page_title: Clifton Hall, Cumbria
section_title: Architecture
hierarchical_section_title: Clifton Hall, Cumbria / Architecture
caption_attribution_description: English: Clifton Hall plan - multi floor; subsequent detail after Ancient Monuments Drawing Office, Survey Section
context_page_description: Clifton Hall was a fortified manor house in the village of Clifton, Cumbria. Dating from around 1400, it was constructed by either Elianor Engaine or her son-in-law William Wybergh, and was held by the Wybergh family until the 19th century. Initially taking the form of an "H"-plan design built around a central hall, around 1500 a three-storey stone pele tower was added, providing both additional security and acting as a status symbol for the family. At the start of the 17th century a new stone hall was added to the south of the tower.
  The Wyberghs were able to retain Clifton Hall, despite the challenges of the English Civil War, but the house was caught up in the Jacobite risings of 1715 and 1745. In the early 19th century most of Clifton Hall was pulled down to make way for a new farmhouse, and only the pele tower survived. In the 21st century the tower is in the care of English Heritage and operates as a tourist attraction.
context_section_description: The only surviving part of Clifton Hall is the early 16th-century tower wing of the hall, often referred to as a pele tower. Despite this label, its construction date is relatively late compared to similar fortifications, and it is less robustly designed than equivalent towers in the region.
  The tower measures 33 ft (10 m) by 26 ft (7.9 m), with red sandstone walls around 3 ft (0.91 m) thick and 37 ft (11 m) high. The ground floor was originally the parlour, with a carved wooden ceiling and a fireplace, with doors leading externally and into the hall. Originally, the stairs did not reach down to the ground floor. The first floor formed the principal chamber in the tower, accessed from stairs in the hall; it had a fireplace, a garderobe and its walls would have been plastered and painted, with wood panelling. Stairs led up to the second floor, again equipped with a fireplace and wood panelling, and up onto the roof. 
  Few of the original windows survive in the tower, but those that remain are larger than in some of the other older peles, suggesting it may have been built with defence less in mind than in some earlier pele towers. The originals have mainly been replaced by 17th- and 18th-century versions. The original roof would have resembled that at nearby Yanwath Hall, but was replaced at a later date with the current hipped-roof design, probably during the late 16th or 17th centuries. The current roof was further restored in 1979.
caption: Plan of Clifton Hall: (l to r) Ground floor; first floor; second floor; roof
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