Swarthmoor Hall Blog

Will of George Fell the Elder

2011-12-22T08:23:00.006Z

A recent discovery has been the will of George Fell, father of Judge Thomas Fell. It has remained undiscovered due to its being filed in the Lancashire Archives under the date 1681, some 40+ years after George's death. However, it is a copy of an earlier document now lost.

Herewith a corner of the Will.

It is a remarkable find, not least because it describes some if not all of Judge Fell's siblings, nieces and nephews who were given bequests.

A brief look at a portion of the document illustrates its usefulness in our attempts to fill out the story of Swarthmoor and its people.

Item, I do give unto Francis Corker, daughter of Thomas Corker and my Grandchild, £1 6s 8d yearly for seven years next after my decease, to be paid by my son Thomas Fell forth of the Close I bought of Reginald Holme and the close I bought of Francis Corker and the dale I bought of Myles Hunter; to be paid as he thinks fitting for bringing her up.

Item, I give unto Janett Corker, daughter of the said Thomas Corker and my grandchild, five pounds due forth of Hawkswell Rent at Candle-mass 1638 and to be paid forth by my son Thomas Fell and my son in law, Henry Lindow for four years next after my decease; and to employ it only for her.

Map of Hall and estate c1760

2011-08-21T23:39:00.004+01:00

Having recently returned from a jaunt down to Friend's House in London to look through the archives Martin turned up at Meeting today with an extraordinary map. Clearly associated with the sale of Swarthmoor to James(??) Lindow it is quite fascinating in its depiction of the Hall and environs as they passed out of the hands of Thomas Fell, great grandson of Margaret & Thomas Fell c1760. It is surely an accurate representation of how the place appeared to the Fell family & George Fox.

There is much to be seen though many questions are posed.

The estate, of 98 acres, is only part of the larger holding that Thomas Fell lost as a consequence of his bankruptcy in 1758. It seems likely that all his assets in Lonsdale & Furness passed into the hands of his creditors who then disposed of them in parcels.

The box at the bottom describes field names, intriguing in themselves. 'Hemplands' being one. Does Sarah Fell's account book allude to hemp?

The orchards and gardens cover over 3 acres. Interestingly the account of a visitor to the Hall in the 1860s describes the orchards as extending to both sides of the beck; the map appears to confirm this. Orchards also extend north, beyond the present meadow, formerly the orchard. There also appears to be a trackway disecting the orchard to the north of the hall. This corresponds to a notable agger or embankment that is still visible in the meadow and which Emma Clarke Abraham proposed to resurface c1912. It also begs the question as the whether the gateway in the boundary wall to the north (top) of the meadow was inserted by ECA or whether she restored an existing feature.

To the east of the house (right) is a representation of a square feature. A Dovecot?

However, the most intriguing feature is the wood to the west of the Hall that appears to have a central arbour with walks radiating outwards like the spokes on a wheel. Might this be the remains of a formal garden?

Any gardening historians out there?

I look forward to reading the sale document associated with this map.

In the course of the next few days I will put up a somewhat clearer picture which will be downloadable and readable.

History Group update

2011-08-14T22:25:00.006+01:00

Thursday evening saw 32 people come to the presentation by Dr Colin Phillips, late of the History Dept at Manchester University whose subject throughout his academic career was the the social dynamics of early modern Cumberland & Westmorland.

He talked about the Rise of the Gentry in the 16th/17th centuries. Many new families emerged in the post reformation years and the Fells of Swarthmoor were part of this process. Largely fuelled by the huge re-distribution of former monastic lands to the established gentry and noble classes it also econically empowered a burgeoning merchant and entrepreneurial class. This in turn enhanced their status and allowed their sons to be educated, creating a new dynamic that gradually eroded the dominance of the old aristocratic and landed families such as the Nevilles, Harringtons, Cliburns and Le Flemings.

Our next group/public meeting, on November 15, will be a bit of a celebration. It will be two years since we started The History Group at the Hall when Rod Ireland presented a review of the (Quaker) London Lead Company of Alston and district. As always there will be tea and cakes of course and a revue of 'the dig' with discussions on next years targets. In addition Martin should have sorted some of the archival material at Friend's House and Neil, Viv & Sarah might have taken a look at some more accessible archives in and around South Lakes. Hopefully others will have joined in the search for more material.

There are lots of online sources that can illuminate the story of the Hall and its inhabitants. A2A is growing in volume and there has been a significant increase in the cataloguing of UK archives. Try 'Thomas Fell' as a search term. Some fascinating documents appear from Chester & Cheshire archives about Thos as a judge. Also many where a Thos Fell appears as a witness to legal documents in the mid 1630s around Ulverston when he was a newly qualified lawyer & barrister.

Rod - of the London Lead Company - helped me in the creation of a topographical map of the environs of Swarthmoor. Click to download!

It shows quite graphically how Swarthmoor lies between the flood plain of the bay and the acid soils of 'Sweart Moor'. More importantly it lies at the confluence of two streams that appear to spring from the base of the limestone, not yet drawn on the map!

If anyone can think of features such as roads, springs, watercourses or anything else of interest that might be drawn in, let me know!

Sarahjayne's 'dig'!

2011-08-06T09:17:00.001+01:00

Hi, I’m Sarahjayne and I would like to share my experience of the excavation at Swarthmoor hall with you.

I am currently nearing the end of my MA in Archaeology and excavation experience is of course crucial for this discipline, although opportunities are often hard to come across. I found this excavation on the CBA website as part of the festival of archaeology. It was a brilliant opportunity for me as it is not often that an excavation is so close to where I live and as it was only for a short period of time meant that I didn’t have to take too many days of work.

Day one started out by de- turfing the area, where I almost immediately came down on some concrete and thought that this could be the beginning and the end of the dig! However as the rest of the trench was de-turfed, other features began to come to light. The rest of Friday was spent trowelling back, looking for any more features or finds until we got rained off in the late afternoon.

On Saturday we managed to get to the deeper levels and I spent some of the day on a smaller trench that had been opened to see what had been going on as a sort of ‘control’ trench and another wall started to come through here. Saturday night is also when I decided to make my customised ‘Swarthmoor Hall’ T-shirt (see photos)! You will see ones like these on digs and as I had been wearing ones with other excavation names on all weekend it became a bit of a joke.

On Sunday I helped Dan with the surveying (using a total station) and then the planning of the features which I really enjoyed.

Throughout the whole of the dig I only found lots of modern pottery and glass although other volunteers found some interesting things. Doug’s drainage pipe with the bottle inside was rather impressive and carefully excavated with many thoughts from Doug as to what his features were! Other impressive finds were the base of a mullion window at the last minute (which always happens) and also several walls and other features began to appear which would be interesting to explore in future years!

I have been on a few excavations before but I have to say that this one was one of the most enjoyable with excellent guidance and experience on hand from Dan and lots of other lovely volunteers to work with. Also many thanks to Ian as I wouldn’t have been on the dig otherwise!

Before the dig started I looked into some of the documents held in the John Rylands library in Manchester. These documents were hard to read but very interesting to look at and seemed to relate to the sale and acquisition of the hall. As these may be helpful to figure out what was happening with the hall and surrounding area in times past, others who are more adept in reading these texts may wish to go and look at them.

By a strange coincidence when I got home a signed letter was waiting for me from the author of 'The Lady's Slipper' a book which includes settings at Swarthmoor Hall and Lancaster (where I live) and which I am now in the process of reading.

it's only a sparrow!

2011-08-02T00:00:00.000+01:00

It’s only a Sparrow

One of things I joined up to do at Swarthmoor Hall was wildlife conservation. The natural gardens of the Hall and surrounding woods are a great place for all sorts of fauna and flora. A great deal has been done already by using a very “green” approach to management and sensitivity to the environment. I’m certainly no expert in conservation or in identifying plants, birds and animals so this was a great opportunity for me to learn some new stuff.

One of the things we are trying to do is to simply catalogue what wild life is around the Hall at different time of the year. So far I’ve been making a simple list of what I see when I take my walk around the grounds a couple of times a week. This has been mostly birds but I keep my eye open for anything unusual as well as the routine. I’d like to take a more structured approach and I’ve agreed with Bill to contact the Cumbria Wildlife Trust to see if we could get some help or advice on how to do this – so watch this space for developments.

