Cartington Castle

Ailie and I had a different 6 mile walk from her house, back road to Snitter, across some fields to a farm and back by Cartington and Blue Mill. 6 miles. Sunny mostly but cool when it went behind the clouds.

It is not known exactly when the castle was constructed, but the first record of an owner of Cartington Castle comes from 1154. To this early castle, a pele tower was added in the 14th century.
In 1422 John Cartington was granted a license to crenellate. It was probably this same John Cartington who extended the buildings to include a great hall and courtyard.

The castle was held by royalist troops in the Civil War, and as a result, it was besieged by Parliament in 1648. The castle defenders held out only briefly, and the castle was then slighted by Parliament to make it unusable for defence. The tower house was last occupied in the middle of the 19th century.

The castle was restored by Lord Armstrong in 1867. During the restoration, a small 15th-century wooden cross was discovered, along with coins from the reigns of Charles II and George I. Several small carvings were also found in the area of the castle chapel.