A village in the valley of the Eamont some 5 miles from Penrith. A small and very pretty spot tucked as it is between the hills. Though small, the village nevertheless has a long history, being mentioned by the Venerable Bede in AD698.
Dacre is thought to be the site of the Anglo-Monastery mentioned by the Bede. Excavations in the churchyard have confirmed the existence of pre-Norman drains and walls.
The castle here used to belong to the Dacre family, and some of the Lords of Dacre led raids against the Scottish Borderers. Built about the middle of the 14th century, Dacre Castle was for years relegated to the status of a farmhouse, but in the last 30 years has been restored to its former glory...and more.
The pride of the castle is the first floor which was previously unoccupied. It is a single enormous room with a trussed roof with fireplaces on opposite walls...one is Elizabethan and the other of the ingle-nook variety. The room has a direct link with early history and has always been known as 'The Room of the Three Kings' as it is believed that the Kings Athelstan of Scotland, Constantine of Scotland, and Eugenius of Cumberland met here to sign a peace treaty.
It was in the reign of Edward II that the Dacre family started work on this fortress which was to be midway between a fortified pele and a castle proper. The Dacres originally took their name from the village, but through two famous elopements gained the baronies of Gilsland and Greystoke and became one of the noblest and most important families in the North of England.
In the nearby church of St Andrew is the 'Dacre Stone' with carvings two men walking hand in hand. Athelstan and Constantine after their Treaty of Peace was signed. Legend has it that the ghosts of these two kings still haunt the grounds of the castle. In the churchyard stands the famous ancient stone effigies known as the dacre Bears...which are believed to have come from the castle originally. Inside the church is a pre-Norman cross shaft with figures of Adam and Eve. It is carved with quaint animals and two scenes, with the tree and the serpent. The other stone here is a smaller fragment of a cross and its detail is very fine. The chief item on it is the Anglian Beast, a remarkable creature with an almost human face, beautifully chiselled about 1100 years ago...One of the tombstones here covers the family grave of the Troutbecks, and on it, every Easter Day, the money one of them left 170 years ago is distributed to the poor.
There is no school here, but the cottages just below the inn bears a sign-board 'Dacre School - builded 1749'. A nearby mansion was the ancestral home of the Hassall family since 1665. It is now the Cumberland and Westmorland Yeomanry Museum.
The deep pool by High Bridge is known locally as 'The Wash Dub' (OE Wath Ddu - dark pool), and it is where the farmers would wash their sheep prior to shearing. It was (and probably still is) a popular spot for local children to learn to swim.
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