The Manor House of Maulds Meaburn originally stood on the site of the
present Hall, but we have no record of any of the manorial families
residing at it. The present Hall has been built at different times.
The oldest portion is the north part of the body of the Hall. It has
originally been nearly square, and lofty, somewhat in the character
of a tower. This has been strongly built of hewn sandstone. This
old portion may be traced by having around the bottom a champhered
basement. This portion, has, however, been so much altered, re-roofed
and built around, that it is difficult to form a correct idea of its
original features. Afterwards the buildings have been extended; the
south side has been partly pulled down and extended in that direction,
forming an oblong, to the ends of which have been added wings. The
south wing has two large rooms on the ground floor, one of which is
wainscoted in the old Elizabethan style, and also one of the upper
rooms; these are gained by a broad oaken staircase, which forms a
projection on the west end of the wing. These rooms are lighted by
large mullioned windows, and a tall projecting chimney gives a marked
feature to the south front. A corresponding wing has been built at the
other end, which projects beyond the north end of the old building.
This has been used as a subordinate part of the house, in which were
the wine-cellars, store-rooms, &c. At the same time also has been added
to the north-west side of the old part a series of lower buildings,
serving as kitchens, laundry, &c., and servants' rooms in general.
Still later, the central part or large hall, between the old Hall and
south wing has been pulled down, and again rebuilt in a mere vulgar
and temporary style; at which time the present door and chief entrance
has been made. Above it, in bas-relief, a date of 1610, but at some
after time it has been changed; the 10 being made to represent 76, by
incising a top to the 1, making it 7; and also a top to the 0, making
it 6.
[Illustration: MEABURN HALL, SOUTH FRONT.]
This date in its present form raises a query: Is it a doorway of the
oldest part of the Hall, removed to its present position, and recording
the date of its first erection? If so, it must have been built in Sir
Christopher Lowther's time, three years after he came into possession
of his father's estate. The date, however, is not very reliable, but
it is very probable that it was built by his son, John Lowther, Esq.,
afterwards Sir John, upon whom, and his wife Ellinor, daughter of
William Fleming, Esq., of Rydal, a settlement was made of the manor of
Maulds Meaburn in 1615; and after coming into possession he purchased
eight tenements, which make up the present demesne of Maulds Meaburn
Hall; for in his time there was scarcely any left, the lands having
been previously so parcelled out amongst the religious societies. Sir
J. Lowther was one of the knights of the county in 21st James I, and
also in three Parliaments in Charles I's reign. He bought the manor
and part of the demesne of Crosby of Thomas Pickering, Esq., and then
gave it in marriage with his daughter Frances to John Dodsworth.
He also bought half of the demesne of Reagill. For his second son
Christopher he bought the Whitehaven estates. This Christopher married
a coheiress, daughter of Christopher Lancaster of Craik Trees, and by
purchasing the interest of the other two sisters added the whole of
the Lancaster property to the Lowthers of Whitehaven. Sir John died in
1637, and according to a memorandum extant, his widow lived afterwards
at Maulds Meaburn Hall, where she died in 1659; and by her last will
and testament left the sum of £35 to the poor of Maulds Meaburn. The
returns of this not being used till 1687, the person on whose land it
was, was required to make it up to £40, and pay 40s. yearly; which
was done: from which time it was regularly divided up to 1770. The
first few years there were between 20 and 30 recipients, but they have
dwindled down to 15, 12, and as low as nine.
Sir John was succeeded in the estates by his eldest son, Sir John
Lowther, who in 1640 was created a Baronet of Nova Scotia. He was a
great sufferer for the royal cause in the reign of Charles I, and
during the usurpation lived retired; but was one of the Knights for
Westmorland in the Parliament which restored Charles II. His eldest son
died during his father's life, so that he was succeeded in the family
estate by his grandson, Sir John Lowther, who afterwards received the
epithet of "The Rich." To his second son Richard he gave the manor of
Maulds Meaburn. This Richard lived at Meaburn Hall, and was chosen
Member for Appleby in 1688 and 1690. To him may we attribute the
general enlargement and extension of the Hall, and the laying out of
the grounds in the way in which they still remain. These improvements,
to all appearance, correspond in character to about the time of the
altered date--1676.
