The capital of Westmorland, is an ancient Market Town and Borough, sending two representatives to Parliament, and distant 24 miles NE. by N. of Kendal, 14 miles SE. by E. of Penrith, and 266 miles NNW. of London. It lies principally in the townships of Appleby St. Lawrence and Scattergate; but Battle-Barrow, in Bongate township, on the eastern bank of the Eden, forms a part of the borough which is connected by an ancient stone bridge* of three arches, extended between the lofty and precipitous, but well-wooded banks of the meandering river, which partly encircles the western portion of the town, where are situated the Castle, Market-place, Moot-hall, and several good streets and public buildings, but the County gaol and Court-house are on the opposite side of the river. The borough contains upwards of 1200 inhabitants and 200 houses, but it had anciently a much greater population, and its buildings extended more than a mile further south to the village of Burrels, which had its name from the Borough-Walls, fragments of which and other buildings have been frequently "ploughed or dug up." The town suffered greatly during the Scottish wars; it was burnt in the 22d of Henry II. and again in the 11^th of Richard II., when, of 2,200 burgages, by due computation of the fee-farm rents, there remained not above one-tenth, as appeared by several inquisitions, made in the reigns of Henry VIII. and Philip and Mary, when the jurors declared that the greatest part of the town "still lay in ruins," in consequence of which the inhabitants could not pay to the Crown the ancient yearly rent of 20 marks, which was afterwards reduced to 2 marks. It has evidently been occupied by the Romans, and Camden, from a similarity of name, erroneously calls it Aballaba – but Horsley "thinks it was the Roman Galacum," though no inscriptions have been found to prove the name bestowed upon this station by the "Mistress of the World."

 The County Court, for the recovery of debts under 40s., &c. is held on the Thursday of every fourth week, at the Crown and Mitre Inn; and Petty Sessions are held every Saturday at the Shire Hall, by the magistrates of the town and neighbourhood.

Appleby Castle, the ancient mansion of the successive lords of the great Barony of Westmorland, is now occupied by the Earl of Thanet’s steward, the Rev. John Heelis. It is a large edifice, forming two sides of a square, and standing at the upper end of Boroughgate, on the lofty summit of the western bank of the Eden, the steep declivity of which is thickly clothed with wood; indeed the caste is ornamented on every side by fine groves and shady avenues, which, with the beautiful curvatures of the river, margined with hanging gardens, trees and rocks, and overlooked by neat dwellings, make up a landscape fraught with picturesque sublimity. The greatest part of the present castle was erected in the reign of Henry VI. By Thomas Lord Clifford, the building having before that time been repeatedly defaced and broken down by the Scots. In 1641 it was greatly repaired by the Countess of Pembroke who fortified and garrisoned it for the services of King Charles, under the command of Sir Phillip Musgrave, who held it till after the battle of Marston moor, when it was surrendered to the parliament forces who took prisoners upwards of "1200 horse," and a great number of officers. On the west side of the castle is a detached square building, called Caesar’s Tower. and terminated at the corner of lofty turrets. This edifice is supposed to occupy the site of a Roman fortress, but the date of its erection in not known.

Markets, Fairs, &c. (In 1598, the market was removed to Gilshaughlin, on account of the plague; "In which year, between August 1 and March 25,, there died in Appleby, Scattergate, Colby, and Colby Leather 128 persons"). – The Market-House, or "The Cloister," where butter, eggs, &c are sold, stands at the foot of Boroughgate, where it was re-built by the corporation in 1811. It is a neat stone edifice, with a tower at each end; and in front of it is the Low Cross, which, as well as the High Cross, at the upper end of the Street, was re-built in 1817 and 1818. On the latter in inscribed—"Retain your Loyalty—Preserve your Rights." The Shambles, as has already been seen, assist the Moot-hall to obstruct the middle of the same street. The cloister was first built by Dr. Thomas Smith, Bishop of Carlisle, about A.D. 1700. It stands partly upon the church-yard, so that the corporation pays a yearly ground rent of 5s. to the vicar. The Market is held on Saturday, and numerously attended, and well supplied with corn, provisions, and coal; the latter of which is brought in small carts from Stainmore to Bongate. A cattle market is held every alternate Saturday at the High Cross. Three large FAIRS are held annually, viz. On the 2^nd Saturday in March, and Whitsun-eve for cattle (in Bongate); and on the second Wednesday in June, for horses, cattle, sheep, and merchandise, which are exposed for sale at Gallow Hill. (where criminals are executed, is an extensive pasture, containing 100 acres, and situated in Bongate parish, 1 mile N. of Appleby. At the enclosure this portion of Bongate Moor was awarded in small shares to the landowners, who are enjioned to keep it undivided for the use of the above-named fair). The last-Mentioned being free form the heavy tolls imposed upon the fairs and markets in the borough, is nearly equal in consequence to the great fair held in Brough Hill, on the Saturday after which here is a very throng market. HIRINGS for SERVANTS are held at the High Cross on Whit-Monday, and at the Low Cross on the Nearest Saturday to Martinmas. Here are two extensive breweries and several manufacturers of Smith’s bellows, but the town is principally supported by its markets, fairs, &c.

