The Monks Oven is a Grade II* listed building in the Lake District National Park local planning authority area, England. First listed on 14 July 1989. A Medieval Oven.

The Monks Oven

WRENN ID
steep-newel-dust
Grade
II*
Local Planning Authority
Lake District National Park
Constituency
Whitehaven and Workington MP: Josh MacAlister (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
14 July 1989
Type
Oven
Period
Medieval
Address
The Monks Oven, Ponsonby, Cumberland
OS grid reference
NY 052 064
Coordinates
54.44475, -3.4633
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Monks' Oven is a large detached oven of uncertain date, associated with the nearby monastery. It is built from ashlar and rubble, although much of the exterior stone has been removed, leaving an earth-covered mound. A single, very low, semicircular-headed doorway is located in the center of the south-west face. The interior measures approximately 1.75 meters high and 3.95 meters in diameter. The floor consists of tightly-packed stones, and the walls are made of ashlar in three courses, with the top course shaped to support the shallow-domed roof, which is constructed from small stones packed tightly together. The Monks' Oven is part of an important group of monastic buildings and is situated next to a mill-leat.

Local climate

The Monks Oven sits in one of the wettest parts of the UK, with an average of 1,570 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 99% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 99% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 16 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 84% of listed buildings. Of these, 7 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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Nearby listed buildings

  1. Ruins of the Monastic Church and East Range Grade I 120 m
  2. Gatehouse to Calder Abbey Grade II* 255 m
  3. Church of St Bridget Grade II 1.1 km
  4. Calderbridge War Memorial Grade II 1.1 km
  5. South Lodge to Pelham House Grade II 1.1 km
  6. Cauder House Grade II 1.1 km
  7. Ponsonby Church Grade II 1.3 km
  8. North Lodge and Gate Piers to Pelham House Grade II 1.4 km
  9. Church House Farmhouse Grade II 1.6 km
  10. Pelham House Grade II* 1.6 km