Grayrigg Hall
The present house is late 18th-century: the original one fell into decay after being sold to Sir John Lowther soon before the death of Anthony Duckett. It was a sizeable building: in the 1669 Hearth Tax Roll it was assessed at 12 hearths (Henry Ward was assessed at 2). According to Joseph Nicolson and Richard Burn (The History and Antiquities of the Counties of Westmorland and Cumberland, 1777), it ‘was a strong old building, in quadrangular form, adapted for defence rather than convenience’ which suggests it was based on a pele tower. In 1777 it was in ruins, most of the building materials having been taken off to Lowther. Quakers attributed this directly to the prognostications by Francis Howgill to Anthony Duckett, that God ‘will send a blast upon all that thou hast, and thy name shall rot out of the earth, and this thy dwelling shall become desolate, and a habitation for owls and jackals’.
Image © Meg Twycross, 29 July 2008