Arnside Tower

Arnside Tower is a fortified tower house, likely built in the 15th century. It was burnt in 1602, repaired probably in the mid-17th century, and dismantled in the late 17th century. The structure features massive limestone rubble walls with roughly dressed stone details. It has a rectangular staircase tower and a projecting garderobe, and it was formerly five storeys high. Window openings are present on all sides, with some blocked or extended; the surviving openings have square heads. A parapet, which projects on rounded corbels, remains at the north-west corner. Inside, there are remnants of a cross-wall that includes a newel stair, fireplaces with stone lintels, and a niche on the first floor that is said to have been used as a piscina, suggesting that the east corner may have served as a chapel. Although it is in a ruinous state, Arnside Tower is considered a unique example in this area of a freestanding tower built without a hall block.