Winder Hall, Tirril, Penrith, Cumbria: Archaeological Evaluation

Following the submission of a planning application for an extension to Winder Hall, Tirril, Penrith, Cumbria, a condition was put in place for an archaeological evaluation. Greenlane Archaeology was commissioned to carry out the evaluation, which was specifically intended to target features of potential archaeological interest identified in previous mapping as part of an earlier archaeological building recording, completed in 2024. The archaeological evaluation was carried out in August 2025. The wider area around the site has provided some evidence for human activity from the prehistoric period onwards, and the settlement at Winder is directly adjacent to the presumed line of the Roman road running between the forts at Ambleside to the south and Brougham near Penrith to the north. Winder is recorded as a settlement from at least the 12th century, although the place-name indicates early medieval occupation. The current hall is apparently of early 17th century origin, with several substantial phases of enlargement into the 19th century, during which time it seems to have changed from a relatively important private house to a tenanted farm. The evaluation comprised three trenches; Trenches 1 and 2 across the lawn on the north-east side of the proposed development area, targeting the position of a former building shown in historic mapping, and Trench 3 to the south-west in a separate part of the garden. In Trenches 1 and 2 linear features, evidently representing robbed out wall foundations, were revealed, which match the position of the former building. These had been backfilled with demolition rubble and some 19th century pottery, demonstrating the date at which this structure was demolished and fitting with the map evidence. The line of a modern drain was also revealed, as well as concrete block footings, presumably for a light-weight structure such as a greenhouse. In Trench 3 a substantial deposit of dumped stone, which including some late 19th and early 20th century finds, was found overlying the remains of a cobbled floor, in turn set on a thin subsoil. All of the features encountered could be correlated to some extent with the map evidence and no remains definitely pre-dating the post-medieval were encountered. It seems likely that the former building in the area of Trenches 1 and 2 was of stone construction, boded with lime mortar, and with a slate roof. The evaluation primarily revealed evidence relating to the reorganisation of the site in the 19th century, but it confirmed that the property originally had a larger collection of outbuildings, from perhaps as early as its beginnings in the 17th century.