At a short distance to the north of the Hall are a number of
subordinate buildings, of barns, stables, &c., of more or less modern
erection, the oldest of which is a well-built block on which is a
square tablet having the initials R.L., Richard Lowther, and the date
of their erection, 1693.
Another remarkable building stands near the road, known as Fletcher
Hall; it is a lofty building, of about seven yards square, containing
one lower room and one upper; it is entered by a door on the east side,
and the lower room lighted by a window of three lights in the north;
the upper story is lighted by two similar windows on the east side. Its
use was probably as a residence for the stewards or managing bailiff
of the lords of the manor, and from this has derived its name "The
Fletcher" from families of that name. These have been an influential
family in Meaburn for many generations. In 1618 we find record in the
register of the death of James Fletcher of Meaburn Hall Fold, and
there are Fletchers recorded so far back as 1588. The present Fletcher
has been rebuilt at the same time that the buildings of the Hall were
extended.
The grounds have been laid out in the then fashionable Elizabethan
style, and tradition yet affirms that they were at one time the finest
gardens in the north. The entrance from the road is by a doorway with
cheeks of solid masonry surmounted by balls, and a court on each side,
mantled with ivy. Within this is a large level area in front of the
Hall, flanked on each side with a row of now ancient yews; passing
to the left through another doorway we come to the south front. Here
is another large open quadrangle, laid out as a bowling green with a
raised terrace on three sides; at the south-east and south-west corners
are two garden houses in which the players might regale themselves
in the intervals of the play. Running between these is a row of yew
overhanging the once gravelled esplanade, which is ascended from the
green by a few ornamental steps. Along the lateral terraces were
also at one time yews and spruces; the former are all gone, and the
latter represented by a few remarkably tall and half-blasted trunks
of spruces, towering far above the surrounding trees. To the south of
the green is an area covered with a number of remarkably tall trees;
this is surrounded by a high wall, alongside of which on the south
side are a row of yews overshadowing what have once been neat walks.
After making an angle, this wall, forming the western boundary of the
grounds, runs direct to the north, where the road forms the boundary.
The garden is entered from the field outside by three postern doors.
Within the wall is a broad, raised terrace, running the whole length;
ornamented with here and there a holly, yew or laburnum, all of which,
like the other trees, have gained a large size. Along the north wall
are also rows of yews, some of which have fallen victims to the axe.
In the back garden is a large well, walled around, five yards by three.
This supplies a large stream which flows direct north; on the east bank
is a row of yews, and on the other, laburnums, which in summer enliven
with their gay flowers their dark and sombre neighbours. Overtopping
these on each side is a row of gigantic Scotch firs, the largest in
the surrounding district. The extensive area included in these grounds
have been ornamented by walks and shrubs, the latter of various kinds,
fantastically cut. The last which disappeared was two rows of box,
forming a long walk amongst lawns or flower beds. All the different
rows of yews, hollies, &c., have in the times of the Hall's splendour
been trimmed and kept cut, and afterwards allowed to grow their own
natural way, which in their present neglected state are perhaps finer
than when they received the tender nursing care of the gardeners. All
this was no doubt done by Richard Lowther, when wealth was pouring into
the hands of the family, at a time when a princely residence was the
great ambition of the nobility and gentry.
After these tasteful decorations of the residence followed the
beautifying of the neighbourhood. The park was planted with the present
trees, which though now few, are noble specimens of what were, in the
memory of those still living, so close and thick and dark that no
vegetation flourished beneath them. The thick forest of oaks in the
Mains would also be planted, with the avenues of yews and holly. The
oaks have disappeared, and a young spring has overgrown the whole.
