Penrith Castle

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The beacon monument on the hillside above Penrith marks the spot where warning fires were lit to let the surrounding farms know of impending reiving raids.

The Castle itself, now mostly ruined, was constructed between 1399 and 1470 by Ralph Neville to defend the country against Scottish invaders and is now in the upkeep of English Heritage and is sited in a public park.

Penrith is a good 30 miles from the Border in the North Lakes but the surrounding countryside was still a target for Scottish riders. In 1593 sixteen locals, mostly Huttons, were being robbed of sheep and horses while one Robert Wood’s house was broken into and two of his horses lifted.

And the population weren’t immune to assaults from their own countrymen, either.

In 1597, the powerful Lowther’s men attacked people coming from the town’s market, pulling them off their horses and robbing them. Henry Leigh, writing of the incident to Lord Scrope, said it was ‘as if hell had been broken loose.’

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