BARDSEA MANOR

Identity: confirmed — The registry record's primary name and location (Bardsea/Urswick, Lancashire) match the historically documented manor of Bardsea in the township and ancient parish of Urswick. The associated 1509-1547 rentals and 1539-1548 court rolls are Furness manorial records, while the Cumbria Archives guide identifies Bardsea as a manor of Urswick, historically associated with Muchland, with a surviving 1846 lordship plan and 1731-1821 title material. Historical accounts describe Bardsea as a mesne or sub-manor of Muchland with its own manorial court and manorial centre at Bardsea Hall.
Representative point: 54.16449, -3.07252
Basis: documented_manor_house — Bardsea Hall, the documented medieval/manorial centre of Bardsea Manor, at OS grid reference SD30057480. The medieval building is not preserved, but the historical hall site is identified and geolocated.
Point confidence: high
Boundary status: representative_point_only
Boundary period: Medieval to early modern; manor ceased to exist as a distinct manor in the 18th century
Boundary confidence: none
Boundary basis: The sources establish Bardsea Manor's identity, manorial centre, relationship to the larger Manor of Muchland, and approximate historical status, but no accessible source supplies a sufficiently clear, manor-specific perimeter. The modern civil parish of Urswick and the historic township of Bardsea cannot safely be substituted for the manorial boundary. One historical account states that Bardsea retained its own court until the 18th century and that the hamlet, apart from the hall and its farm, subsequently merged back into Muchland; this is not enough to reconstruct a defensible polygon.
Sources:
- The National Archives: Bardsea Manor, TNA/MDR record F241084: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F241084 — Primary registry record identifying Bardsea Manor in Urswick, Lancashire.
- Guide to the records of the Manor of Furness: https://elibrary.cumbria.gov.uk/content/internet/542/795/41263164645.pdf — Lists Bardsea under Urswick and Bardsea township, records that it ceased to exist as a distinct manor in the 18th century, and identifies the 1846 Plan of Lordship, 1731-1821 abstract of title, and 1509-1547 rental material.
- Bardsea Hall, The Gatehouse Gazetteer: https://gatehouse-gazetteer.info/English%20sites/5159.html — Identifies Bardsea Hall in Urswick, gives OS grid reference SD30057480 and coordinates 54.16449, -3.07252, and describes the site as a manorial centre.
- Urswick, Cumbria County History Trust / Geograph historical summary: https://www.geograph.org.uk/article/Urswick---South-Lakeland---Cumbria — Places Bardsea within the historic Urswick landscape, describes the manor's historical relationship with Muchland, and identifies the Bardsea Hall site in the village.
- Muchland and its Owners, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, 1924: https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-2055-1%2Fdissemination%2Fpdf%2FArticle_Level_Pdf%2Ftcwaas%2F002%2F1924%2Fvol24%2Ftcwaas_002_1924_vol24_0024.pdf — Describes Bardsea as one of the mesne or sub-manors appendant to Muchland and distinguishes it from the larger Muchland manor; it also records Bardsea's separate historical importance.
- Cumbria Archives / The National Archives record: Plan of Lordship with Conishead, BDHJ Plan/18: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N14340524 — Archive catalogue lead for the 1846 plan associated with the Bardsea/Conishead lordship material; the catalogue establishes the existence of the plan but does not provide an accessible manor-specific boundary polygon.
Warnings / uncertainty:
- No reliable, accessible source located a documented polygon or explicit parcel-by-parcel perimeter for Bardsea Manor.
- The modern Urswick civil parish, Bardsea township, or wider Muchland extent must not be used as a substitute boundary.
- The representative point marks the documented Bardsea Hall/manorial-centre site, not the full historical extent of the manor.