The principal entrance into the edifice at present is by a small door in the west side, from whence a spiral staircase ascends to the room where the Courts for the Liberty of Furness are held... From the courtroom the stairs lead to a room above, and to the top of the castle which is surrounded by a parapet... The highest apartment is lighted hy the great window and the court-room by the window below. The great door on the same side has been the ancient entrance; the small doorway on the west side has been broke through the wall (about 1704 in order to enter directly into the spiral staircase. The apartment immediately within the great door was, about a century ago... converted into a stable, but the doorway leading from the ancient entrance to the bottom of the spiral staircase is still visible in an interior wall. At the foot of the stairs there is a deep (5 ft 6 in) excavation called the dungeon, which appears to have had a room over it on a level with the ground floor of the adjoining apartment (the stable). This higher room has been lighted by a small aperture on the north side, but that below (the dungeon) has been completely dark, and is thought to have been a cell appropriated for the reception of prisoners. The ground plan of this edifice is an oblong square; the east and west sides measuring 45 feet, the north and south, 50 feet'.
During the six hundred years of its existence, the castle has undergone repairs and alterations several times, so that, as it stands now, parts of the structure can be depicted as belonging to almost every century from the 14th to the 20th. Some of the earlier features still remaining are, the mouldings in the arch of the ancient doorway in the south wall, the upper window in the north side, the elliptical head of the window in the south side and the corbels projecting from the interior walls.
In l854 the castle was renovated and converted
from the original three floorinto a two floor building. The staircase and
the window on the south side were also altered to accommodate this change.
By 1967, it once again required extensive repairs and its owner, the Duke
of Buccleuch, indicated that he was willing to dispose of it. No-one
seemed interested however, and for a while things looked black for the old
castle, It was eventually presented to the National Trust and the
necessary repairs (with financial assistance granted by the Duke of
Buccleuch) were carried out. It is now in very good condition with
toilets, electric lighting and heating installed, and is available for
hire for functions of various kinds. The curator was Mr. Ivan Whitehead
who lives just opposite in 18 Market Place and who is now retired. It is
now owned by the National trust and looked after by the Friends of Dalton
Castle.
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