{"id":2383,"date":"2023-06-03T13:54:31","date_gmt":"2023-06-03T13:54:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/?p=2383"},"modified":"2025-07-15T15:22:35","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T14:22:35","slug":"dockray-hall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/03\/dockray-hall\/","title":{"rendered":"Dockray Hall"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u2018Dockray Hall in Penrith is being sold for \u00a3500,000\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So read the story<\/a> in the News and Star<\/em> a few days ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pub: <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Dockray
A plaque on
Dockray Hall<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n

\u2018comprises two bars, with separate, snug dining areas, all traditional in style, with large open fireplaces, beamed ceilings, and original panelling on the walls.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018There are ladies’ and gents’ toilets, a kitchen\/prep area, a dry store, a cold room, a beer cellar, and extensive staff and private quarters.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

There are two things to note about Dockray Hall. First, as a pub it bore the name The Gloucester Arms (and previously The Golden Lion). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And second, Richard III is supposed to have stayed there, when he was Duke of Gloucester. Sort of. Or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It had me digging out an old, undated booklet on the history of Dockray Hall, written by a Mr John Jackson BA, on behalf of the pub\u2019s then owners, Duttons Blackburn Brewery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How old is Dockray Hall?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A guide to Penrith Listed Buildings describes the Gloucester Arms (as it was at the time) as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Circa 1470 but now mainly late C16. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Jackson calls it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018a representative example of an Elizabethan town residence (circa 1580) of the North of England\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1580 isn\u2019t a guess \u2013 above one porch is coat of arms with the initials IW (the I would be a J) and three greyhounds (which look more like dachshunds!). And with it is the date.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Probably (says John Jackson) this means that John de Whelpdale (one of the founders of Queen Elizabeth Grammar School) was the person who restored\/rebuilt the original building, and extended it, to make the pub as it is today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clearly, Richard III never set foot in the Elizabethan building! And his coat of arms is over the main door of the Elizabethan frontage, so doesn\u2019t prove he ever stayed in the old building. It just means the story is a very old one \u2013 and that the arms were a canny bit of marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Victorian addition<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

John Jackson doesn\u2019t offer a date for the Gloucester coat of arms being added. But naming a pub after Richard when a Tudor was on the throne seems a little risky (if you valued your head), so it can\u2019t have been when the Elizabethan part was built. According to 19th century directories, the pub was called the Golden Lion in 1829 and 1852. News articles mention the Golden Lion in 1854  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 but 1854 also has a death notice for \u2018Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Loy, late of Dockray Hall Inn\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was still Dockray Hall in December 1858, when the midden stead was emptied and six or seven empty purses found, presumed to have been thrown there by pickpockets at Martinmas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas Thompson died at Dockray Hall in April 1861. Mrs Thompson provided breakfast for the staff of the Carlisle Journal, on their annual trip to Ullswater, in July 1862. But in March 1863, an auction listing says the auction will be held at Mrs Thompson\u2019s \u2018house\u2019, the Gloucester Arms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That ties down the name change to somewhere between July 1862 and March 1863. Presumably accompanied by renovations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adding the coat of arms would have been a nice touch, especially with John de Whelpdale\u2019s authentic arms over the porch nearby.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The Dockray family<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Dockray Hall is in the square called Great Dockray, and round the corner from the charming little street called Little Dockray. The \u2018y\u2019 is dropped in pronunciation: Dockra, not ray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The family likely took their name from Dockray, near Aira Force, taking the spelling as Dockwra. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At some point, one branch of the family built a house in Penrith and called it Dockwra Hall. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Ready next Tuesday, sire\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The story goes that Richard III \u2013 then the Duke of Gloucester \u2013 visited Penrith in 1471. Penrith castle was being altered and upgraded, but wasn\u2019t ready for a royal visitor. So he stayed elsewhere in the town \u2013 at Dockra Hall. It would have been a great honour for the family to have the king\u2019s younger brother as a house guest, but for Richard, not so much, as they and their home would have been far below his station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At what point the Dockra family left Penrith seems unknown. But we do know John de Whelpdale bought the place from someone and did it up and extended it in 1580.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The de Whelpdale family kept it for a century, before it was sold, in 1684, to a Thomas Webster. It was sold again in 1719, to William Rowell, and then passed to his granddaughter, a Mrs Seaman. Whose three daughters inherited it from her and sold it Jeremiah Savage in 1787.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Old Dockray Hall<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When John Jackson was writing his little guide, he describes the various features in each part of the building: the old hall, the Tudor extension, and a later extension at the back. Of the old hall, he says it was: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018until quite recently being used as a separate cottage\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dockray
John Jackson’s booklet<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He also describes The Gloucester Room \u2013 claimed to be where Richard slept. But he points out even the arms of the de Whelpdales in there have to be copies. For while they represent the union of a de Whelpdale woman to a Carleton man, they are back to front.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The supposed tunnel from the castle<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Popular tradition has it that not only did Richard stay at Dockray Hall \u2013 there was a secret tunnel running from Penrith Castle to the pub.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A letter in the Penrith Observer of April 12, 1949, addresses a previous article about the Gloucester Arms. The writer, the Rev C M L Bouch, of Clifton, takes issue with \u2018Cloggyr\u2019 over several points. Including the tunnel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u2018For what conceivable reasons should (our medieval forbears) have built all these alleged underground passages \u2013 veritable death-traps many of them might become..\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Mr Bouch\u2019s view is that the reputed tunnels were either water conduits or drains. And he also questions why the brother of the king would have stayed in a small, unfortified house \u2013 potentially at great risk from attack by his enemies, or Scottish raiders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And finally<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

John Jackson concludes that a lot of questions remain to be answered. But:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018It is good to see that the old charm and character and also the antiquity of the place have been carefully preserved in alterations which have been made to provide the amenities of a good modern inn\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s hope whoever buys Dockray Hall is able to ensure modern visitors can also enjoy its charm, and the old legend that goes with it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018Dockray Hall in Penrith is being sold for \u00a3500,000\u2026\u2019 So read the story in the News and Star a few days ago. The pub:  \u2018comprises two bars, with separate, snug dining areas, all traditional in style, with large open fireplaces, beamed ceilings, and original panelling on the walls. \u2018There are ladies’ and gents’ toilets, a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2426,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[186],"class_list":["post-2383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cumbria-history","tag-penrith"],"yoast_head":"\nDockray Hall - Cumbrian Characters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dockray Hall in Penrith is supposed to have hosted Richard III when he was Duke of Gloucester AND have a secret tunnel. 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