The most remarkable neighbouring feature is the avenue on Morland
Bank. This is a long, elevated piece of land, stretching out into the
low-lying holmes, and probably its name is a corruption of Mer--or
Mireland, from the marshes around. This has been planted on each side
with Scotch firs, forming an avenue of about a mile in length. The
trees are traditionally said to have been brought from Lowther, and
were, at the time of planting, a cart load each. From being so large
when planted, they never attained so great a height. At the north end
are Ratla Park and Hard Bank plantations, of about the same age. Of
this we have a good guess: a man of the name of Wharton, who died about
55 years ago, aged 90, assisted in his youth to plant them; so that
it will be about 130 years ago; while the yews and park at Meaburn
Hall, if planted soon after the erection of the present Hall, may be
about 180 or 190 years old. We are no doubt indebted also to Robert,
afterwards Governor Lowther, son of Richard, who would follow in the
footsteps of his father in beautifying the lovely valley, in which it
was their lot to be placed. Nature had formed a district having great
capabilities, and with all respect to the memories of those men, they
have done their duty towards it with most praiseworthy taste, and
what is chiefly to be regretted is, there are none to follow their
footsteps, but "hewers of wood and drawers of water."
In the year 1700, Richard purchased Crosby Hall and the manor of
Margaret Bayly. He married Barbara, daughter of Robert Pricket,
Esq., of Wresal Castle, Yorkshire, and died about the year 1704. He
was succeeded by his eldest son, Robert Lowther, who was sometime
store-keeper of the Tower, and in 1716 was appointed Captain-General
and Governor-Chief of Barbadoes. He married a lady by whom he
became possessed of an extensive property in Barbadoes. She died,
and it appears he returned to reside at Meaburn Hall, and brought
with him a great quantity of sugar and rum, which was stored in the
wine-cellar; and tradition still retains a vivid recollection of the
superior quality of the Governor's rum. For his second wife he married
Catherine, daughter of Sir Joseph Pennington, Baronet; and issue two
sons and three daughters.
Robert Lowther, Esq., from his patrimony and landed property, no doubt
was an influential man in the neighbourhood. According to a valuation
made the year before his death, his property in Meaburn is valued at
£105; the next highest is John Salkeld, £41; the whole valuation of
the lordship being £698 10s. It was his intention to rebuild the Hall;
with this in view he had plans made, and a new site chosen amongst
the yew trees in the south-east corner of Stonycrofts, opposite the
Mills. He had kilns erected for burning bricks in Eelmires, for that
purpose, the remains of which may still be seen, and got so far as to
pull down the middle part of the Hall; but his schemes were doomed
never to be perfected, all further advance being stopped by his death,
which took place in 1745. His death is said to have been caused by the
Rebellion. The Lowthers were ever staunch Royalists, and either himself
or his son James held out some favourable support to the encouragement
of the Pretender; after whose misfortunes Robert, being of a very
nervous and timorous disposition, became so perplexed and afraid of the
consequences that it injured his health and was the cause of his death.
He was buried beneath the Threlkelds' tomb in Crosby Church. He was
succeeded by his eldest son James, afterwards known as Jammy Lowther.
This James, by the death of his father, by the death of Henry, Viscount
Lowther, of Lowther, who died without issue, and by the death of Sir
William Lowther, Bart., of Whitehaven,[15] who also died without issue,
became possessed of the three great estates of Meaburn, Lowther and
Whitehaven. James Lowther represented the counties of Cumberland and
Westmorland for several years in Parliament, and was elevated to the
peerage in 1784 by the titles of Baron Lowther of Lowther, Viscount
Lowther, and Earl of Lonsdale; consequently he was the first Earl. He
was born at Meaburn Hall, where he resided at different times while the
Hall at Lowther was in ruins, being burnt down about 1720. There is
every reason to believe Meaburn was his favourite residence, where he
kept a large establishment, of which the dairy over the bridge bears
unmistakeable evidence. He also stocked the park with deer; and there
are many yet living who can remember the last of them being removed to
Lowther.
