Brough under Stainmore - History

BROUGH PARISH is about 8 miles in length and 5 in breadth, and is a mountainous district, comprehending a large portion of the wild forest of Stainmore, being bounded on the east by Yorkshire, on the south by Kirkby Stephen parish, on the west by Great Musgrave, and on the north by the lofty fells of Hilbeck, Warcop, Dow Crags, &c. The central portion of it is tolerable fertile, but the rest is a wild and heathy region, rich only in the valuable minerals, lead,* coal, lime, and free-stone. It was anciently a part of the parish of Kirkby Stephen, and was called the chapelry of Burgh under Stanemore. The Earl of Thanet is lord of the manors of all the parish except Hilbeck, and the tenants pay fines certain, viz. 10d. on change of tenant, and 17d. on the death of the lord. The parish contains three townships and one chapelry, of which the following forms an enumeration, with the number of inhabitants in 1801, 1811, and 1821, and the estimated annual value of the lands and buildings in 1815:--

 * At Swindale Head, in this parish, there was lately discovered a vein of lead ore, said to be the richest at present worked in the North of England.

*.* Part of the township of Kaber (entered in Kirkby Stephen Parish) is in Brough Parish.

Each Township has maintained its own poor separately since 1758, when, by an indenture of agreement, the divisions of the parish were disunited, and placed under their respective overseers.

BROUGH is an ancient and small market town, consisting of one long street, with a few short branches, on the great road from London to Glasgow, 4 miles N. by E. of Kirkby Stephen, and 8 miles ESE. of Appleby. It is crossed by the Swindale Beck, which flows westward to the Eden, and is here spanned by a stone bridge, which was widened in 1828. It is called Brough under Stanemore to distinguish it from many other places of the same name; and was the Vertera of the Romans, who, in the decline of their empire had a captain with a band of Directores here. It was the central station on the Maiden Way between Lavatra (Bowes in Yorkshire) and Brovacum (Brougham); but there was a small Roman fort at Maiden Castle, 4 miles E. of Brough, and another at Rere-Cross, on the eastern limit of the parish, beyond which, in Yorkshire, there was anciently an hospital for the entertainment of "way faring people," passing over the dreary wastes of Stainmore, across which the late Joseph Horn, a blind man frequently went as guide with strangers from Brough to Bowes, before the present road was formed. The northern part of the town in called Market Brough, and the southern portion Church Brough. In the latter stands the curch, and near it, upon a lofty eminence above the Swindale rivulet, are the venerable ruins of BROUGH CASTLE, supposed to have been built soon after the Norman Conquest, upon the site of a Roman fortress. A large stone which stood above the gateway was, about fifty years ago, taken down and placed under the water fall at Brougham mill though it bears the following inscription: ---"This castle of Brough-under-Stanemore, and the great tower of it, was repaired by Lady Ann Clifford, Countess Dowager of Pembroke, Dorset, and Montgomery; Baroness Clifford, Westmorland, and Vesey; High Sheriff by inheritance of the county of Westmorland, and lady of the honour of Skipton in Craven, in the year of our Lord God 1659; so as she came to lie in it herself for a little while in September, 1661, after it had lain ruinous, without timber or any covering, even since the year 1521, when it was burnt by a casual fire." Of late years the ruins have suffered greatly from neglect and stealth, great quantities of the materials having been taken away for the erection of stables, garden walls, etc. but it is hoped that the present owner, the Earl of Thanet, will endeavour to preserve the present remains of the once-stately castle of his ancestors, -- the successive lords of the great Barony of Westmorland. The walls of the great square tower, called Ca ar�s Tower, stood perfect till 1792, when the bottom part of the south-east corner fell down, leaving the upper part, as it still remains, suspended, and without any other support than the cement of the wall parallel with it. In digging the foundation of a house near the castle, about 40 years ago, was found an urn full of Roman silver coins, in high preservation, especially one bearing a fine impression of the head of Titus Vespasian, and on the reverse a female figure in a weeping posture, representing, as is supposed, the city of Jerusalem, which that emperor destroyed.*

* A few years ago, some boys discovered in the bed of this river, near the Castle, a large quantity of Roman coins, brooches, jewellers� working tools, etc., now in the possession of Mr. John Rumney, sen.