In early May the Hall ran a residential course on Birding led by Roy Adams called “The Jizz and the Jazz” and I was invited along. During the two days Roy took us for a “Dawn Chorus” session beginning at around 4 am (yes in the morning!) where he showed us how to identify birds by their calls alone. This is not as easy as it sounds. Roy clearly had years of experience and could pinpoint a call in the background cacophony with ease. He identified several species I had not seen so was able to add to the Swarthmoor catalogue. We also went to Leighton Moss and Walney Island where we spotted a wide variety of birds largely thanks to Roy.

Wildlife doesn’t need to be unusual to enjoy it. The Hall boasts a wide collection of birds including Sparrows, Dunnocks, Blue and Great Tits, Wrens, Robins, Blackbirds, Goldfinches and more recently the Swallows . There are a couple of Great Spotted Woodpeckers knocking around (sorry!) too. Some of the less frequent sighting includes Kingfishers, Fieldfares and Grey Wagtails. We are very lucky to have such a variety of birds. In many parts of the country some of these species are in severe decline, in part, because we take our wildlife for granted. In the early 1600’s sailors arriving on the island of Mauritius could probably have been heard to say “It’s only a Dodo”. Sixty years later the Dodo was extinct.

So visit the grounds including the bird tables at the front of the house and enjoy the everyday birds that live there. And if you find yourself thinking “It’s only a sparrow” please think again.

Chris W.

Chris's pics of The Hall

2011-07-27T21:15:00.004+01:00

We have a couple of keen amateur photographers working as volunteers at the Hall. Their pictures really are excellent, capturing the seasons, people and natural history of both house and grounds.

This link will take you to Chris Whittle's library of images including many of Swarthmoor.

Group pic of the Diggers!

2011-07-25T10:48:00.003+01:00

Des took a great group photo. If anyone wants a large professionally done print please email me or leave a message at the Hall for Des or myself.

The archaeological dig at the hall....!

2011-07-25T09:40:00.009+01:00

We finally our archaeological dig this weekend and it was a resounding success! The object was two fold. To establish the existence of a building at the north end of the former Great Barn, demolished in 1964, and to try to establish a date for the barn complex. We succeeded in the first of these.

The dig was led by Dan Elsworth of Greenlane Archaeology. There are some great pics on his Facebook page.

On Friday morning a trench was opened slightly more than 3 metres square north of the Fell Barn in 'Bill's garden'. We immediately found a large area of concrete in one corner! However, further into the trench some substantial walls began to appear but it soon became apparent that they were in a deep demolition deposit that was quite recent, ie 19th - 20th c.

After being rained off on Friday afternoon the sun shone throughout Saturday and Sunday and our wonderful diggers started to clear the rubbish.

By Sunday afternoon we had cleared the walls to their footings and had revealed the base of a mullion window and a further indent in the wall that various people thought might be another window, a cupboard (me) or other speculative things! These features were in a substantial cemented wall that had been demolished and largely robbed out but in some part incorporated into later substantial dry stone walls.

The weekend was an absolute joy, as much because of the people who volunteered as the dig itself and the glorious weather of the last two days.

Diggers!

On Sunday Katie came with her Mum, (taking a break on her mobile). She worked at her trench like a pink JCB! Incredible, she just kept on going and was largely responsible for revealing the base of the mullion window.

Anita was much the same, give her a mattock and away she went! Sarahjayne, a postgrad student with a custom made T Shirt, helped Dan with surveying and the drawing of the final plan.

Taking another break, Katie's mum peers into a hole with Doug and Bob both seasoned 'diggers'.

An awful lot of 'stuff' came out of the rubble in the trench. All this had to be washed and carefully bagged up. There was one certain fragment of 17th century slipware - that must have been used by Margaret Fell!

Finally the dig came to an end. The features were covered with plastic sheeting and the trench back filled. Dan packed up his equipment and by 6:30pm on Sunday we left the site - until next year!! The date is already in the diary.

Talk by Prof Colin Philips in August

2011-07-06T20:31:00.005+01:00

As part of our occasional series of talks here at Swarthmoor Hall we have invited Colin Philips, formerly of Manchester University, to talk on 'The rise of the Gentry in the 17th c'. He will present his thoughts on the subject at 7:00pm on Thursday, 11 August.

Swarthmoor Hall was built by Thomas Fell or his father George around the turn of the 16th & 17th centuries. Although George was a man of some substance in post reformation Elizabethan Furness, it was his son who became a man of influence and status; MP, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Circuit Judge for North Wales & Cheshire. Somewhere long the way Swarthmoor Hall was built, a large and imposing home equal in size to Conishead.

What were the processes that so transformed the fortunes of a relatively insignificant South Lakes family?

Hopefully Colin will tell us.

2011-07-01T13:26:00.000+01:00

Every quarter we produce a newsletter for volunteers. This is April's, and is downloadable as a jpeg.

The latest newsletter will be written in July.

Archaeological dig July 22-24

2011-07-01T12:47:00.004+01:00

We are finally gearing up for the 'dig' at the Hall, as our contribution to the Council for British Archaeology's Festival of Archaeology. Even with a minimum of advertising we have attracted more than twenty volunteers who wish to take part.

So what are we digging?

The most intriguing bit of the site is to the north of the Fell Barn in what is commonly referred to as 'Bill's garden'. Prior to the demolition of the Great Barn in the 1960s there was a fire hood hanging off the gable end strongly suggesting that there was a building here that had certainly vanished by the mid 19th century. What was it? There are other interesting features around the house. During this last hard, snowy winter Sylvia noted a raised bank traversing the meadow that seemed to aligned to the avenue of Yew trees planted by Thomas Fell to commemorate the birth of his children. Is this of some antiquity? Certainly Emma Clarke planned to resurface it in c1912.

Also, the wood that encloses the beck running to the east of the house is called Lime Kiln Wood.
There is evidence of a wall in the bank here. Is it the Lime Kiln?

Do keep a close watch on this blog. We will be reporting events as they happen!

Meeting of History Group - Thurs May 19

2011-05-07T15:38:00.003+01:00

The History Group will be holding an infomal meeting on the evening of Thurs May 19th in the Fell barn at The Hall, primarily to discuss some arrangements for the 'dig' in July but also to look at some of the recent discoveries, online and elsewhere.

One of the most intriguing mysteries surrounding the later story of Swarthmoor Hall is around the various refurbishments and renovations that were undertaken in the 19th century. Very gradually a story is beginning to emerge, from illustrations and accounts of visitors, of what these'renovations' entailed. These need to be carefully analysed and put together to illuminate events.

Indeed, over the last month we have had a number of documents held in Cumbria archives digitally copied. Some are 18th century legal documents, others are plans for alterations of the Hall and barn. Careful reading of these should allow a better understanding of these buildings and the wider estate.

Archaeological dig July

2011-05-07T14:51:00.006+01:00

Council for British Archaeology

Festival of British Archaeology 2011:

As part of the CBA festival of archaeology the History Group at the Hall is undertaking a three day dig, from Friday July 22 - Sunday July 24. It will be managed by Dan Elsworth of Greenlane Archaeology Ltd of Ulverston.

The dig itself will take place in the garden of the manager's house where there is evidence of foundations from the former barn that was demolished in the 1960s. Various pictures of this structure can be found on earlier blog postings. It is thought possible that this barn may have formed part of a monastic grange, perhaps belonging to Conishead Priory prior to the reformation. Whatever the case we should be able to get some clues as to the date of the earliest constructions at Swarthmoor, be they mediaeval or 16/17th century.

If you are interested in volunteering or assisting at the dig, we need pot washers and tea makers as well as diggers, please call the hall on 01229 583204 or register your interest as a comment here. Numbers will be limited.

Bill & Sylvia are moving on!

2011-02-03T15:26:00.003Z

Over recent weeks Bill Shaw and Sylvia Sanderson have decided to move on from Swarthmoor Hall.

They will be leaving at the end of April.

For the summer they will be living above the Bay at Kirby in Furness before going to New Zealand in October on a twelve month contract as wardens of Christchurch Meeting House.

They have achieved amazing things at the Hall and they will be missed but new people with new visions will take over and the 400 year life of Swarthmoor Hall will continue.

2011-01-27T14:34:00.007Z

As I have intimated elsewhere there are probably quite a number of historic pictures of Swarthmoor and its environs hidden in dusty files in various archives around the country. I have already put some up on this blog. Indeed a few more have emerged from the library of Friend's House in London.

They show some of the yew trees that were planted to the north east of the Hall by Judge Fell, reputedly one for each of his children. Not all have survived.

