Swarthmoor Hall, Ulverston, Cumbria. Archaeological Evaluation

The Lancaster University Archaeological Unit (LUAU) was commissioned by The Religious
Society of Friends in Britain to undertake an archaeological evaluation on a piece of land
within the grounds, and to the immediate west of, Swarthmoor Hall, Ulverston, Cumbria (SD
282 773). This was carried out in response to a planning requirement stipulated by the
Cumbria County Council Development Control Officer.
The archaeological work was to involve a study of the available documentary, cartographic
and pictorial sources relating to Swarthmoor Hall and the excavation of a series of trial
trenches. The documentary research revealed that the development site was previously
occupied by a large post-medieval barn which had been demolished in 1963. Furthermore, a
lithograph, dated to 1829, indicated that the hall itself had once extended further to the west
than presently. Photographic evidence suggests that the barn contained architectural detail of
possibly seventeenth century date.