The Nunnery

The Nunnery is a guest house with a complex history, initially founded as a Benedictine nunnery in the mid-13th century. It has undergone significant alterations and additions over the centuries, notably in the 16th, 17th, and 18th. The building's walls are largely of red sandstone rubble, with later additions of sandstone ashlar and a green slate roof. Numerous ashlar chimney stacks are present.

The main facade, dating to the early 18th century (likely the 1740s, rather than the previously assumed 1715), features a plinth, quoins with V-shaped joints, a string course, and a moulded cornice. A central three-bay projection is capped with a moulded parapet and flanking balustrades. The entrance is marked by a double-panelled door with a radial fanlight, set within a round-arched surround featuring a moulded entablature, frieze incorporating metopes and triglyphs, and a segmental moulded pediment. Sash windows with glazing bars are set within moulded stone architraves. A cipher, presumably belonging to Henry Aglionby or Henry M., is positioned above the entrance.

A significant portion of the rear ground floor wall is medieval. The fenestration is a diverse mix of periods, including small, blocked, probably medieval staircase windows and a blocked 16th-century mullioned window with a segmental rear arch bearing 13th-century dog-tooth decoration, now forming an internal niche. A central, blocked 16th-century entrance is also present, alongside three 1694 cross-mullioned windows on the ground floor. Other sash windows with glazing bars date to the early 18th century.

Parts of the south and north end walls also incorporate medieval fabric, visible both externally and internally. The north wall contains a repositioned inscription stone reading "THOUGH VAILED BENEDICTINS/ARE REMOVED HENCE/THINK OF THEIR POVERTY CHASTITY/FAITH AND OBEDIENCE".

The interior retains many original features from different periods. These include a probable 16th-century stone fireplace, early 18th-century wooden panelling, and a mid-18th-century staircase with three balusters per step and carved tread-ends. The building was known as the nunnery of Armathwaite as early as 1200 and suffered damage in Scottish raids. It was leased in 1538, granted to the Graham family in 1553, and later sold to Sir John Lowther in 1690. The property remained in the Aglionby family, via the female line, until 1893. Stop-chamfered spine beams with run-out stops are present.