Scales, Aldingham

Scales is a small village in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England. The town of Ulverston is around 3.5 miles south of the village. The name Scales comes from the Old Norse skali, with an Old English plural *Scalas, meaning huts. It is in the historic county of Lancashire. The village has a long history, proven when mesolithic human remains were discovered in a cave in a limestone outcrop known as Scales Haggs to the east of the village. A fragment of gravestone was once discovered in Aldingham Church, which bore an inscription to one Goditha of Scales, who it appears was an abbess and was probably the daughter of the local Lord, Michael le Fleming. The village was once home to a small local primary school called Aldingham Parochial School, which was closed down in 1994 and amalgamated with two other local schools. The symbol of the three interconnected circles is still clearly visible on the renovated building, now a house. The village hall, officially called Aldingham Parish Hall is known to locals as The Malt Kiln and would once have been used to dry and ferment locally grown Barley into Malt for use in vinegar, beer and bread making. Until relatively recently, it was possible to see remnants of the old process in the building but it has since been renovated.

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1.2 km

Urswick Grammar School

Urswick Grammar School was located in Little Urswick, Cumbria, England. The school was founded in 1585 as the result of a royal charter granted by Queen Elizabeth I. For the first few years, boys were educated by the minister in the church. Subsequently, the school building was built in Little Urswick.
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1.3 km

Gleaston Castle

Gleaston Castle is a medieval building in a valley about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) north-east of the village of Gleaston. The village lies between the towns of Ulverston and Barrow-in-Furness in the Furness peninsula, Cumbria, England. Gleaston Castle has a quadrilateral plan, with a tower at each corner. The largest of these, the north-west tower, probably housed a hall. The castle was most likely built for John Harington, 1st Baron Harington in the 14th century, replacing nearby Aldingham Motte. Gleaston Castle descended through the Harrington family until 1458 when it passed to William Bonville through marriage and was subsequently abandoned. The castle passed to the Grey family until Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk was executed for treason in 1554. As a result, Gleaston Castle became royal property before it was bought by the Preston family in the 17th century, and then passed to the Cavendish family. As the castle was disused from the mid-15th century it fell into dilapidation, and antiquarian depictions from the 18th century show Gleaston in a state of ruin. Though it is not open to the public, it has been the subject of historical and archaeological investigation in the 20th and 21st centuries.
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1.5 km

Baycliff

Baycliff is a seaside village in the Westmorland and Furness unitary authority area of Cumbria in England. Historically in Lancashire, it lies 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Ulverston, in the civil parish of Aldingham. At the centre is a village green, and many of its buildings date from the 17th and 18th centuries. The two public houses, the Farmer's Arms and the Fisherman's Arms, stand close to the green.
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1.9 km

Urswick

Urswick is a civil parish that includes the villages of Great Urswick and Little Urswick. It is located in the Furness area of Cumbria, England. The villages are situated to the south-west of the town of Ulverston. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 351, decreasing at the 2011 census to 1,397. Great Urswick is situated along the north and west sides of Urswick Tarn, a small body of water (c. 1100 feet by 600), although the largest such natural body in Low Furness. The tarn is fed from the surrounding hills and feeds Gleaston Beck to the south, the water is said to have a red hue due to the iron content of the surrounding land. Little Urswick, the smaller of the two settlements, stands further south on the lower slopes of a limestone outcrop known as Bolton Heads.