The Church, dedicated to St. Lawrence, was burnt down by the Scots in the 22d of Henry II., but was re-built by that monarch about two years afterwards; and again in 1655, by the Countess of Pembroke, at the cost of £700. It is a fine Gothic structure, with a nave, chancel, and side aisles, and a square tower, in which are five bells, with a clock, and chimes which play at every third hour. The whole has been recently repaired, and it is intended shortly to re-pew it. In the chancel is a beautiful marble effigy of Margaret Countess of Cumberland, who died in 1616. Near this is an elegant altar-tomb, in memory of her benevolent daughter, The Countess of Pembroke, who died at the castle in 1675, and amongst other charitable bequests, left an estate at Temple-Sowerby, now worth £80 a year, for the reparation of this church, the bridge, market-crosses, &c. In the church were anciently two chantries; one dedicated to the Virgin Mary, by the family of Goldington, and the other to St. Nicholas, by the Robert Threlkeld. They were dissolved by Edward VI. Who granted their revenues, amounting to £5 11s. 8d. yearly to William Ward and Richard Venables, to hold in free soccage. The church, together with that a St. Michael’s was given by Ranulph de Meschiens to St Mary’s Abbey, in York, or rather to that monastery’s dependant priory at Wetheral. It is now a vicarage, of which the Dean and Chapter of Carlisle are patrons, and the Rev. Joseph Miller A.M. incumbent. It is valued in the king’s books at £9 5s. 2 ½d. Besides the ancient glebe, the vicarage is endowed with 236A.1H. 4P. of land, given at the enclosure in 1823, as a commutation for the tithes of Hoff township. St. Michael’s Church, in Bongate, on the east side of the Eden, ¾ of a mile SE. of Appleby, also partook of the munificence of the Countess of Pembroke, who raised it "out of its ruins," in 1658, but not on the same site, for the fragment of a wall, said to have been part of the original church, is still to be seen at the Holme, where human bones have frequently been found. It has a nave, chancel, cross aisle, and a small tower, and has anciently a chantry, endowed by Sir William English. At Battle Barrow, in the same parish, the Lords Clifford, Percy, and Vescy, in 1281, founded a White Friary, the site of which is now occupied by the neat modern mansion of John Hammond, Esq. Called the Friary. A little to the north-west a farm house stands upon the sit of St. Leonard’s Hospital, which long existed for the reception of lepers, and was given by John de Veteripont to Shap Abbey. It was dissolved by Henry VIII. And granted to Thomas Lord Wharton, but the adjoining farm now belongs to St. Anne’s Hospital. The Vicarage of St. Michael, valued in the king’s books at £20 13s. 9d. has been in the patronage of the successive Bishops of Carlisle since the year 1248, and is now the incumbency of the Rev. Thomas Bellas, A.M. At the enclosure of Bongate Common, 92A.1H. 10P. of land, were given to the Dean and Chapter of Carlisle, in lieu of the great tithes, and 15A. 1H. to the vicar, as a release form the small titles, besides 5A. 0H. 15P. allotted to the ancient glebe. The only Dissenting place of worship at Appleby is the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, which was built by subscription in 1823, and has a Sunday-school attached to it.

The Free Grammar School in Appleby was re-founded in 1574 by Queen Elizabeth, with ten governors, who are to appoint successors, nominate the master and usher, make statutes for the regulation of the school, and receive lands and possessions, "so as they exceed no the clear yearly value of £40," but the last limitation has been greatly exceeded, for this excellent seminary now possesses a yearly revenue of upwards £200, though it only receives six free scholars—all the others (about 70) having to pay small quarterages even for the classics, and additional charges for writing, arithmetic, &c. The chaplain of the two chantries in the church of St.Lawrence was enjoined to teach grammar as a part of his duty, so that Queen Mary, in consideration of the loss sustained by the dissolution of the chantries, granted to the school at Appleby a rent charge of £5 10s. 8d. to be paid out the rectory of Crosby Ravensworth. Since the royal charter of Elizabeth the school has been endowed with the following benefactions: With the sum of £300 (of which £240 was given by Dr. Miles Spencer) a rent charge of £20 a year was purchased in 1579, to be paid out of Newton Garths estate, in the county of Durham, now belonging to Cuthbert Ellison, Esq. In 1589, the governors received £40 from the will of Rainold Hartley, with which they purchased the field adjoining the school, called Pear-Tree-Garth. In 1661, Dr. Smith (afterwards Bishop of Carlisle) procured a lease of the corn tithes of Drybeck to be granted by the Dean and Chapter to the schoolmaster, who pays for tenants of £20 per annum. The demesne lands of New Hall in the manor by the governors with £500 out of the £700, given in 1671 by Bishops Barlow & Smith, the Rev. Randal Sanderson, and Sir John Lowther, Bart. All of whom had been scholars here, and gave their several donations to the school in consideration of the governors having ceded for ever the right of nominating the master to the provost and scholars and Queen’s College Oxford, where the Appleby scholars (natives of Westmoreland) have five exhibitions, founded in the same college by Lady Hastings, and those established by this founder, Robert Eglesfield for the education of scholars from Westmoreland and Cumberland. The school, of which the Re. Wm. Thompson, A.M. is now master, is open to all the boys of the parish of St. Lawrence and the township of Bongate. It is the "Temple Sowerby Trust."

