Castle Hewen (also recorded as Castlewen; Castle Luen; Castellewyn; Castellewyne; Castlehewings; Castle-Ewaine and Castle Lewen [1] [2] ) was a Romano-British castle near High Hesket, in the civil parish of Hesket, in the Eden district, in the county of Cumbria, England. [3] It overlooked the now-drained Tarn Wadling, and was supposedly occupied by Owain mab Urien. [4] All that remain, as at 2023, are earthworks.
Castle Hewen was situated on a ridge near Aiketgate, in the civil parish of Hesket, in the Eden district of Cumbria, England. It is located to the north-east of Tarn Wadling and west of the River Eden. [3] [5] [6] The castle was within the boundaries of Inglewood Forest, a royal forest. [7]
The castle was thought to be medieval in origin, although it was reported in 1553 as already being ruined. Excavations of the site in 1794 showed the foundations were 8 feet (2.4 m) thick. The sub-surface remains of two buildings were found, one with the dimensions 233 by 147 feet (71 m × 45 m) and one measuring 49 by 49 feet (15 m × 15 m). Also located were outer defences; [3] these took the form of a circular stone barrier, a ditch and breastwork. [6]
The site of the castle was excavated in 1978–1979, which unearthed Romano-British artefacts. Evidence was found of two Iron Age roundhouses and Roman rectangular buildings. [3]
The site has been used as farmland and has been extensively ploughed. As at 2023 the only visible remains are described by Historic England as "indistinct earthworks ... visible on air photos and lidar imagery". [3]
The castle was traditionally considered to be one of the strongholds of Owain mab Urien, who inherited the Kingdom of Rheged. [4] In Arthurian legend Owain was the basis for Sir Ywain, one of the Knights of the Round Table. [8] The castle also appears in Arthurian literature as the stronghold of Sir Gawain. [7]
Rheged was one of the kingdoms of the Hen Ogledd, the Brittonic-speaking region of what is now Northern England and southern Scotland, during the post-Roman era and Early Middle Ages. It is recorded in several poetic and bardic sources, although its borders are not described in any of them. A recent archaeological discovery suggests that its stronghold was located in what is now Galloway in Scotland rather than, as was previously speculated, being in Cumbria. Rheged possibly extended into Lancashire and other parts of northern England. In some sources, Rheged is intimately associated with the king Urien Rheged and his family. Its inhabitants spoke Cumbric, a Brittonic dialect closely related to Old Welsh.
Carlisle is a cathedral city and civil parish in Cumbria, England, of which it is the county town. It is located 8 miles (13 km) south of the Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril. Carlisle is also the administrative centre of the City of Carlisle district which, will be replaced by Cumberland Council in April 2023.
Cumbria is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's county town is Carlisle, in the north of the county. Other major settlements include Barrow-in-Furness, Kendal, Whitehaven and Workington.
Cumberland is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974, when it was subsumed into Cumbria, a larger administrative area which also covered Westmorland and parts of Yorkshire and Lancashire. In April 2023, Cumberland will be revived as an administrative entity when Cumbria County Council is abolished and replaced by two unitary authorities; one of these is to be named Cumberland and will include most of the historic county, with the exception of Penrith and the surrounding area.
Morgan le Fay, alternatively known as Morgan[n]a, Morgain[a/e], Morg[a]ne, Morgant[e], Morge[i]n, and Morgue[in] among other names and spellings, is a powerful and ambiguous enchantress from the legend of King Arthur, in which most often she and he are siblings. Early appearances of Morgan in Arthurian literature do not elaborate her character beyond her role as a goddess, a fay, a witch, or a sorceress, generally benevolent and connected to Arthur as his magical saviour and protector. Her prominence increased as legends developed over time, as did her moral ambivalence, and in some texts there is an evolutionary transformation of her to an antagonist, particularly as portrayed in cyclical prose such as the Lancelot-Grail and the Post-Vulgate Cycle. A significant aspect in many of Morgan's medieval and later iterations is the unpredictable duality of her nature, with potential for both good and evil.