The position of these trees is quite interesting. I think we have established beyond doubt that the original front door of the house was on the north front but that there was access to Judge Fell's apartments up some steps to a balcony on the first floor of the east frontage. The present balcony dates from c1912, the steps have gone.

The yew trees appear to form an avenue leading towards these former steps. A better suggestion of this is in the following photo.

There is also increasing evidence that the original access route to the hall ran through what is now the meadow where an 'agger' or raised bank is evident in certain conditions, such as the recent snow, running north south across the field and lining up with the 'yew avenue'. Indeed, it is clear that moles avoid this feature perhaps due to an old road surface beneath the grass.

The line of yews and suggested track can be traced on the 1st Ed OS map of c1846 in the field south of the orchard that runs on the east side of the hall containing formalised representations of trees.

Talk - February 17

2011-01-23T20:38:00.003Z

Herewith the poster for Mike Winstanley's talk on February 17. Please do come along...

The farm!

2010-11-28T16:45:00.008Z

No posts for months! Blame me! I'm lazy!

Some years ago Mary Mason of Lindal wrote a short booklet describing her childhood at Swarthmoor Hall where her father was tenant farmer before the war. It sold out some time ago but we have decided to re-issue it. To do so we needed to get her original manuscript, lost by the publisher. Along with this she also loaned her photograph albums for copying. The images are wonderful ...

The elderly lady on the left here is Emma Clarke Abraham, a direct descendant of Thomas & Margaret Fell and heiress of a Liverpool Quaker family. In 1912 she bought the Hall, with help from other wealthy Quakers, for something over £5000. She died in the summer of 1934 leaving the estate to her nephew Edward Mitford Abraham.

Edward Mitford was farming on Vancouver island before the Great War. From here he joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force and served with a Field Ambulance until May1917 when he obtained a commission in the Railway Establishment of the Royal Engineers in the British Army. After the war he remained in Britain having married Dorothy Allard at Chirk in July 1918. Edward was trained a a miller and was pretty obsessed with mills and milling. At some point he built a bungalow, 'Craydale', on the Swarthmoor estate from a couple of redundant army huts. Here he displayed some of his collection of millstones.

In the 1930s the Hall was farmed by Fred Burch and his wife - with baby Mary. The latest in a long, long line of tenant farmers.

In those days they still used horses ...

Fred Burch used this cart for his milk round, accompanied by his deaf and dumb helper.

Wonderful stuff!

2010-08-06T15:16:00.002+01:00

A fascinating image has emerged recently.

It shows the birthplace of George Fox, close to the village of Fenny Drayton, Warwickshire, shortly before the building's demolition in 1898.

It appears to show a couple of half-timbered cottages with what is possibly a later brick built addition to their side. How sad that it was obliterated. What a tourist trap it would be if it had survived.

Heritage Open Days - 9th & 10th September 2010

2010-08-06T14:37:00.004+01:00

This year the Hall has signed up to the Heritage Open Days scheme. This is an English Heritage initiative that seeks to allow free access to heritage properties and sites that are normally closed to the public or which charge for admission.

Swarthmoor Hall will be offer free admission on Thursday September 9th and Friday September 10th from 10:00am to 4:00pm.

Apart from the audio tour and/or guidebook that is always available we will be offering light refreshments at a most reasonable cost. We will also be mounting some special exhibitions to enhance visitors experience of the House.

We will be displaying a selection of 19th century costume, including a Quaker wedding dress, and a selection of bonnets many of which are being loaned by a local collector of historic costume.

A couple of volunteers will display a selection of photographs taken in and around the Hall and its gardens thro' the year. These unique images will be available for purchase.

Swarthmoor Hall has a small library of early Quaker books and tracts. A number of these rare and delightful tomes will be made available to visitiors for their perusal.

Arthur Raistrick - Quaker Polymath - History Group, November

2010-07-30T13:35:00.003+01:00

The nexct scheduled public talk by the History group is on November 18th when Dr Rod Ireland, himself a Geologist, will give an illustrated talk on his old friend and mentor, Dr Arthur Raistrick .

You can download and print the following poster, please do!!

A Yorkshireman through and through, Arthur was a conscientious objector during the Great War. Later he became a Friend. Throughout his life he was a committed socialist and famously refused the offer of an OBE from Harold Wilson.

Tapestry ladies

2010-07-10T13:50:00.003+01:00

The tapestry ladies have been back this week. Sadly it is their last formal visit. They have largely completed the work that they set themselves. The latest piece of work is a bed cover for the four poster in the attic. Picture will follow.

Des took the opportunity of taking some pictures of the ladies at work and came up with some wonderful images ....

Flag Festival

2010-07-02T14:58:00.005+01:00

When I first lived here in Ulverston the town was very much a centre for the local farming community. There were no supermarkets and so we had lots of butchers, bakers and, yes, a candle maker. However, with changes in farming practices and new regulations the town declined through the 1980s and had to reinvent itself. One of the ways that it did this was to establish itself as a 'Festival' town as a way of engaging with Lake District tourism. It has been a great success. We have a Music Festival, a Printfest, a Furness Folk Festival and quite a few others.

One of the most visible is the Flag Festival held every May throughout the town. The idea came from Welfare State International, an arts organisation with its headquarters here.

This year Bill, our manager, had two flags made so that Swarthmoor could become part of this colourful celebration. And here they are.

The colours are those of the rainbow, historically a symbol of Peace.

The new Quiet Garden

2010-07-02T14:32:00.005+01:00

Over the course of the summer the Hall has seen the emergence of a new garden at the back of the house on the site of the former warden's private patch.

It is to be called The Quiet Garden and is intended to be used as a place for Quaker worship and quiet contemplation for visitors and public alike. It will always be available throughout the year for anyone who wishes to avail themselves of a place to sit in peace and consider life, the universe and our population of wild birds and flowers.

The following series of three pictures shows the transformation of the site. Much of the work has been done by volunteers.

Courses for 2010 - updated!

2010-05-21T13:17:00.002+01:00

Herewith is a downloadable pamphlet listing the courses that are being run for the remainder of 2010. Either left click on the image and save or right click and 'save image as' to access it for viewing or printing.

Photography

2010-04-28T13:14:00.003+01:00

We have quite a number of volunteers here at the Hall. The most visible are the gardeners who spend their year cutting lawns, planting, weeding and tidying. They come from all sorts of backgrounds and many have other interests. Two of them, Des & Chris, are retired professionals and quite accomplished photographers.
It is a common sight to see one or other of them wandering around the gardens with cameras and tripods as they attempt to record the changing face of the Hall and its environs over the course of the year or the endeavours of their fellow volunteers.

Des has taken some quite sensational shots.
In common with rest of the country we had quite a hard and long winter, snow covered the fields and fells for many days. This pic was taken along Swarthmoor Hall Lane, looking towards the Victorian miners cottages in Swarthmoor village.

The house itself is highly photogenic. Here Des has caught the atmosphere of the room known as the 'Great Hall' perfectly with its panelling, old oak furniture and the 17th century still-life above the fireplace. Meeting for Worship is held here every Thursday at 12:30, all are welcome. Indeed it was probably in this room that George Fox met Mgt Fell in 1652 and in which the very first meetings of The Friends took place.

It is, however, the people that bring the place alive and ensure that Swarthmoor remains a pleasant place to visit. The recent restoration of the old barn, the last remaining original farm building, gave the volunteers a viable workshop.

This is Chris's play-space, somewhere to mess about with woodworking machinery and timber.

And there is always logging to be done. Bill, the site Manager, has cleared out a lot of trees around the estate with the help of various people, not least Nick the Saw who turns up with his chain saw and cuts the timber into appropriate lengths for logging. Nice portrait!

The hall in 1845

2010-04-23T14:32:00.009+01:00

Information about the history of Swarthmoor Hall is scattered among quite a number of archives. One of the primary ones must be the Library of Friend's House, London. I recently contacted them to request copies of a number of images held in the Gibson Manuscript collection. Among these are a series of coloured lithos of the interior of the Hall drawn by Thos Mounsey about 1845. They are quite fascinating.

The image of the hallway appears to answer one of the more interesting questions about an almost unique feature of the house; the unusual hollow newel. As it is now it does not go the full height of the house and it has always been suggested that this is because the roof was raised at some point. However, this image shows that in the mid 19th century the newel was seated on what appears to be a cupboard, thus lifting it some five or six feet higher than its present ground floor level. It also evident that the back of the present hallway was cobbled, it is now flagged, and that c1845 a deal of early panelling survived which has since disappeared.

