Mealsgate: Churches, Towers and Local History

Mealsgate brings together churches, towers and monuments with traces of earlier routes. The individual buildings reflect different historical periods—from the Norman chancel arch to the former railway.

Location and Former Routes

Mealsgate extends on both sides of the main road to Carlisle. The road thus provides a reference point for the village’s layout. The former railway is another part of the picture: it was built in 1866 as part of the Bolton Loop Line. The road and railway represent different chapters in Mealsgate’s transport history; the railway is now a historic reference point.

Churches and Memorials

The Church of All Saints preserves a blocked Norman chancel arch. Its Norman classification points to an earlier building history; at the same time, the blocked state is a distinctive feature of this architectural element.

The new All Saints Church was built in 1899 to replace the Old Church in Mealsgate. The construction date marks this change in the local history of the church with a specific year.

Old All Hallows is a small Norman chapel in Mealsgate. It is overgrown, and contains a white marble statue of George Moore. The chapel’s Norman classification and a particular work of art thus come together in this building.

The new All Hallows Church contains a plaque from the French government dated 1962. It commemorates George Moore’s work in support of Paris during the siege of 1871. The years serve different purposes: 1962 dates the plaque, while 1871 refers to the historical event.

The Mealsgate War Memorial also has a history in several stages. It dates from 1920; elements were later added for the Second World War. This makes it possible to distinguish the original memorial from its later extension.

Tower Houses and Landscape

Whitehall is partly a tower house dating from the 14th and 15th centuries. George Moore bought the building in 1858 and subsequently restored it. Its medieval form and its restoration in the 19th century mark two different periods in its history.

Harbybrow Tower is a well-preserved medieval Pele tower house with many original features. It stands on a ridge between the River Ellen to the south and Dow Beck to the north. Its description therefore includes both its surviving architectural features and a precisely specified landscape setting. While Whitehall is classified in part as a tower house, Harbybrow Tower is described as a Pele tower house.

Milestone on the Carlisle-Cockermouth Turnpike

A red sandstone milestone stands east of the Pink House Hotel in Mealsgate. It dates from the late 18th or early 19th century and marks the Carlisle-Cockermouth Turnpike. Its material, approximate date and named route give a concrete picture of this historic marker. Together with the former Bolton Loop Line, it points to a different part of the area’s transport history: the stone belongs to the turnpike, while the railway was built in 1866.

Discover more destinations: Kirkby Thore, Underbarrow, Dalston, Wheyrigg, Bewcastle, Westward, Gamblesby, Carlisle.

For the wider travel guide: Cumbria.