Pele Tower

Pronounced 'Peel Tower'. Around 90 built in Cumberland and Westmorland to keep away the marauding Scots. They were built to withstand short sieges with walls 3 - 10 feet thick they could house the locals and their animals during an attack with the added advantage that they could safely sit atop the third storey and chuck things down at their foe - like boiling oil, heavy objects designed to make one wince and perhaps leftovers from dinner.
Today many have been modified and are unrecognizable as Pele Towers. Some have been transformed into stately homes such as Muncaster Castle and Dacre Castle. Yanwath Hall has a pele tower that was incorporated into a working farm. Clifton has one that is pretty much the same as it was. The much mentioned 'Gloucester' in Penrith has one somewhere in the structure but you couldn't recognize it. This church, Saint Cuthberts at Great Salkeld was originally a pele tower and thoughtfully has the 'Highland Drove' watering hole nearby - well I suppose with all that fighting one worked up a thirst.