Judge Fell's study appears at first glance to be largely unchanged.

This is not the case. The panelling in the room today was put in place by Emma Clarke Abraham. So - what we see here must be the original panelling removed during the second half of the19th century. This room was also substantially altered and reduced in size at some date. The desk in the window is now in Swarthmoor Meeting House. Hopefully it can be quite closely dated. It may prove to be Judge Fell's original desk.

The third image shows the Great Hall. Again, it appears largely unchanged; but like the Study the panelling now in the room is the work of Emma Clarke. There is a watercolour of c1890 showing this room with bare walls. Note that the floor appears to be covered in red tiles, it is now slate flagged.

Dan Elsworth - History Group, July 2010

2010-04-14T13:28:00.004+01:00

The talk by Dan Elsworth in July should be fascinating. Neville Hall was on the site of what is now the police Station in Ulverston. After the reformation much of the land that had been held by Conishead Priory was initially granted to Lord Monteagle but subsequently came into the ownership of the Neville family, scions of the Earls of Westmoreland. Following the collapse of the Catholic Rising of the Northern Earls in 1569 their lands were forfeit to the Crown .

Here is a poster for Dan's talk in July. Please download and print out if you can and if possible put it up somewhere.

To avoid confusion - you will be welcomed with tea, coffee & cake at 6:30 but the talk starts at 7:00pm

New novel inspired by Swarthmoor Hall

2010-03-22T22:48:00.009Z

It's great when there is a positive response to the blog -they are actually a bit thin on the ground! However, an email arrived recently from Deborah Swift, an author, saying how interesting she found the blog.

And that was not all, there was more. The main body of the email reads:

I have written a novel set in 17th century Westmorland and Lancashire entitled, "The Lady's Slipper". It is coming out in June published by Macmillan. It features a Quaker as one of the main characters who has a religious experience at one of George Fox's conventicles. Whilst researching, I visited Swarthmoor several times, and Lingfell Hall in the book is loosely based upon it.

There were also links to the author's website and blog.

The novel is called The Lady's Slipper and is set in the years following the Restoration of Charles II, a difficult time in England, of resentments and mistrust after the ravages of Civil War.

The Lady's Slipper

The English Civil War is over, but her battle is just beginning...
Westmorland, 1660

The King is back, but memories of the English Civil War still rankle. There are old scores to settle; religious differences threaten to overturn the fragile peace. Alice Ibbetson is passionate about painting wild flowers. When she discovers a single rare orchid, the Lady’s Slipper, growing in a wood belonging to Richard Wheeler, she is captivated by its beauty, and is determined to preserve it for posterity.

But Richard Wheeler is a Quaker, and fired by his new found faith, is determined to keep the Lady's Slipper where God intended it to grow ........

Available from Amazon or any good bookseller.

History Group meeting

2010-03-15T14:55:00.001Z

The meeting of the History Group went very well and much that was positive came from it.

We are presently booking speakers for 2010/11 so watch this space!

Account of Hall visitor - 1848

2010-02-12T15:25:00.004Z

There is at the Hall quite a collection of ephemera relating to Swarthmoor and early Quakers: all sorts of odds and ends.

Among the more intriguing is a handwritten copy of an account of a visit made to the Hall in 1848 probably by the 14 year old John Stephenson Rowntree. It is taken from a journal held at the Quaker retreat, Worfolk Cottage, Staintondale, North Yorkshire. Though brief the account is quite interesting. The writer encounters the 'hind' or servant of the estate owner, William Prior Dickinson, and is shown around the house by the servant's wife.

(Left click on documment to open it up)

The first room we went into was that which was anciently called 'the house'; it had been much altered and a modern fire-place had been substituted for the ancient one; this was however a good large room.'

This paragraph is particularly enlightening. We know that the house was renovated c1840/45 and a contemporary print shows the exterior following the completion of this work. However, this is the only account I have so far come across that hints at any of the internal alterations which were substantial. The room alluded to must be the main hall downstairs that was bereft of panelling prior to Emma Clarke Abraham's restoration of 1912/20.

Quaker Centre History Group, London

2010-02-04T17:47:00.006Z

Just had a notification from the Quaker Centre History Group in London. As follows .....

Dear Friends

We would like to invite you to the second meeting of an informal Quaker history group that will meet in the Quaker Centre, Friends House, 173 Euston Road, London NW1 2BJ on Tuesday 23 February 2010 from 6.00 to 7.30. You are invited to meet and mingle in the café of the Quaker Centre from 6pm. The Library will stay open until 6pm that day in case you want to combine extended study with attending the meeting.

At 6.30 Jordan Landes will talk on "London Quakers in the Atlantic world before 1725" followed by discussion.

Because space is limited in the Quaker Centre, it would be helpful if you could reply to this email at quakercentre@quaker.org.uk to let us know that you are coming. This is a free event and open to all.

2010-01-21T23:54:00.004Z

I'm afraid we have been lax in putting up postings over recent weeks so I thought readers of the blog might like to see a few pictures of the house.

Edward Mitford Abraham inherited Swarthmoor Hall from his Aunt, Emma Clarke Abraham, who had bought the house and estate in 1912 for something over £5000. Edward had a passion for old mills and millstones and while living at Swarthmoor acquired a collection of old millstones from many of the old and derelict mills in Furness which he put in the gardens. There are a considerable number of them of various types, some for oats others for corn or wheat, others cut in the French style.

Although Swarthmoor Hall is primarily a Quaker retreat it also provides facilities for meetings or conferences and accommodation, either self catering or B&B. It is also an historic house of some beauty. The rooms upstairs retain their original panelling and are furnished with fine examples of oak furniture of a type that would have been familiar to Margaret Fell and George Fox. Indeed, the bed seen below, though somewhat vandalised now, has always been in the house. It is reputedly the bed used by Judge Thomas Fell in the mid 17th century.

The Hall touches visitors. Though it does not offer the experience of much grander houses it has a special atmosphere that infects people who wander through its rooms. It has a peace and a strange romance.

Winter is here!

2009-12-11T17:56:00.006Z

The weather here in south Cumbria has suddenly gone very cold. Last night there was a hard frost that whitened the land.

Around the Hall the trees are bare and apart from maybe taking time to gaze at some wonderful sunsets the evenings are times to hunker down in front of the fire with a cup of hot chocolate and a book.

Times are very hard for the birds although they seem to like the bird feeding station that we have put in the garden.

I was watching this afternoon; there were great tits, blue & coal tits, a chaffinch, greenfinch and a blackbird and a robin - of course - chasing rivals away. Over recent weeks we have had a greater spotted woodpecker feasting on the peanuts and Bill saw three squirrels having a munch t'other day. The birds seem particularly fond of the sunflower seeds and fat balls but is essential the feeders are kept full or our feathered friends, having become reliant on the feeders, will suddenly be without food and starve.

On this day in 1676 at Swarthmoor

2009-12-11T15:23:00.004Z

One of the most astomnishing documents to survive relating to the early story of Swarthmoor Hall is the Cash Book of Sarah Fell; more commonly known as the Account Book.

It is a summary of cash transactions at the Hall covering a few years in the third quarter of the 18th century. It was discovered in Lancaster in the 1800s where a grocer was tearing pages out to wrap things in such as soap or sugar or other loose goods. A Quaker, recognising its significance, rescued it and it is now a true treasure of Cumbrian and Quaker history.

So what was happening here at the House 333 years ago today!?

December: ye 7th. by m° sisf Rach: gave Ann Standish when

shee went away 1s

by mother, ffather gave Tho: Benson, bayliffe of ye

Liberties, for his civility to mee beinge a

Prisoner 2s 6d

9th. by m° pd for meate, Mothers Acccount 1s

by m° paid for shoeinge horses, her account 4d

by m° paid for shoeinge my horse 4d

by m° pd for shoeinge sister Yeamans Mare 6d

by m° pd Edw: Cooper for carriage of A caske

of Sope &c. from Kendall Mothers account 1s

by m° pd Edw: Braithw' in pt for his wages 10s

by m° pd Rich: ormandy, waller, for wallinge

2 days at ye Coppy wall, Mothers account 08d

10°. by m° pd for 10 chickens, her account 1s 8d

11°. by m° pd to Briggs ye Ropemaker for makeing

6g of traces, 6 halters 3 p of carropes 2: p hare

& 1: hempe, & a fother Rope, her account 10d

12°. by m° pd for of hopps her account 5d

by m° paid for starch & blue, her account 5d

by m° pd for burgandy pitch, her account 1d

15°. by m° pd for mendinge panns to ye tinker, her

account, 4d

by mo pd for tagginge lases, my owne account 1d

Volunteering form

2009-12-11T13:42:00.002Z

The Hall relies on volunteers to help keep the gardens, house and contents in good order for visitors. It really could not work without them. And it is such fun. There is no pressure and volunteers can work around their own areas of interest.

