Tarn House

Tarn House is a late 15th-century farmhouse, originally built as a tower house for Humphrey, Lord Dacre. It was extended and altered in 1843, with initials T.(&) M.H. inscribed on a stone set into the wall. The building is constructed of calciferous sandstone rubble, with walls up to 2 metres thick in the tower. Some walls are over 1 metre thick. The roof is graduated slate with eaves modillions, and yellow brick chimney stacks on stone bases. The house has two storeys and consists of a three-bay tower with a two-bay extension under a common roof. The tower has a projecting stone gabled porch with a plank door and dated lintel. An angle buttress is present to the left, with a probable filled entrance between this and the porch. An original, small, filled ground floor window is on the right side; the small windows above date from 1843. The rear wall has large footing stones and a plinth. The original ground floor entrance is filled, and all other windows are from 1843. The extension on the left has a plank door with a plain stone surround. The ground floor has 2-light sash windows with glazing bars, and similar 2-pane sashes are above. Rear wall stonework may be from a former curtain wall. A documented reference from 1485 refers to a ‘new built house called Ternehouse’. The building overlooks Tindale Tarn and occupies a defensive site.