{{Short description|Castle in Cumbria, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2015}} {{Use British English|date=July 2015}} {{Infobox military installation |name = Arnside Tower |location = Cumbria, England |coordinates = {{coord|54.1841|N|2.8335|W|region:GB-CMA|display=inline,title}} |gridref = {{gbmapping|SD457768}} |image = 225px |caption = Arnside Tower |map_type = United Kingdom South Lakeland#Cumbria |map_size = |map_alt = |map_caption = Location in South Lakeland##Location in Cumbria |type = Tower house |materials = Limestone rubble |height = |condition = Ruined |ownership = private |open_to_public = no |battles = |events = }} '''Arnside Tower''' is a late-medieval tower house (or Pele tower) between Arnside and Silverdale immediately to the south of Arnside Knott in Cumbria, England.
==History== thumb|upright=1.5|left|The northwestern side of the tower collapsed in the early 1900s. Silverdale Moss is visible in the background Arnside Tower was built in the second half of the 15th century. Tower houses were built throughout the border regions of northern England and southern Scotland because of the threat posed by Border Reivers.<ref>Emery, p.183.</ref> Constructed of limestone rubble, the tower was originally five storeys high, measuring 50 feet by 34 feet. The tower was built with an adjacent wing of equal height built onto the side of the tower in a style common in Scotland, but rare in English tower houses.<ref>Pettifer, p.265.</ref> Historian Anthony Emery suggests that the design may have been influenced by that at Ashby de la Zouch Castle, rebuilt in 1464 by Lord Hastings.<ref>Emery, p.184.</ref> The tower suffered a serious fire in 1602 but after repairs remained in use; the historian Anthony Emery states that the tower was in use until the end of the 17th century, but the historian Roy Palmer states that William Coward and his sister Agnes Wheeler lived there at the end of the 18th century.<ref>Emery, p.184; Roy Palmer, ‘Wheeler, Agnes (bap. 1734, d. 1804)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/45867, accessed 1 June 2017]</ref>
One of the walls of the tower collapsed around 1900, and as of 2014, English Heritage considered that the condition of the castle was very bad, and that urgent works were required.<ref name="Heritage at Risk Register 2014">{{cite book|title=Heritage at Risk Register 2014 North West|publisher=English Heritage|page=36|url=https://content.historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/har-2014-registers/nw-HAR-register-2014.pdf/|mode=cs2|accessdate=23 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923174054/https://content.historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/har-2014-registers/nw-HAR-register-2014.pdf/|archive-date=23 September 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> Arnside Tower is a Scheduled Monument and Grade II* listed building.<ref>Heritage at Risk Register 2014, p.36.</ref><ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num= 1007142|desc= Arnside Tower|access-date= 20 December 2016|mode=cs2}}</ref><ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num= 1312275|desc= Arnside Tower|access-date= 20 December 2016|mode=cs2|fewer-links=yes}}</ref>
==Tourism== [[File:Arnside_tower,_looking_south_west,_2016.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Looking south-west towards Morecambe Bay.]] The tower is in private ownership and is in a ruinous state. The local tourist board recommends that good views of the tower can be seen from the public footpath which runs alongside.<ref>{{cite web|title=Arnside – Arnside Tower|url=http://www.visitcumbria.com/sl/arnside-tower/|website=visitcumbria.com|accessdate=23 September 2015}}</ref>
==See also== {{commons category|Arnside Tower}} {{portal|Cumbria}} *Grade II* listed buildings in Westmorland and Furness *Listed buildings in Arnside *Castles in Great Britain and Ireland *List of castles in England
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Bibliography== *Emery, Anthony. (1996) ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=FJNmewAACAAJ Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales, 1300-1500: Northern England.]'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-521-49723-7}}. *Pettifer, Adrian. (2002) ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=47iheRUGKIEC English Castles: a Guide by Counties].'' Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press. {{ISBN|978-0-85115-782-5}}.
==External links== *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrDS7wIcE20 Drone video] of the tower showing exterior and interior of the remains
Category:Castles in Cumbria Category:Grade II* listed buildings in Cumbria Category:Scheduled monuments in Cumbria Category:Ruins in Cumbria Category:Peel towers in Cumbria Category:Arnside