Below is a Volunteer Leaflet. Either left click on the image or right click and 'save as'. Download to your computer and you print copies off to read at leisure or to distribute around your meeting, school, organisation or whatever!

NADFAS, National Association of Decorative & Fine Arts Societies

2009-12-04T14:36:00.003Z

The Hall offers lots of opportunities for people to engage in voluntary activities. One group that has been working here for a number of years is NADFAS, National Association of Decorative & Fine Arts Societies. Their website describes their purpose as aspirations.

About three or four years ago the local group established themselves at Swarthmoor and set about restoring and cleaning a collection of old books, mostly on Quaker themes, many of which had 18th & 19th century leather bindings that required a lot of TLC.

Having finalised this task they then started on the furniture in the house where they worked beside a group of house volunteers who had been slowly restoring and renovating many items on their own account.

Now they are back working on another collection of books that has been brought to the hall in a very dusty condition from the Friend's Meeting House in Lancaster.

The old pear tree

2009-11-27T14:06:00.004Z

A new volunteer at the hall, Des Brady, turned up the other day and took some photographs around the house and gardens including this delightful image of one of the last remaining ancient pear trees in the meadow - formally the orchard of the Hall.

Very wintery! Looks to me much like an Ent!

Quaker History Group - January, 2010

2009-11-25T17:17:00.006Z

Just got an email from Friend's House in London. It may interest readers of the Blog...

Dear Friends

We would like to invite you to the first meeting of an informal Quaker history group that will meet in the Quaker Centre, Friends House, 173 Euston Road, London NW1 2BJ on Tuesday 26 January 2009 from 6.00 to 7.30.

You are invited to meet and mingle in the café of the Quaker Centre from 6pm. The Library will stay open until 6pm that day in case you want to combine extended study with attending the meeting.

At 6.30 Gil Skidmore will talk on ‘'Looking at 18th century Quaker networks through the life of Catherine Payton Phillips 1727-1794' followed by discussion.

Because space is limited in the Quaker Centre, it would be helpful if you could reply to this email at quakercentre@quaker.org.uk to let us know that you are coming. This is a free event and open to all.

We hope that this will be the first in a series of informal meetings aimed at those with an interest in Quaker history to enable sharing of knowledge and exchange of ideas. We are planning that these meetings will normally take place on the last Tuesday every month.

At the February meeting (Tuesday 23^rd) Jordan Landes will be talking about "London Quakers in the Atlantic world before 1725".

We look forward to seeing you at our meeting.

Gil Skidmore, who is a Quaker, has spent many years researching the lives and writings of early Quakers. Her publications include Turning Inside Out: An Exploration of Spiritual Autobiography (1996), Dear Friends and Sisters: 25 Short Biographies of Quaker Women (1998), Dear Friends and Brethren: 25 Short Biographies of Quaker Men (2000), Strength in Weakness: writings by eighteenth century Quaker women (2003) and Elizabeth Fry: A Quaker Life (2005). She is clerk of Friends Historical Society and co-clerk of QUIP (Quakers Uniting in Publications) and is currently working on a biography of Catherine Payton Phillips.

Quakers say: True religion leads to respect for the earth and all life upon it.

History Group

2009-10-28T21:45:00.006Z

We had the inaugural meeting of the History Group last evening. It was reasonably well attended and the decision was made to go ahead and establish a group. I guess one of the first things to do is to become an associate of The Friends Historical Society. Although the remit is not the same there will certainly be areas of research that will be of interest to both parties.

A powerpoint presentation posed some of the questions around the house that might be of interest to would be researchers. Something that fascinates me is the status of the old barn that stood to the west of the Hall until it was demolished in the 1960s.
The print, above, by Lockwood and dated 1874 is one of the best images of the old barn. It shows quite clearly the horse gin shed where grain was threshed.

There are also a number of photos taken in the early 1960s.

At the far end, beyond the cement mixer, there are a number of windows, suggesting that there was a house or cottage attached to the barn at some date.

Playing about with the image digitally gives a slightly better(?) idea of the frontage. Mullioned windows, so much a feature of the Hall, can be seen again here suggesting a 17th century date.

There don't seem to be any clearer images of the barn kept at the Hall. Maybe someone out there has some?

Forthcoming Courses in October & November

2009-10-09T14:23:00.006+01:00

Experiment with Light for Practitioners

October 16th - 18th

This is an opportunity for those with experience of practicing EWL to engage with others and to share their experiences. In addition their will be an opportunity for course members to look at ways of introducing other Friends to EWL through British Yearly Meeting.

£145.00 - Residential only

Becoming a Friend

October 20th - 22nd

A short course for people who might be interested in becoming mentors for people who are either attenders at Friend's meeting or who might show an interest in the Quakers and their way of being.

The course will be run by Ginny Wall, a Cumbrian Quaker.
She may be contacted on - ginny.wall@woodbrooke.org.uk

£106.00 - Residential... £80.00 - Non residential

Enquirers Weekend

November 6th - 8th

Pat & Phil Lucas, long established Quakers from Edinburgh will lead the weekend. Over log fires and while watching the birdies feed at their new feeding station in the garden attenders may look at some of the basic tenets of Quaker belief, form of worship & personal testimonies.

If you are interested, contact your Quaker Meeting Overseers who may be able to offer a busary to help with costs.

£145 - Residential... £100.00 - Non residential

Summer fruits & jam

2009-09-24T16:16:00.004+01:00

There are considerable numbers of fruit trees at the Hall. Bill has planted quite a few new ones in recent years. Last year the crop was rather poor but this season's has been really good, especially damsons and apples.

Nan, who stayed here for a couple of weeks as the resident voluntary friend, made 93 jars of jam; Damson, Blackcurrant, rasp, apple & blackberry, all from Hall's gardens. The jam is entirely OK! Just fruit & fair trade organic raw cane sugar.

The barns

2009-09-24T15:01:00.010+01:00

Over the last couple of months the last of the old farm buildings associated with the hall has been restored. Some years ago a wall fell down and took the roof with it.

The smaller part at the far end in the picture that dates from c1860 is nearing completion and due to be handed over to Swarthmoor Hall within the week. For the time being it will be used for storage but the restoration is to such a high standard that at some point in the future it might be adopted for residential use.

The larger part of the barn, nearer to the camera, which is much older and contemporary with the house will be given to the farmer for his use. This older structure has quite a few blocked windows and doors and an old roof line. It requires a thorough survey! Maybe a job for the History Group.

A piece of old agricultural machinery has been loaned to the Hall by the farmer.

Though somewhat damaged it will remind visitors of Swarthmoor Hall's long association with farming in the surrounding fields.

The restoration of the barn required the building and rebuilding of stone walls. Walling is an ancient craft in northern England. Some dry stone walls, built entirely without mortar, run for miles over the high fells and the men who built them were craftsmen who could build walls that would withstand the ravages of the elements for centuries. Indeed there is evidence that some of the walls on the hills date back hundreds of years. Thus it was great to know that one of the builders employed on the restoration was primarily a waller; he has been doing it for nearly fifty years. And here is an example of his craft, a really superb bit of walling.

Heritage Open Days at Swarthmoor Hall

2009-09-10T18:35:00.006+01:00

The Hall will be open for the four days 8 - 11 September. Entry is free.

The weather today was beautiful and there was a steady stream of visitors walking around the house with the audio tours. In the garden the butterflies were appearing. If the weather is reasonable the next few weeks will see clouds of them on the banks of lavender outside the house and around the gardens. One landed on my arm this afternoon - quite a privilege!

Another volunteer jolly!

2009-08-26T11:22:00.005+01:00

A couple of weeks ago Josie decided that it would be a nice idea for the volunteers to have a day out before the summer end. So with our flasks filled and lunches packed we all trolled off to Holehird Gardens at Troutbeck.