A Book Club was established at Appleby about 40 years ago and now consists of the number of subscribers who yearly expend one guinea each in the purchase of books, which after being kept twelve month for their general use, are sold to the highest bidder, except such works as a majority of the numbers any determine to retain in the library, which is deposited at Mrs. S. Clark’s, in Boroughgate. The New Room is at the King’s Head Inn, where assemblies are occasionally held.

St Anne’s Hospital is a neat structure standing in a pleasant situation near the head of Boroughgate, and having a small chapel, with apartments and gardens of 13 poor widows, who have each a quarterly stipend of 7/- besides an extra sum of 25s. paid to the eldest, who is called the mother, and a cart load of coals given to each yearly. This excellent charity was founded in 1653, by that great benefactress of Appleby, Lady Ann Countess of Pembroke, who endowed it with an estate at Brougham, and lands in Bongate, formerly belonging to St. Nicholas’s Hospital, which now yield about 500/- per annum, of which 4/- belongs to the poor of Brougham. A small salary is paid to the Chaplain (Rev. John Heelis) for reading prayers in the hospital every Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Its yearly revenue at the foundation only amounted to 100/-. The Earl of Thanet is the visiter, and the Mayor of Appleby os one of the ten trustees. Exclusive of the three charities belonging the Church, Hospital and Grammar School, there are ten Benefactions, producing upwards of 56/- per annum, and distributed amongst the poor, pursuant to the will so f the donors, as has been seen at page 41. Having noticed all that is interesting in the Borough, we shall proceed to the out-townships and villages in both parishes.

APPLEBY ST. LAWRENCE, (VILLAGES, &c..)

Burrels is a village 1 ½ S. by W. of Appleby, on the Orton road. Its township has a rich reddish soil, contains an abundance of limestone, and is said to have been anciently crossed the the Borough Walls of Appleby. The Earl of Thanet is lord of the manor, and owner of most of the land.

Colby village stands on an eminence above the Eden 1 ½ mile W. by N. of Appleby. This township formed a manor which was long held by a family of its own name, from whom it passed the Warcops, who sold most of the tenements to freehold, and the rest have since been enfranchised, except a few tenants of the Bishop of Carlisle, who pay an annual; rent of £3 6s. 8d.

Drybeck, a small secluded village 3 ½ miles SSW. Of Appleby. The Earl of Thanet is lord of the manor of Drybeck and Hoff, which has been successively held by the families of Offa, Multon, Dacre, and others. The common lands in this manor were enclosed in 1823, when upwards of 7-0 acres were given to the lord, and the rest to the land owners.

Hoff a small village 2 ½ miles SSW. Of Appleby. The township forms a manor with Drybeck, and includes Hoff Row, Nether Hoff, and Barwise Hall, the latter of which though now a farm house, was long the seat off the distinguished family of Berewyse, but now belongs, together with the demense, to John Metcalf Carleton, of Hilbeck, who has sold it, to pass after his death, to Wm.. Pitts, Esq. There was anciently a chapel at Hoff, endowed with 37 acres of land. At Douglassing, near Hoff bridge, it is said a great battle was fought between the English and the Scotch in the reign of Richard II. This township was released from tithe, by giving common land to the vicar at the enclosure.

Hoff Nether a large farm belonging to the Earl of Thanet, and distant 1 ½ mile W. by N. of Appleby.

Hoff Row, a hamlet ½ mile W. by S. of Hoff. The family of Hall has been resident here upwards of 400 years and is remarkable for longevity: John Hall died in 1716, aged 109 years; his son John died in 1704, aged 89; and his grandson, in 1821, aged 101 years.

Scattergate township is mostly included in the borough, and contains the Castle of Appleby, already described.

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