Gatehouse to Calder Abbey is a Grade II* listed building in the Lake District National Park local planning authority area, England. First listed on 14 July 1989. Gatehouse.

Gatehouse to Calder Abbey

WRENN ID
haunted-entrance-sepia
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
Gatehouse
Address
Gatehouse to Calder Abbey, Ponsonby, Cumberland
OS grid reference
NY 049 063
Coordinates
54.44406, -3.46706
Source
Historic England listing

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

Description

The gatehouse to Calder Abbey, likely dating from the 14th century, has undergone later alterations, including a conversion for agricultural use in the 17th or 18th century. Constructed from stone blocks with quoins, it features a graduated slate roof, which was renewed in the 1970s and has a reduced pitch. The gatehouse is two storeys high and has two bays, with a wide, pointed wagon arch in each gable end, each having two chamfered orders. The eastern arch has chamfered imposts and plinths, while the western arch is blocked and has a door inserted. There are three small splayed windows, now blocked, on the ground floor to the left in the north wall, with an inserted loft door to the right. Each wall has a two-light 17th-century unglazed mullioned window on the first floor, which are probably reused. The roof features stone copings and kneelers. Inside, the floor was removed during renovation, revealing a single king post roof truss. An adjoining byre range to the north is not of interest. The gatehouse is a significant part of an important group of monastic buildings.

Local climate

Gatehouse to Calder Abbey 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 139 m
  2. The Monks Oven Grade II* 255 m
  3. Church of St Bridget Grade II 855 m
  4. Calderbridge War Memorial Grade II 867 m
  5. Cauder House Grade II 890 m
  6. South Lodge to Pelham House Grade II 915 m
  7. Ponsonby Church Grade II 1.1 km
  8. North Lodge and Gate Piers to Pelham House Grade II 1.1 km
  9. Pelham House Grade II* 1.3 km
  10. Church House Farmhouse Grade II 1.4 km