[Illustration: RUINS OF LOWTHER HALL FROM A SKETCH BY LADY MARY LOWTHER.]
In 1761 he married Lady Mary Stewart, daughter of John, Earl of Bute.
Lady Mary appears to have been an accomplished lady, and extremely fond
of sketching in water colours; some of her sketches are tolerably well
executed. There is at Lowther a large portfolio containing numbers of
her sketches, generally in the neighbourhood of Lowther, Ullswater,
Shap and Meaburn; some of which are extremely interesting as depicting
places now either gone or greatly changed.[16] He died in the year
1802, leaving no issue, and after his day, Meaburn Hall passed into the
hands of farmers.
James Lowther was a man of noble qualities, but of very eccentric
character, and many are the remarkable stories about himself and his
spirit after death, yet lingering in the country.[17] One of the most
noteworthy, illustrating his eccentric character, is that, on his once
passing through the streets of London he saw a woman crying, with a
child in her arms. His feelings being touched, he had enquiries made
respecting her, and found her to be a handsome and beautiful woman,
though of no high station; she had been seduced and deserted. He so
much admired her that he induced her to become his mistress, and had
her installed in one of his establishments. It so happened, when he
was absent, she died; and for some time none of the household durst
communicate the intelligence to him on his return. However, the body
so much requiring burial, his favourite valet presumed to tell him;
upon which he was immediately kicked out, and expelled his service. So
great, however, was his affection for the deceased, that he had her
embalmed, and put into a leaden coffin with a piece of glass over the
face, and placed in his own private room. Two ladies' maids, who were
attendant on her in life, Sir James brought to Meaburn Hall, where
they lived for some time as sole mistresses of the establishment; and
tradition still remembers their names as "Miss Francis" and "Miss
Oliver."
Another character associated with the Hall, and almost as famous as
his master in his own sphere, was Jos o' t' Ha', a sort of steward or
bailiff for his lordship. He was a privileged favourite, and often used
to drive his master over the moors to or from Lowther and Whitehaven;
and sometimes, on the return journey, would indulge in John Barleycorn
to a great extent. One story is told of one of these occasions, when he
had imbibed too freely at Shap, in going past Scarr he saw some sheep
in a young plantation cropping off the young shoots. Ever thinking
of duty he drove them out, but soon discovered that two individuals
put them in again. These he soon found out to be the Devil and Cross
Jown, a notorious character, who had lived at Ploverigg, but was lately
dead. Jos remarked that "as soon as he saw them he set off, and they
efter him, lick for smack, over Harbyrn Rigg, an' they niver gained a
yard on him till he gat to Howbeck Brigg, when he lost seet o' them."
Sometimes he carried his drinking propensities so far as to become
blue-devilled; in which state he was wont to whip them about in the
stables, requesting any bystanders to turn the door. One old man who
was called upon, did his work so badly that Jos cursed him for allowing
to escape now a horned 'un and now a cowed 'un. The old man in despair
replied "Let me dew ill or dew weel, I's always cursed."
Jos was one of those who had nothing to fear from the reproof of his
master. A story is told of his lordship, who, to tease Jos, taunted him
with allowing the old women and children to get sticks in the wood.
"Lord, yer honour" says Jos, "If ye were at teay end an' me at tudder,
an' the Divil etween us wi' a fiery stick, we couldn't aw turn them."
But Jos was no neglecter of his master's property, as the following
anecdote will tell. A neighbour of his being dead, the bearers were
passing along past the court wall with the corpse, when crack went the
report of a gun, and immediately Jos' broad face was seen above. "Oh
Jos," said one of the attendants, "what for dud ye dew that? ye suddent
shut at a corpse, man." "Dam the rascal" was his reply, "He's stown
many a yat loop and crewk fra me; I was determined to give him a crack
at last!"