Formerly the residence of the Groves family Holehird is now maintained by the Lakeland Horticultural Society although the house itself is a Cheshire Home. A gang of some 80 volunteers work all the year round on the maintenance of the spectacular gardens which are also home to three national plant collections - of Astilbe, Hydrangeas & Polystichum.

People just wandered around the site for a couple of hours. There are some delightful corners on the many walks from where there are delightful views of Lake Windermere. The kitchen garden that once served the big house is now a sheltered lawn and the borders a showcase for many of the rarer plants.

A most pleasant interlude.

Square Peg Productions & Margaret Fell

2009-08-15T21:29:00.010+01:00

Over the course of many years Swarthmoor Hall has played host to a lot of events. People feel inspired by the place and by its history.

Among these various endeavours one of the more popular themes has been the exploration of the life of Margaret Fell, Mother of Quakerism, and a number of plays have been produced with her as the central character. Indeed, I was recently talking to an elderly lady who was visiting the hall and she told me of a short play that had been written and performed by a group of teachers in Barrow and district in the 1960s. She has kindly given us a copy of the original script.

A more recent portrayal of the life of Margaret Fell was performed at the hall in August 2008 by Square Peg Productions of Hebden Bridge.

Entitled A Pearl on the Sands, it was written by Anna Carlisle and told the story of Margaret's life through the characters of Margaret, played by Alexandra Mathie, and the two men in her life, Judge Thomas Fell & George Fox, both played by Robert Garrett. It also featured staff and volunteers as extras!

The players were extremely well received and there were excellent attendances for this delightful production through a few bright sunny days in an otherwise damp summer. There was talk of a return visit!

The play was the fourth in a series written over five years exploring the lives of unsung northern women.

They were:

Owl in the Desert
Lady Anne Clifford (1590 - 1676), dowager Countess of Dorset, Pembroke, and Montgomery. She is a central figure in northern history; a lady who, after many years fighting for her Clifford inheritence, restored Brougham, Appleby, Brough and Skipton castles and a number of churches associated with her family and ancestral estates. She has a magnificent tomb at the church of St Lawrence, Appleby in Westmorland.

An Eclipse of the Sun
The tragic figure of Anne Neville (1456 - 1485), daughter of the powerful & vastly wealthy northern magnate, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick (The Kingmaker). Anne was married twice; firstly to Edward, Lancastrian Prince of Wales & son of Henry VI, killed at Tewkesbury aged 17 in 1471 and secondly, one of the young Prince's mortal enemies, the last Plantagenet & Yorkist King, Richard III, who was himself killed at Bosworth in 1485 by Henry Tudor.

The depiction of a rough wooing of the heartbroken Lady Anne by Richard provides a powerful and heartbreaking scene in Shakespeare's Richard III.

Secretly Pleased
Alice Longstaff, a photographer of Hebden Bridge who left more than 10,000 photos & negs depicting life in the Upper Calder Valley from the 1890s until the mid years of the twentieth century.

Feedback: In Fox's Footsteps- 1652 Country.

2009-08-14T13:46:00.004+01:00

The August course following George Fox's footsteps in Lancashire during 1652 has been a great success. The weather held out and everyone seemed to take a lot from the days, especially having struggled to the top of Pendle Hill.

Some comments;

The Pilgrimage for me was very deep & spiritual. The Pendle Hill climb was 'awesome', although difficuly physically it was well worth it.... Swarthmoor Hall is a haven of tranquility and love.

One person described the ascent of Pendle as the realisation of a fifty year ambition.

I felt in safe hands. The historical information was at an appropriate level ... Thank you!

A couple of people suggested that a visit to Lancaster Castle, where Margaret Fell & many early Quakers were imprisoned, would be a good idea.

Bit of a sad story

2009-08-07T23:53:00.003+01:00

While Bill was showing me the pics he had taken of the wood wasps we came across this one, taken last winter.

The bird is a Tawny Owl. Apparently it was sitting in the tree in the orchard for a day or so and then Bill found it huddled beneath a field wall. In spite of being taken to a rescue centre it died. How sad

Wood wasps

2009-08-07T23:29:00.009+01:00

The gardens of Swarthmoor Hall are entirely natural, no chemicals or pesticides are used and so it is a haven for wildlife.

Bill was having a bit of a look round the other day and found himself by the pile of logs that Mike the lumberjack had ready for splitting. And there, sitting on a piece of larch were two of the most extraordinary creatures, quite beautiful. When Bill first showed me the pictures he took of them I thought they were hornets, but they are in fact a pair of huge wood wasps.

Wood wasps (Uroceras Gigas) are most commonly seen between May & October in or near coniferous woodland.They are sometimes called 'horntails', for obvious reasons. The female (the larger specimen in the pic) has a long pointed tube at the back of her body that is mistaken for a sting. In fact it's an ovipositor which she uses to lay her eggs in the trunks of coniferous trees. The lower individual in the pic is the male, preparing to do his bit for the next generation.

Despite their appearance these insects are quite harmless.

Early images of the Hall

2009-07-31T14:13:00.008+01:00

When researching the history of the house prior to its purchase by Emma Clarke Abraham in 1912 one of the sources to be considered is the evidence provided by early images. Sadly they are very few.

Two prints are known, dated 1829 and c1840. The Hall has a copy of the earlier of these, but Friends House in London holds the later one.

However, there is also a small Carte de Visite type photo held at Swarthmoor of an early lost print of the eastern aspect of the house. It is entitled - Swarthmoor Hall the residence of GEORGE FOX the Founder of the Quakers.

There is no date but this sort of photo dates from c1860/70 and it is clearly of an earlier printed image. Thus it must show the Hall as it might have appeared some time before c1840. Although naive and lacking in detail is does present some tantalising clues as to the condition of the house in the early decades of the 19th century if not earlier.

There is no render. The house was built in slate with sandstone detail around the doors and windows. This remained uncovered until one of the restorations of the 19th century when the whole house was lime rendered. Most intriguing, the windows are not blocked. In all the images of the Hall prior to Emma Clarke Abraham's acquisition of 1912 many of the windows are bricked up. This was to avoid window tax, a form of taxation instituted in 1696 and only repealed in 1851. So might the pic show the Hall pre 1696? I very much doubt it, but it does suggest the image is early! It is also odd that the door at first floor level appears to have been reduced to a window, most peculiar.

In the days of Judge Fell this door was accessed by a stair and a covered(?) gallery and led to a room now described as Thomas Fell's bedroom, but which was more likely his office when he was Lord of the Manor, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster & Judge of the North Wales circuit. The present verandah/gallery was built by Emma Clarke c1914.

Of particular interest is the masonry of the three storey bay. It appears to be dressed and regular when compared to the main body of the house. Is this artistic licence or might it be suggesting that the bay is a later addition? Note as well that the glazing in the bay differs from that in all the other windows.

The chimneys are early. Those present on the roof today are Georgian or early Victorian. It is also evident that the ground floor door on this aspect, which leads to a small lobby between the great Hall and 'Judge Fell's Study', was at the time the print was made providing an access into the house.

As more images are scanned there will be more to follow on this theme!

Volunteers barbeque

2009-07-27T17:01:00.003+01:00

Bill & Sylvia are so sweet! They really look after folk...

Last week they organised a barbie for the hall volunteers; cumberland sausage, veggieburgers, salad, the usual stuff. And it was a lovely day. We also met the new housekeeper, Ania, a Polish lady who also doubles up as a professional photographer.

There was Mike the lumberjack, Phil, John, Josie, Nick & the gardeners and a couple who are involved in the furniture group. They help with keeping the collection of furniture in the house clean and pristine. And Connie came, an old friend in every sense. She is a great source of information on the more recent history of the hall, its people and of local Friends generally.

A most pleasant day.

Late August - Outside-In; A Quaker retreat and print-making weekend

2009-07-20T17:16:00.007+01:00

A short retreat will be run over the weekend of 28 - 31 August led by Andrea Freeman & Helen Meads.

£175 Residential

Andrea is a painter/printmaker based near Holmfirth, Yorkshire.

She will offer support for people to examine and express their experience of spirituality @ Swarthmoor in part through the medium of print.

Helen's interest is in the Experiment with Light, early Quaker experiences of meditation and communion with the God of their understanding.

August course: In Fox's Footsteps - 1652 country

2009-07-19T23:40:00.007+01:00

The next course at Swarthmoor will be held from the 10th - 13th of August.

