Early in 1789 Samuel Lacy, a military man, bought Salkeld Lodge near the village of Little Salkeld and not far from a very beautiful stretch of the River Eden. In the 1830s he built a new home across the river, which he called Eden Lacy. On both banks of the river he created caves and seats, all carved out of solid rock – the lovely red sandstone so characteristic of the Eden valley.

Little is known about Lacy (1766-1847) other than that he was born in Northumberland to what must have been a family of some wealth, for he was admitted to Queens’ College Cambridge as a Fellow-Commoner in 1785. After Cambridge he joined the army, ending his career as Lieutenant-Colonel in the Royal Cumberland Militia.

Records don’t seem to survive to give an exact date for the creation of the caves on the bank of the river, of which there are five in total. They were described as ‘lately scooped out and formed’ in 1836 and a map of 1841 shows ‘The Grotto’ in ‘Grotto Plantation’. Across the river from the caves, and also on Lacy’s land, is another curiosity – a table, and seats all carved out of the solid rock and known in the 19th century as ‘Benson’s Chairs’. There is no explanation for this name, although the Benson family were quarrymen in the Salkeld area, and may have worked the stone for Lacy.

The only early history of the caves discovered is anecdotal: the story is told that Lacy’s former batman was a deserter who came to Lacy for refuge. Instead of turning him in Lacy is said to have set him to work hollowing out the caves. More likely (but sadly without evidence) the projects might have provided work for men from Lacy’s regiment when they returned home from war, and were unable to find employment: such ‘job-creation’ schemes led to the Druid’s Temple on the Swinton estate, and the Three Stoops at Pateley Bridge, both in North Yorkshire. In 1883 it was admitted that no-one knew for ‘what purpose’ Lacy had the rock carved in such a way, and it was concluded that it must have been to ‘satisfy a mere whim’. Although marked on maps as the ‘Grotto’, the rocky chambers soon became know as the Lacy Caves, or Lacy’s Caves, after their creator.

The chambers are made all the more mysterious by the curious markings on the stone. These are apparently an ‘intense network of highly inclined veins of secondary silica in which the sand grains are bleached’ (thanks to the Cumbria GeoConservation website for that enlightenment).

Oh to have been by the Eden in March 1847 when the Kirkoswald Choir of Singers were rowed over to sing hymns in the sublime and sonorous setting of the caves. Colonel Lacy died only two months later, but hopefully he was present to hear the performance. Lacy’s heirs, his natural daughter Caroline Sanderson and later her son Samuel Lacy William Sanderson, continued to allow access to the estate on special occasions, although trespassers were not tolerated at other times. Throughout the 19th century Lacy Caves and Benson’s Chairs were the location of many a picnic party frequented by ‘young men and women with light hearts and smiling faces’. Brass bands played and there was dancing, refreshments and boating.

Also on Lacy’s land was the ancient stone circle called Long Meg and her Daughters, a site which in Lacy’s time was believed to be the work of Druids. A tale told in an 1857 guide to the county is that Lacy planned to blow up Long Meg, but just as the blast was about to be detonated ‘the slumbering powers of Druidism rose in arms against this violation of their sanctuary’ and a violent storm broke. The labourers fled for their lives and, as the story goes, Lacy never again meddled with Meg.

What makes this story seem unlikely is that Lacy appears to have had great respect for the ancient Druids. He incorporated acorns and a sprig of mistletoe into a reworked family crest, writing that he had chosen the design ‘from my being in possession of Long Meg’.

…and in 1832 he commissioned the artist Jacob Thompson (1806-1879) to paint a work called The Druids cutting down the Mistletoe, with Long Meg and her Daughters in the background.

Today Lacy’s Caves are a popular attraction and can be visited from the riverside path on walks from Little Salkeld or Long Meg (but see below). Benson’s Chairs are on private land and there is no public access.

The Eden valley is full of treats. Even the road signs were perfectly picturesque when the Folly Flâneuse visited in May 2023. At that date the footpath to Lacy’s Caves was closed because of flood damage, and the Flâneuse was unable to visit. Two years on, she decided to see what was happening: the footpath closed signs are still up, but the footpath closure notice has long since expired. Taking advice from the folly-spotter’s greatest resource – a friendly local walking their dog – the Flâneuse set off and the footpath is fine (in dry Spring conditions, at least) and there were plenty of walkers enjoying the route.

Thank you for reading. There’s a comments box at the foot of the page – the Flâneuse is always delighted to receive your thoughts and any further information.

High on the fell above the town of Penrith stands a square stone turret which marks the site of the town’s ancient beacon. For centuries the beacon network provided an early warning system: fires burning on high ground announced the approach of the enemy. In less troubled times the little tower became a summerhouse, eye-catcher, and belvedere for the Lonsdale family of nearby Lowther Castle. Today it is a popular destination for walkers, and a symbol of the town.

The building seen today is said to have been built in 1719. The early history is a little vague, but the Beacon was certainly in its present form by the middle of the 18th century when the tower with its pyramidal roof is shown on maps. The land came into the ownership of the Lonsdale family early in the 19th century, and soon after they planted the bare fell and began to manage the hillside as a forest.

The 1st Earl and Countess of Lonsdale (2nd creation) built an ornamental cottage at the foot of the hill. This served as the residence of the estate wood-warden, whose role included managing access to the beacon on public open days. It was also a place where the family could take refreshments when visiting the Beacon, and was named Caroline Cottage in honour of Lord and Lady Lonsdale’s youngest daughter. In the 1820s the Countess added an ‘elegant tea and ball-room’ to the cottage; this she made available to the people of Penrith, and great parties and picnics were held there in the following decades.

In 1841 a local poet ‘The Muse’, contributed sonnets on local themes to the Westmorland Gazette. His lines on Caroline Cottage begin:

Lone cottage! clasped around with ivies green,
Snugly thou stand’st beneath the “Beacon Hill,”
A mute spectator – of lake, stream, and rill,
And mountains far in the encircling scene!

The Beacon is a landmark for miles around, and will be familiar to motorists heading to and from Scotland on the M6. From the little tower there are views to Lowther Castle, Blencathra and Ullswater, as well as into Scotland. Those views were best appreciated when the hillside was bare of trees, as it was in 1918 when an article in the local paper bemoaned the wholesale clearing of the trees by the Lowther estate.

The fell was however replanted, and a century later people began to complain of the opposite problem: the slope was again covered in trees but those on the summit were blocking views of the hilltop eye-catcher. Early in 2018 Lowther Estates organised the clearance of the trees around the beacon, and reopened key vistas. The work was funded by Eden District Council and a number of local charitable organisations.

In recent years the Beacon (the word is used locally to refer to both the turret and the hill) has been threatened with development. The Friends of Penrith Beacon is a community group that was formed in 2018 to protect the site, and you can read about their campaigns here http://www.friendsofpenrithbeacon.co.uk

You can catch a glimpse of Caroline Cottage on Beacon Edge, before following the nearby public footpath uphill to the turret. It is a steep climb, but as a guidebook noted in 1826 the view ‘compensates by its extent and variety of prospect for the labour in ascending to procure it.’

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