FAIRS AND MARKETS. Robert Lord Clifford, in 1331, obtained a royal charter from Edward III. for a weekly market to be held at Brough on Thursday, with an annual fair, to continue four days, and to commence two days before the feast of St. Matthew. The market is still held on Thursday, but is not in such a prosperous state as the great celebrated fair held at Brough Hill, 2 miles W. by N. of the town, on September 30^th and October 1^st, when that extensive common is crowded with people, booths, stalls of woollen cloth, and other merchandise, and immense quantities of horses, sheep, and cattle. Three annual fairs are held in the town of Brough, on the second Thursdays in March and April, and Thursday before Whitsuntide, for cattle, sheep, etc.

ARGILL ROW is that part of Stainmore township lying north of the Argill beck, and extending from 1 � to 6 miles E. of Brough. BORRENTHWAITE, in this division, is a large estate belonging to Mr. Michael Ewbank, and containing very rich pasture and meadow land, lying in the vale between the bleak and barren heights of Stainmore. Here is also DOW-GILL, through which a rivulet runs from the lofty Dow Craggs; and at Dummah Hill is a good public house.

BROUGH-SOWERBY, a village and township, 1 � mile S. of Brough, on the Kirkby Stephen road.

EWBANK (HIGH), a hamlet in Stainmore township, 4 � miles SE. of Brough.

HILBECK, a hamlet and township, 1 mile N. of Brough, at the foot of Hilbeck Fell and a range of lofty limestone scars, extending east and west. In all old records, this manor is called Hellebeck, "not from any infernal idea," � the Saxon word helle signifying merely the pouring down of water, which often tumbles from the mountains here over rocky and broken channels with tremendous fury. It belonged for a considerable time to a knightly family of its own name, whose heiress in the reign of Edward II. Carried it to the Blenkinsops, who held it during many generations, but sold it about a century ago. Joseph Pitt, Esq. M.P. is the present lord of the manor. The later proprietor, John Metcalf Carlton, Esq., built the unsuccessful cotton mill, which stands near the hall, but has long been deserted. The same spirited but unfortunate gentleman, also erected the Hall, a very neat building, now occupied by a farmer. On an eminence near to it is Fox Tower, commanding an extensive view, and near it is a coal mine.

STRICE-GILL, a narrow dale in Stainmore, 2 � miles SE. of Brough.

LIGHT-TREES, a hamlet in Argill Row, 3 � miles SE. of Brough, where there is a colliery.

MOUSGILL ROW is the southern portion of Stainmore township, stretching from 2 � to 7 miles SE. of Brough, and containing the hamlets of Ewbank, Strice-Gill, Slip Inn, Oxenthwaite, Rampson, and Low Pits, at the latter of which is a coal mine.

OXENTHWAITE village stands on a lofty eminence, 2 � miles SSE. of Brough, having in the deep dale below it some rich grazing pastures.

PARK HOUSES are situated in Argill Row, 1 � mile E. of Church Brough, where there was formerly a park belonging to the castle.

STAINMORE township and chapelry is divided, as has just been seen, into the two districts of Argill Row and Mousgill Row, and contains many scattered hamlets and houses, dispersed in deep and narrow gills and thwaites, in which the traveller, after passing the intervening wastes and heathy moorlands, is surprised to see fruitful pastures stretches beneath him, and margined by small rivulets, hurrying over rocky channels from the surrounding fells, where sterility wears her wildest aspect. Rere Cross and Maiden Castle are situated here and in the township is a lead mine (at Augill), and also several collieries and free-stone quarries. The Chapel of Ease holds a central situation, 3 � miles SE. of Brough, and formerly served also for the Free School, being originally built for the latter purpose, in 1394, and endowed by Cuthbert Buckle with �8 a year, to be paid out of the Spittal estates to the schoolmaster. The schoolhouse which the inhabitants had built, was consecrated as a chapel in 1608, and was, in 1699, repaired by Thomas, Earl of Thanet, who built the present schoolhouse adjoining to it. The Earl also enclosed a large parcel of waste land, called Slape Stones, and granted the same to fourteen trustees, for the benefit of the curate and schoolmaster, who now derive from it upwards of �50 a year, and have also the above-mentioned rent charge divided between them. The said Earl also gave �200, and the Governors of Queen Anne�s Bounty, �200, with which the Raisgill Hall estate, in Orton parish, was purchased, and annexed to the curacy. It consisted of forty acres, but at the enclosure was increased to eighty acres, now let for �46 a year, and lately for �80. The curacy afterwards received �200 from the Countess Dowager Gower, and another �200 for Queen Anne�s Bounty, with which an estate of thirty acres, near the chapel, was purchased, and is now occupied by the incumbent, the Rev. John Mason Fenton. The Earl of Thanet is patron of the living and lord of the manor. Mr. Samuel Winskill is the schoolmaster.