In Fox's Footsteps- 1652 Country.

£200 - Residential.

Over the four days visitors will be taken by minibus around some of the places that formed George Fox's journeys to and around Swarthmoor and leading to the events of 1652 and his first meeting with Margaret Fell.

Such places include Pendle Hill in Lancashire,

Brigflatts Meeting House near Sedbergh,

Firbank Fell and Fox's pulpit, The Quaker Tapestry in Kendal & Sunbreak (now Sunbrick) burial ground where Margaret Fell/Fox and many early Quakers were buried.

Apart from the obvious historical interest of the weekend the course also offers an opportunity for people who are interested in the tenets and ethos of the Society of Friends to meet other like-minded folk; to dicuss, evaluate and explore the Quaker way of journeying thro' life.

Wood for Winter

2009-07-14T18:52:00.004+01:00

I've found the work of sawing and splitting logs so satifying that I have become more than a little obsessed. As a result, I am forced to break from these duties to dig out and prepare stoned standing areas for the storage of the logs. Whilst digging over these areas and collecting and transporting the necessary stone to surface them, I maintain my spirits with the anticipation of all the extra splitting of wood they will accomodate.

Other distractions from the axe and saw have been provided by helping serving breakfasts on a number of occasions and mixing concrete for a plinth for a new site for a mill stone.

What fun!

So who do you think they were?

2009-07-10T13:08:00.007+01:00

Swarthmoor Hall is an old house. The stones have a history. As I have indicated in earlier postings it is a building that has grown over the centuries from probably quite humble beginnings. But a house, however impressive or historically significant, is nothing without the people who make it a home.

What did they look like?

There is an oil portrait reputedly of George Fox in the ownership of Swarthmore College in America and Barrow in Furness council own a portrait of Thomas Fell, but I am uncertain as to its antiquity and provenance. Of all the many hundreds of other people who have lived here there are only pictures of a few of its more recent residents. Thus it is hard to imagine what the people who lived here over the four centuries of the Hall's existence actually looked like. We know some their names from the census returns and old documents but that is all.

This early photograph, an ambrotype or dagurreotype, of a gruff looking countryman is printed on glass and dates from about 1860. The man is entirely anonymous but he provides a clear impression of the sort of figure who would have greeted the visitor to the Hall in the mid years of the nineteenth century. Farming was hard physical work with only rudimentary machinery to ease the burden. There was little respite, as the seasons made their demands on his time. Winters must have been appalling.

The figure seen here is probably wearing his Sunday best, but even this would be practical attire. His large felt hat would have kept the rains off his bald pate. The heavy serge trousers, thick cotton shirt and waistcoats would have insulated him from the chill northern winds. He is a figure that would have been familiar to the characters of Charles Dicken's books.

The sewing ladies

2009-07-09T18:37:00.011+01:00

This week we have a group of highly skilled ladies at the Hall who come each year to create soft furnishings in patchwork.

Swarthmoor is not a dead house, preserved in aspic. It is a place for the living, growing and changing with the seasons and the years, enriched by the care and attention bestowed upon it by all who bring their skills or time to the house. So these ladies are creating bright cushions and bedspreads, and bed-hangings for the old four poster beds, as has been done by every generation who has lived at the Hall for 400 years.

They really do make some spectacular things.

On the top floor of the house there is a large 17th century oak settle, or bench. It is distinctively a Lancashire Settle.

The cushion on it is probably victorian, stuffed with horsehair, misshapen and pretty dusty. Thus our ladies are making a new one. The patterns and colours are, I am assured, of the type that would have been employed in the 17th century.

Beautiful!

Looking at old fabrics, clothes and antique furnishings we might imagine that they were always a universal grey/brown colour. But they weren't. The brilliant colours created by the use of vegetable dyes that were used in antiquity have faded. People in history loved colour as much as we do. The household account book of Sarah Fell, written at the hall between 1673-78, bears lots of entries recording the purchase of brightly coloured ribbons and cloth for Margaret Fell's daughters. That most eminent Quaker, Elizabeth Fry, loved brightly coloured clothes when she was young.

Also on the top floor of the house is an old four poster bed, or more properly, I think, a tester.

It was given to George Fox by an early Quaker. The ladies have made a new bedspread for it again utilising an early English style of decoration.

The Birrell family

2009-07-06T01:15:00.005+01:00

Swarthmoor is a place that is central to Quaker life and the
dissemination of the ethos of the Society of Friends. Since the days of George Fox pacifism has been at the heart of the Society. Thus the following posting may seem a bit odd. But it must be remembered that for half of its existence Swarthmoor Hall has been out of the hands of the Friends; it was a house and home for ordinary Furness folk who did not necessarily espouse Quaker values.

Which brings me to cemeteries, I love 'em!

Not only are they places to ponder upon the fragility and impernanence of life, they also overflow with history, of peoples lives and of changing attitudes, not simply to death but also to life, to those things that were held to be of highest value in the lives of the dead or which defined their status in life - for it is these achievements that are recorded on the memorials. Most often it is their professions that are remembered, architect or farmer, sometimes their qualities. But occasionally it is something quite different.

Thus in Ulverston cem' there are two gravestones standing side by side that record the lives of various members of the Birrell family.

That on the left remembers Andrew Birrell, Farmer of Swarthmoor Hall who died on the 31 August 1883, aged 59 years. Below his name are those of Margaret, his widow, who died at Rosside House, Ulverston, in 1902 aged 72. Also remembered are Robert, their son died aged 18 in 1873 and finally Andrew Birrell Kitchin, their grandson who died in 1884, aged 1.

Andrew Birrell came down from Carlisle, via America and then Brigham & Lamplugh in north Cumberland where his children were born, and farmed at Swarthmoor from the 1860s. After he died his widow, Margaret, continued at The Hall into the 1890s.

However, the second gravestone - the one on the right - is;

In Memory of
Adam Birrell
Private, Co H, 9th Regiment
Indiana Volunteer Infantry
United States America
Who died at Rosside House
March 14, 1901
Aged 71 Years

He must be a veteran of the American Civil War.

This old photo shows members of Adam Birrell's unit, The Indiana Volunteer Infantry, during the conflict, in this case Company A, but Adam probably knew them.

I cannot trace the birth of Adam Birrell but he must have been a brother or cousin of Andrew, certainly a close relation. They were probably in America together in the 1830s. Andrew returned home to farm at Swarthmoor, Adam stayed on to fight for the Union only to return to England to die. Clearly he or his extended family felt that whatever else he might have done in life, his service in the Union Army was the achievement for which at considerable expense he should be remembered.

Remarkable

The Hall c1846 - 1919

2009-07-04T18:21:00.016+01:00

Swarthmoor Hall as it stands today is the product of many changes wrought over some 400 years. A picture of these changes can be traced thro' maps. I have not yet found any detailed maps or plans earlier than the first edition OS, surveyed c1846/7 and published in 1850. However, that does not mean that they don't exist. In Barrow archives there are copies of both the Urswick and Lindal tithe maps - dated to the first half of the nineteenth century - which may include Swarthmoor. Even so the 1846 OS (top map) carries a huge amount of information about the appearance of the Hall and its surroundings at that time and by comparing it to a more modern OS map, in this case published 1919 (lower map - surveyed 1911), major changes are clearly seen.

In the mid years of the 19th century considerably more of the early house survived. It is apparent that there was still a substantial north west wing that gave a symmetry the north facade of the house.

By 1911 this wing had gone. However, the complimentary wing still stands to the north east as can be seen in this pic. The rooms on the right are Emma Clarke Abrahams' additions of post 1919.

This aspect of the house would have been the most imposing, proclaiming the status of the Fell family to vistors as they approached the hall along the original trackway from Ulverston that runs along the side of the orchard. Until c1920 this public right of way carried on through the yard of the hall and on to the moor. Emma Clark Abraham altered its route to avoid the house.

(The modern access road to the south of the house with the sharp corner is an enclosure road of c1800. Prior to this date the moor was still unenclosed common land.)

It must be that the original entrance to the hall was in the recessed gap between the two northern wings.

It is likely that in the 1840s this was still used as an entrance; the map indicates that there was even then a small, probably formal, garden in front of it. Indeed there is a wall running south, across the yard, from the present entrance to the house, suggesting that this was merely a back door providing access to the farmyard.

