupy these areas. There is no surviving documentary evidence to piece together the early
history of the Manor of Hartsop and as a result our understanding of the immediate postconquest landscape is based on field evidence and information extrapolated from other areas.
In many Lake District valleys the rise in population during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries
encouraged the development of a simple system of communal farming based around the
enclosure of meadow and arable lands on the valley bottom within a single wall or ‘ringgarth’. The ring-garth not only prevented stock from trampling crops growing on the valley
bottom, but also acted as a political boundary between the tenanted agricultural land and the
unenclosed fell that belonged to the Lord of the Manor. A form of ring-garth exists in
Hartsop. This boundary encloses land on the valley bottom to the north and south of Brothers
Water, as well as in Dovedale.
The area known as Dovedale, along with all land within the Manor of Hartsop to the west of
Caiston Beck and Kirkstone Beck was retained by the Lord as in-hand or ‘demesne’ land.
During the early post-conquest period the demesne may have functioned as a hunting ground
or ‘chase’. Some time after the enclosure of the valley bottom land, a wall was set up to
enclose the valley head in Dovedale. This boundary is believed to have enclosed a large
cattle pasture and suggests that the demesne may have been managed as a vaccary or cattle
ranch. The existence of large numbers of cattle in the valley is highlighted in a document of
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1255 that records a complaint against the Lord of the Manor of Hartsop for allowing his cattle
to trespass on the neighbouring ‘forest’ land. The demesne also contained an early hall. This
hall was presumably occupied by the Lord of the Manor from the twelfth or early-thirteenth
century given the status of Hartsop as a separate medieval manor.
The early division of land within the Manor of Hartsop between demesne and free forest
encouraged the development of two very different patterns of settlement and enclosure. The
eastern half of the Manor of Hartsop was settled and farmed by tenants in the early postconquest period. Two separate settlements developed alongside the two common fields north
and south of Brothers Water. Low Hartsop developed in a side valley to the north-east of
Brothers Water. To the south the string of tenements appeared alongside the ring-garth at the
foot of the Kirkstone Pass and became known as High Hartsop.
Outside the ring-garth additional land began to be enclosed within small irregular shaped
fields known as ‘intakes’. Around Low Hartsop early intaking concentrated on the low valley
sides to the north and south of the village, as well as to the east along the sides of Hayeswater
Gill. At High Hartsop intaking was restricted to the land adjacent to the ring-garth by the
steep, scree covered fellsides to the east. Some intakes may have been cleared of stone and
cultivated, while others were managed as additional cattle pastures.
There is no sign of early intaking within the demesne. The area appears to have witnessed
little change until a new hall was established sometime in the fourteenth century. It is likely
that the core of the new hall was set up before the de Lowther family took possession of the
Manor of Hartsop in 1463 as part of a marriage dowry from the de Lancaster family. The de
Lancaster family had possession of Hartsop since at least the thirteenth century. The Manor
of Hartsop passed between the de Lowther and de Lancaster families until 1638, after which
time it remained part of the Lowther estate until the twentieth century.
It is quite likely that the hall and demesne at Hartsop were both abandoned by the de
Lowthers and rented out to a tenant farmer sometime in the early-seventeenth century. There
are certainly no documentary references to the Lord being in residence after 1600. It was
around this time that the hall was extended for use as a farmhouse and a new barn set up
nearby. Some enclosure of land within the demesne may have taken place around this time as
a consequence of changes in the pattern of farming and land-use. The enclosed valley head in
Dovedale may have been sub-divided around this time and parcels of wood pasture enclosed
on the lower slopes of Wood Side. It is possible that further intaking took place on tenanted
land around this time, although documentary evidence is lacking.
The earliest surviving rental for the Manor of Hartsop dates from 1574, this document records
the existence of around thirty separate tenements. During this time the picture of agriculture
in Hartsop is one in which the valley bottom is almost entirely maintained as meadow with
subsistence crops of oats and barley growing in the enclosed intakes situated on the dryer and
warmer south-facing slopes. Farming at this time was increasingly dominated by sheep
rearing to supply the burgeoning wool trade. The earliest reference to the communal
management and ‘stinting’ on the fells appears in 1640, although the system of management
is likely to have been long established by this time.
The first private enclosure of land on the valley bottom took place in the late-seventeenth or
early-eighteenth century. A number of fences are shown in Brother Field to the north of
Brothers Water in the survey of the Manor of Hartsop from 1764. Despite this the majority of
land on the valley bottom continued to be managed as common. Some fell walls had also
been established prior to 1764. The cow pasture known as ‘Hull and Side’ north of Low
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Hartsop was enclosed so that it could be stinted separately from the surrounding fell. During
the eighteenth century more intakes appeared on the higher fellsides, often enclosing quite
marginal areas that required extensive improvement.
For a short period in the later part of the eighteenth century and early-nineteenth century
upland farms enjoyed a period of prosperity as a result of the sharp rise in food prices as a
consequence of the French and Napoleonic Wars. Despite this the number of farms continued
to decline. By 1800 there were just seventeen farms in the Manor of Hartsop, the number fell
to thirteen in 1831 and just seven in 1894. As the number of farms declined land was often
purchased by neighbouring farms allowing them to expand and increase output. Redundant
farmhouses and buildings were found a new use or let as cottages to farm labourers or nonagricultural workers or simply abandoned. This depopulation and amalgamation of farm land
paved the way for the enclosure of common land in the second half of the nineteenth century.
Many forms of industry are represented in and around Hartsop, with the demesne being more
heavily exploited for industry than the tenanted lands. Of greatest significance are the two
complex multi-period lead mining sites known as Hartsop Hall and Myers Head. Another
three smaller, short-lived lead mines also exist within the survey area. The remains of a lead
smelter and white coal kiln set up in the late-seventeenth century on Hogget Gill still survive.
An extensive collection of buildings and workings associated with the Caudale Moor slate
mine exist high above the Kirkstone Pass road. There are in addition many locally important
industrial sites including over thirty charcoal burning platforms, a potash pit, a corn mill and
kiln and an early iron bloomery.
There has been relatively little landscape change within the survey area during the twentieth
century. The pattern of enclosure has changed little in the last hundred years. The only new
boundaries to be erected are fences alongside collapsed walls and field drains. The twentieth
century has witnessed a continued decline in the number of separate farms within the survey
area. With this has come a decline in the rural labourforce, with fewer farms meaning more
work for those who remain. As a consequence many walls, buildings and other features in the
landscape that are no longer in agricultural use have fallen into decay.
In 1947 Hartsop Hall Farm became the first farm in the country to be handed over to the
National Trust in lieu of Death Duties. Howe Green Farm was sold to the Lake District Farm
Estates in 1956 who passed it onto the National Trust in 1976. Caudalebeck Farm was
purchased in 1965 and soon after amalgamated with Hartsop Hall Farm. Beckstones Farm,
situated just outside the former Manor of Hartsop, was purchased in 1986. The most recent
acquisition was Grove Farm purchased in 1992 and amalgamated with Howe Green Farm in
2000.
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