Hornby Hall

River Eamont (part 30)

In the little church that I blipped yesterday there are some canopied pews for the posh people and this is one of the houses where some of those posh people lived at the time. We have only gone a short way along the river and there is a track linking the church and this house. I wonder if they walked or went by carriage.

Hornby Hall, a listed building, is just one of a number of big houses that we have come across, which were built along the River Eamont so their gardens could overlook the water. It was built in the 16th century and was probably fortified in some way, as there was still the danger of border raids at the time. The house is built of red sandstone and has a three-storey tower section, which was pretty typical of manor houses of the period and the area.
 
Currently it is a large farm and a guest house, which advertises 'excellent fly fishing for wild brown trout' in the River Eamont.
 
Incidently, there was at Hornby Hall an airfield and we could quite see how this would be, as there is a huge area of flat land close by. During the Second World War it was a Satellite Landing Ground for aircraft storage. It was opened in 1941 and closed in 1945.