South Lakeland Tower Houses Project - AWARD

Historic England invites tenders for an analytical architectural investigation, costed condition survey and feasibility study with options appraisal of for the two fortified houses of Burneside Hall and Gleaston Castle in South Lakeland, Cumbria. The sites are statutorily protected (scheduled monuments and listed buildings) and have been on the Heritage at Risk (HAR) register since it was started in 1998.

The aim of the tower houses project is: 1.) to better understand the significance of each site and their group value for understanding the social and political history of this region between the 14th and 16th century, and 2.) to inform their long-term maintenance and conservation and look at the feasibility for appropriate and sustainable reuse to work towards their removal from the HAR register as well as improving physical and intellectual public access.

Burneside Hall (National Heritage List for England List Entry No. 1007129) comprises both scheduled and listed buildings with internal features that require further investigation necessitating a level 4 historic building survey that will be followed by a costed condition survey to prioritise future repair work. The architectural and archaeological survey work will inform a feasibility study to guide and support the owner in the future maintenance by identifying potential for restoration and reuse of elements of the hall complex. To make the most of funding that has been allocated by the South Lakeland District Council Heritage Champion, a topographical and geophysical survey of the land surrounding the hall complex would need to be completed, signed-off and invoiced to Historic England before 21 March 2018.

Gleaston Castle (National Heritage List for England List Entry No. 1013966) has been extensively surveyed as part of a programme of research and investigation led by the Morecambe Bay Landscape Partnership HLF project 'Headlands to Headspace'. As such, the work to be commissioned for this site will draw together existing information to produce a costed condition survey and options appraisal to look at the potential for greater public access and particularly what structural repairs are required to stabilise the site.