Eden is a local government district in Cumbria, England, based at Penrith Town Hall in Penrith. It is named after the River Eden, which flows north through the district toward Carlisle. Its population of 49,777 at the 2001 census, increased to 52,564 at the 2011 Census. A 2019 estimate was 53,253. In July 2021 it was announced that in April 2023, Cumbria will divide into two unitary authorities. Eden District Council will cease and its functions pass to a new authority, Westmorland and Furness, covering the current districts of Barrow-in-Furness, Eden and South Lakeland.
Penrith is a market town and civil parish in the county of Cumbria, England, about 17 miles (27 km) south of Carlisle. It is less than 3 miles (5 km) outside the Lake District National Park, in between the Rivers Petteril and Eamont and just north of the River Lowther. It had a population of 15,181 at the 2011 Census.
Yvain, the Knight of the Lion is an Arthurian romance by French poet Chrétien de Troyes. It was written c. 1180 simultaneously with Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart, and includes several references to the narrative of that poem. It is a story of knight-errantry, in which the protagonist Yvain is first rejected by his lady for breaking a very important promise, and subsequently performs a number of heroic deeds in order to regain her favour. The poem has been adapted into several other medieval works, including Iwein and Owain, or the Lady of the Fountain.
Sir Ywain, also known as Yvain and Owain among other spellings, is a Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend, wherein he is often the son of King Urien of Gorre and the sorceress Morgan le Fay. The historical Owain mab Urien, on whom the literary character is based, was the king of Rheged in Great Britain during the late 6th century.
Penrith was a rural district within the administrative county of Cumberland, England that existed from 1894 to 1974 with slight boundary changes in 1934.
Hesket is a large civil parish in the Eden District of Cumbria, England, on the main A6 between Carlisle and Penrith. At the 2001 census it had a population of 2,363, increasing to 2,588 at the 2011 census, and estimated at 2,774 in 2019. The parish formed in 1894 with the passing of the Local Government Act 1894 and was enlarged to incorporate the parish of Plumpton Wall following a County Review Order in 1934. Hesket is part of the historic royal hunting ground of Inglewood Forest. Settlement in the parish dates back to the Roman occupation.
Eamont Bridge is a small village immediately to the south of Penrith, Cumbria, England.
Plumpton or Plumpton Wall is a small village and former civil parish about 4 miles (6 km) north of Penrith, in the Eden district, in the county of Cumbria, England. In 1931 the parish had a population of 320.
Inglewood Forest is a large tract of mainly arable and dairy farm land with a few small woodland areas between Carlisle and Penrith in the English non-metropolitan county of Cumbria or ancient county of Cumberland.
The history of Cumbria as a county of England begins with the Local Government Act 1972. Its territory and constituent parts however have a long history under various other administrative and historic units of governance. Cumbria is an upland, coastal and rural area, with a history of invasions, migration and settlement, as well as battles and skirmishes between the English and the Scots.
Keisley is a small hamlet in the English county of Cumbria. It is located in the Dufton civil parish and the Eden district.
Little Langdale is a valley in the Lake District, England, containing Little Langdale Tarn and a hamlet also called Little Langdale. A second tarn, Blea Tarn, is in a hanging valley between Little Langdale and the larger Great Langdale to the north. Little Langdale is flanked on the south and southwest by Wetherlam and Swirl How, and to the north and northwest by Lingmoor Fell and Pike of Blisco. The valley descends to join with Great Langdale above Elter Water.
The history of medieval Cumbria has several points of interest. The region's status as a borderland coping with 400 years of warfare is one. The attitude of the English central government, at once uninterested and deeply interested, is another. As a border region, of geopolitical importance, Cumbria changed hands between the Angles, Norse, Strathclyde Brythons, Picts, Normans, Scots and English; and the emergence of the modern county is also worthy of study.
Tarn Wadling was a lake between Carlisle and Penrith, near the village of High Hesket in Cumbria, England. In the Middle Ages, it was famous for its carp, but it was drained in the 19th century, and is now no more than a depression. The name remains today in a small woodland governed by the Woodland Trust.