Jammy Lowther was more famous after death than in life, for no sooner
was he dead than his spirit, ranging about in the gloomy hours of
night, caused quite an uproar in the country. At the Hall was heard
his loud call and order, and his footsteps sounded in the rooms at
midnight. At other times he rushed along the tops of the trees on
Morland Bank, a headless driver driving his coach, drawn by six
headless horses in a blaze of fire. Similar sights also occurred about
Lowther and Whitehaven, and so great was the fear of him in the country
that it was determined, with the assistance of a Roman Catholic priest,
to lay his spirit.
The ceremony took place in Lowther Church at midnight, and so furious
and boisterous was the spirit when called, that the priest, on coming
to the words in the ceremony "forever and aye" was confounded by the
spirit blustering, and calling "For a year and a day," "A year and a
day," and he unconsciously said "For a year and a day." The spirit was
content, and the terror of him somewhat abated; but at midnight after
the appointed time, he again broke loose, and played his pranks with
greater terror than ever. This could not be endured; a priest was again
called, the ceremony again gone through, and Jammy Lowther's rebellious
spirit was "forever and aye" conjured to abide beneath the frowning
cliffs of Wallow Cragg.
Before closing the history of this interesting old place, there is a
legend connected with it worthy of record. In what is called the Green
Room, two brothers of the Lowther family disagreed on some family
matters beyond reconciliation. As no agreement could be come to,
neither being willing to succumb to the other, they parted and went
abroad, with the mutual determination never to see each other again.
Previous to leaving, the doors of this room were blocked up, and seals
placed upon them, which of course none durst break; everything in the
room being left just as it was when last occupied by the brothers.
The room was thus sealed up for many years. Part of the wax was to be
seen on the door not many years ago, and tradition speaks of curious
people going to the window of this mysterious room, through which were
to be seen the chairs, tables, and open secretary, just as when left by
the estranged brothers.
[15] The owner of Whitehaven was Sir James, his father's second cousin,
son of Sir John, the great maker of the town. Sir William Lowther was
his fourth cousin, and left him Marske. Lowther came to him from his
second cousin. His eventual heir, Sir William Lowther, was the son
of his third cousin; the latter also inherited the title of Viscount
Lonsdale under a special and remarkable limitation; this had been
conferred on "Sir Jammy" when it was seen that his earldom was going
to die out. The new peer was created Earl of Lonsdale in 1807; it was
reported in 1828, correctly or otherwise, that he had the offer of a
dukedom.
[16] A sketch of Shap Stones, made by her in 1775, is reproduced in
Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archæological Society's
_Transactions_, vol. xv., article 4.
[17] Few men have been more bitterly attacked than James Lowther has
been, both during his life, and after his death. He was masterful
and capricious, a combination of qualities which does not make for
popularity; he was devoted to electioneering, which earned him
enemies; and it is worth noting that his chief detractors have a
distinct political bias. They include Horace Walpole; Boswell, whose
Parliamentary ambitions he disappointed, and above all, Rev. Alex.
Carlyle, who devotes a page of his memoirs to a compilation of the
worst epithets and opinions permissible to a Doctor of Divinity. Some
of this is quoted in the _Dictionary of National Biography_ article,
omitting, however, the fact that the passage begins by showing the
writer's sympathy with his great rival, the Duke of Portland.
Sir James was a benefactor to the town of Whitehaven, and it was he
who secured the first return to Parliament of the younger Pitt--from
Appleby. An amusing tale is told of him that he once fought a duel
with a learned serjeant-at-law, who had made free with his character
in a case. At the meeting, the learned serjeant is said to have shot
his own toe! It is hard to believe that he would have been called "Sir
Jammy" till his death, though he had long been a peer, had he really
been "more detested than any man living" as Carlyle asserts he was; or
the suggestion that he was a tyrant over his dependents and tenants
in view of the fact that his funeral, which was, by his direction,
strictly private and unannounced, "a large crowd of people from the
neighbourhood were assembled, and behaved with the greatest respect,
decency and decorum," as the _Gentleman's Magazine_ quaintly puts it.