The Witherslack Sword

The Witherslack Sword was found in the 1960's, in a sandy bed of gravel at the foot of Whitbarrow Scar, eight feet below the surface. It is two feet long and five inches wide at the handle. It is not known who found it, but it was handed in to Major Stanley, who in turn presented it to Kendal Museum, where it now lies.

The place where it was found is continually flooded in the winter. The sword is supposed to have been swept down in a some great flood, as the watershed is only half a mile away. Comparison can be made with Viking or Anglo-Saxon swords from Ormeside and Hesket Tumulus, now in Tullie House. This is an example in our district of a well-known type.

1. Witherslack Church and Manor by Rev.R.C. Hut ton M.A. Vicar of Witherslack

Witherslack Axe

This reworked axe is from Neolithic times. The re-working consists of flaking pieces off the back of a broken axe head, so as to make a new tang for fitting on to a shaft of wood or antler. The original cutting edge is left intact so that the tool could be used again.

It made useful alternative implements from tools already made and discarded. The broken end has been flaked into a tang to fit into a wood, or antler sleeve, leaving the original cutting edge intact. It was found on the west side of Yewbarrow, on the eastern side of the Winster Valley at a height of approximately 30 metres. The axe was found by Tony Walshaw in 1988 and was resting on the surface of the subsoil, about a foot below modern ground level.

1. Clare I. Fell. Reworded axe from Little Strickland Hill Witherslack. CWAAS Vol XCI 1991