Beyond the small kitchen garden to the north was the hall's orchard. A series of advertisements that appeared in the press in 1750, when Thomas Abraham first tried to sell the Swarthmoor estate, describe

'..good Orchards and Gardens, well wall'd and planted with choice Fruit-Trees..'

The map of 1846 suggests that the orchard was still recognised as such by the map makers who employed appropriate symbols to indicate this usage. By 1911 it seems that it was no longer maintained or tended and the place was simply being classed as an ordinary field. This is now the crocus and wild flower meadow.

On this later map it apears that the present front garden had been created to the south of the house and the wall removed. So it might be assumed that the present front door became the principal entry to the house only in the second half of the nineteenth century.

A very obvious feature of both maps is the huge barn that stood to the west of the house. This was most sadly demolished in the 1960s. The 'bump' that appears on both maps towards the southern end of the barn would have held a horse gin, a circular space where a horse trundled round endlessly to power wooden machinery, in this case to thresh cereals. Had it not been demolished it would have been one of very few surviving examples in the north of England.

Another substantial feature of both maps is the large wood that appears to the west of the hall complex. Such a plantation, close to the house, would have provided shelter, fuel and a source of building material for the estate. It probably survived until the second world war. Britain lost vast tracts of woodland during the two world wars when native grown timber was at a premium due to the necessity of employing shipping for essential war supplies.

High summer at Swarthmoor

2009-06-24T23:56:00.004+01:00

Well - it appears we are having a summer! The weather over recent days has been wonderful and the gardens at the Hall are looking superb.

The swallows are building a nest above the kitchen door - a second brood - the good weather in April and May allowed them to raise a family early; now they are trying for a second lot it seems. And there is a wren's nest in the potting shed!

The gardens are all down to the efforts of a few volunteers. Alan was hard at work this morning with a wheelbarrow.

One of the big jobs at the moment is landscaping the new car park. Another volunteer, Phil, is working his way through that.

Also at the hall today was young Chris, Mike the lumberjack's nephew. Having finished his GCSE's he is hoping to spend much of his summer making an audio/visual tour of the house for those disabled visitors who are unable to manage the stairs. I guess it will look good on his future CV!

Summer days

2009-05-25T23:39:00.002+01:00

Beautiful day today, hot and sunny. I've been decorating my house, finally found some cheap William Morris wallpaper, but decided I had done enough so took off to the Hall to sit in the garden and read a book; some short stories of HE Bates.

The Lavender is coming through! An amazing site at the end of the summer and the smell, it pervades everywhere at the hall.

Although the hall itself was closed there were a couple of visitors who dropped by just to take a stroll through to the meadow and drink in the atmosphere. They came from Barrow and were simply finishing their day. The lady was a mediaevalist and something of an authority on the Wars of the Roses. She talked at length of Lady Jane Grey, a descendant of the Le Flemings who owned much of the land around Swarthmoor in the 13th century. Fascinating.

Mike was there in his lumberjack role and a few other of the garden volunteers. At present there is an effort afoot to clear up the many large chunks of tree that are lying around the site. The drier ones will be cut for winter logs.

The old barn

2009-05-15T01:22:00.001+01:00

Work has started on renovating the last remaining original farm building at the hall. Should be interesting. I'm hoping that an archaeologist friend will come to take a look at it and try to give it a tentative date. Is it it contemporary with the hall? There are certainly a number of blocked windows and doors and what appears to be an old roofline.

More to follow on this

The accidental volunteer

2009-03-24T21:30:00.002Z

I began to visit Swarthmoor about 7 months ago, initially at the invitation of my friend Ian who shows visitors around each Friday. I was immediately struck by a sense of peace about the house, my visits were further enhanced by chatting with visitors, staff and volunteers and found that warmth and openness were the norm.

After enjoying several visits I started to become a little uneasy with my lack of any contribution and was pleased to learn that I could become a volunteer. My initial and on-going efforts are with some archiving work, this involves reviewing a miscellaneous collection of documents, slides and photographs which have escaped previous exercises, these are then variously catalogued, filed and scanned into the computer as appropriate. Progress has been very slow thus far, not least because of the attractions of a cup or two of coffee in front of a log fire especially over the winter months..

More recently, a more tangible salve to my conscience came in the form of several tons of sawn timber to split into firewood. Although new logs are being produced faster that I can split them, there is a satisfyingly large pile of split logs appearing in the woods.

The next challenge is to generate the same enthusiasm for the scanner, and filing cabinet in the office as I have found wielding an axe in the wood.

Having recently moved from Hest Bank to Grange I'm hoping to be able to spend more time at Swarthmoor and will report to the blog again if prompted by Ian.

Michael Thomas the accidental volunteer.

The crocus meadow

2009-03-20T16:45:00.008Z

Over recent days there has been a constant stream of visitors to the hall, not to look around the house but to view the meadow in the old orchard. At this time of year it is a carpet of purple crocus. Many visitors think they have been planted in recent times but that is not the case, they are quite natural and self propagated. Indeed they have probably been here for as long as the house has existed. From the late middle ages the crocus was coveted as the source of saffron.

The saffron crocus originated in Asia and the Mediterranean basin from where it was traded to China, India and along all the great trade routes of the ancient world. At Santorini a mural from the time of Minoan Crete shows saffron harvesting.

There are many legends told around the crocus.

It is said that upon entering Kashmir, India, Alexander the Great pitched his camp on a plain covered with rich pastures. At dawn he found his army in the middle of a sea of purple flowers that had blossomed during the night, even in the tents. Even more strangely the flowers had coloured his clothes golden-yellow. Attributing it to witchcraft he returned from whence he came without a fight.

Its cultivation in western Europe declined following Rome's demise but it was later reintroduced by the Moors following their conquests in Spain and Italy.

Saffron is a yellow spice gleaned from the stigma of the flower, the red coloured threads in the picture below.

This rare and valuable commodity was used for dyeing, in cooking and as a herbal medicine.

The 14th century depredations caused by The Black Death, which decimated the population of Europe, created a huge demand for saffron as a medicine and much had to be imported via Venetian and Genoan ships from southern Mediterranean lands. The theft of one such shipment sparked the fourteen-week long "Saffron War". In the year 1374 a certain Baron Bechburg assaulted traders shipping saffron from Lyon to Basel stealing some 400 kg of saffron threads. Bern deployed troops and Basel appointed one hundred mercenaries with a catapult to besiege the castle. After fourteen weeks the fortress submitted and was partially razed.
The conflict and resulting fear of saffron piracy prompted significant cultivation in Basel, Switzerland and elsewhere in central Europe. At Nuremberg, Germany, the prevalence of saffron adulteration led to the creation of the Safranschou code, by which saffron adulterators were fined, imprisoned, and executed.
About this time commercial cultivation spread to England, especially East Anglia. Indeed, the Essex town of Saffron Walden emerged as England's prime saffron growing and trading center.

We know that in the 17th century Margaret Fell and her daughters ran the Swarthmoor estate on sound commercial basis, as far as possible achieving self sufficiency. So it is not unreasonable to assume that they grew crocus and harvested their own saffron. The account book of Sarah Fell, Margaret's daughter, alludes to the dyeing of cloth each year from 1673- 1678. Might they be using saffron?

The crocus at the hall bloom for a couple of weeks. As they fade the daffodils bloom, then as spring turns to summer the fruit trees blossom and the old orchard becomes a lush meadow full of wild flowers.

2009-03-08T18:31:00.002Z

Welcome to the new Swarthmoor Hall Blog. The easy way for lovers of the Hall to keep in touch with each other, up to date with events, and voice our appreciation of this wonderful place and the staff and volunteers who keep it in such good order and make it such a peaceful and welcoming place. Looking forward to some interesting blogs. John and Josie K.

The hall c1890

2009-03-06T21:27:00.002Z

Here's a post for starters!

Though the hall only came fully back into the hands of the Society of Friends in 1953 it had always welcomed interested visitors.

From 1912 it was owned by the Quaker lady Emma Clarke Abraham, a direct descendant of Thomas & Mgt Fell. She bought it from the ancestors of William Lindow, a Lancaster merchant who had bought the hall from Daniel Abraham in the mid years of the 18th century. Daniel was Thomas's grandson and having fallen onto hard times was forced to sell the house and estate. Emma was happy to show visitors around.

However, even before Emma's time people came. This photo dates from about 1890 and shows Mary Snowden, an American Quaker, and possibly Mr Braithwaite in the meadow in front of the house.