Killington

49 KILLINGTON (E.g.)

(O.S. 6 in. ^(a)XXXIX, N.E., ^(b)XXXIX, S.E., ^(c)XLIII, N.E.)

Killington is a parish 7 m. N. of Kirkby Lonsdale. The church, Killington Hall and Low Hall are the principal monuments.

Ecclesiastical

^b(1). Parish Church of All Saints, formerly a chapel of Kirkby Lonsdale, stands in the E. half of the parish. The walls are of local limestone rubble with sandstone dressings and the roofs are slate-covered. The church, consisting of Chancel and Nave, was built in the 14th century. The West Tower, set astride the W. wall, may have been added in 1711, the date of the bells. The church was restored in 1824, 1868 and 1895 when the Vestry was added.

Architectural Description—The Chancel and Nave (61 ft. by 20¾ ft.) are structurally undivided. The E. window is modern. In the N. wall are five windows, the first and third of the 14th century and the others of the 16th or 17th century; the first is of two trefoiled lights in a square head and the third similar but of three lights with a moulded label; the second window is of two square-headed lights; the two westernmost windows are each of a single square-headed light. In the S. wall are three 16th or 17th-century windows, the first two of two and the third of a single square-headed light; farther E. is a modern doorway. In the W. wall is a 14th-century doorway with hollow-chamfered jambs and two-centred head.

The West Tower is finished with a pyramidal roof. The western part of the ground stage forms a porch with a segmental-headed archway. The bell-chamber has, in each wall, a window with a modern segmental head.

Fittings—Bells: two by Abraham Rudhall, one dated 1711. Font: moulded octagonal bowl and sixteen-sided stem, of wood, probably early 18th-century. Cover, of oak, spire-form, with panelled sides, shaped ribs at angles and finial, same date. Glass: In middle window in N. wall—panel with fragments and a shield-of-arms of Pickering, 14th or 15th-century. Monument: On S. wall—to Joseph Ward, 1707 and Anne (Ward), wife of Jacob Morland, 1712, slab. Stoup: Re-set on E. face of tower—round bowl, possibly stoup. Table: In vestry—with turned legs and moulded top, fitted with cupboard having moulded rails and styles, 17th-century.

Condition—Good, much restored.

Secular

^b(2). Killington Hall (Plate 117), N.W. of the church, is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are slate-covered. It belonged in the later Middle Ages to the family of Pickering. The house was built in the 15th century, probably on the normal plan of a hall-block and cross-wings at the ends. The S. cross-wing survives in a ruined state but the hallblock was much altered and heightened in 1640. The N. cross-wing no longer exists. Further alterations were made to the house in 1803. The E. front of the main block has a projecting bay towards the S. end; both this and the bay containing the entrance are carried up as gabled dormers. The upper windows are of c. 1640 and of two, three and four square-headed lights with stone mullions and labels; the lower windows have been altered; above one of them is a panel with the initials T.K. for Thomas Kitson and a shield of his arms. In the gable of the N. dormer is a panel with the initials and date T.K., L.K. 1640, also the further initials R.I. and two fleurs-de-lis. The back wall retains some plain stone windows of 1640 and part of the head of a 15th-century window, otherwise destroyed. The ruined S. wing is of two storeys and was finished with an embattled parapet, of which small portions still remain. Both storeys on the E. side have an original 15th-century window of four and three trefoiled lights respectively, in a square head. There are remains of two similar windows on the S. side of the ground storey; the other windows are plain square-headed openings. The S. wall of the house forms the N. wall of the wing and has traces of the earlier and lower roof of the hall-block. On the gable is a chimney-stack with cylindrical shafts of c. 1640. There are traces of a projection on the W. wall which may represent a former garde-robe tower. In the ground-floor room is an original fireplace with chamfered jambs and lintel. Four shaped corbels in the upper storey presumably supported the wall-posts of the roof. Inside the house, some of the ceiling-beams are exposed. There is some 17th-century panelling on both floors.

Condition—Of house, fairly good; of S. wing, ruined and ivy-grown.

^b(3). Low Hall (Plate 20), at Hallbeck, 1,050 yards S.E. of the church, is of two storeys; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built c. 1684, but has a later addition at the back. The N.E. front retains its original square-headed stone windows with moulded labels. The central porch (Plate 31) is original and the entrance has moulded jambs, imposts and lintel; above this is an enriched frieze, a dripstone and a carved panel with the initials and date E. and C.M. 1684 and foliage. Inside the building are some exposed ceiling-beams and an original panelled screen with enriched frieze-panels, one bearing the same initials and date as the porch. The N.W. room has an early 18th-century fireplace with a corbelled head and near it is a small cupboard with an enriched door.

Condition—Good.

Monuments (4–16)

The following monuments, unless otherwise described, are of the 17th century and of two storeys; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are slate-covered. Some of the buildings have exposed ceiling-beams.

Condition—Good or fairly good, unless noted.

^b(4). House, 120 yards N.W. of (3), was built early in the 18th century and has a later house adjoining it on the N.E. Inside the building is an original panelled screen with a cornice and a staircase with turned balusters and square newels.

^c(5). House, on the S. of Beckside, and 1,200 yards S.S.E. of the church, was built late in the 17th or early in the 18th century. It contains a muntin and plank partition of the local type.

^c(6). Drybeck, house, 1,120 yards S. of (5), has a late 17th-century addition on the E. and a later addition on the W.

^b(7). Rowantree House, 1,120 yards S.W. of the church. Below the central chimney-stack are the lines of a former lath and plaster cowl or hood.

Condition—Ruinous.

^b(8). Low Stangerthwaite, house, ¾ m. N.E. of the church, has 18th-century additions at the back. It contains a small cupboard with the initials and date W.B., S.B. 1665.

^b(9). Barn at High Stangerthwaite, 90 yards N.W. of (8), retains its original stone windows with square heads and mullions.

^b(10). House at Broad Raine Mill, 1,450 yards N.N.E. of the church, contains a little original panelling and a small cupboard with the initials W. and A.B.

^b(11). Green Holme, house, 600 yards W.N.W. of (10), has 18th-century additions. Inside the building are an original panelled partition and a small cupboard with the initials and date I.W. 1695. There is also an early 18th-century fireplace with a corbelled head.

^b(12). High Grassrigg, cottage, about 1¼ m. N. of the church, was built early in the 18th century.

^a(13). Capplethwaite Hall, house and barns, nearly 2 m. N.N.E. of the church. The House was re-built in the 18th century, but two rooms have 17th-century panelling refixed. The Barn, S.W. of the house, has a panel with the initials and date I.M. 1714 and three ranges of loop-lights. Adjoining is a second barn of seven bays.

^a(14). White Hall, house and barn, 400 yards S.W. of (13). The House was built late in the 17th or early in the 18th century. It contains two re-used 17th-century panelled partitions and some cupboard doors of the same age; there is also a muntin and plank partition. The Barn, S.W. of the house, is a 17th-century structure.

^a(15). Cottage at Gillhouse Stile Houses, 330 yards W.N.W. of (14), was built late in the 17th or early in the 18th century.

^a(16). Cottage, immediately N. of (15), was built probably early in the 18th century.