Barrow House

Barrow House is a private house that has been converted into a Youth Hostel. It was built between 1787 and 1796 for Joseph Pocklington, with some alterations and additions made in the early 19th century. The building features painted stucco walls, a string course, an eaves cornice, and V-jointed quoins on a chamfered plinth. The hipped roof is covered with graduated greenslate and includes two dormer windows, along with rendered chimney stacks.

Originally, the house likely had three or four bays, but it has been modified to include two two-storey canted-bay windows with glazing bars set in painted stone surrounds. The flanking wings have tripartite windows with glazing bars above tripartite doorways, one of which is located within a 20th-century enclosed glazed porch, all in painted stone surrounds. There is also a further two-storey canted-bay extension to the left that features sash windows with glazing bars.

Joseph Pocklington, who lived from 1736 to 1817, noted in his account book the costs associated with the foundation of the house and his arrival at Barrow after a rough voyage from his island house on Derwentwater. He built Barrow House, also known as Barrow Cascade House, at a cost of £1,655.3.6¾d. The building became a hotel in the early 20th century and was established as a Youth Hostel in 1931. It reverted to a hotel in 1950 and was finally purchased by the Youth Hostels Association in 1961. The lower extension to the left is not of interest.