Brougham Directory

Lies at the north-eastern extremity of the West Ward, between the rivers Eden, Eamont, and Lowther, which unite here, and bound it on all sides but the south, where it is margined by Clifton, Melkinthorp, and Cliburn, being about 5 miles in length, and from 1 to 3 in breadth. The commons, including Whinfell forest and park, were enclosed and divided upwards of 30 years ago, except about 900 acres, now thickly planted with trees. The soil is generally fertile and well cultivated. The parish contains only 20 scattered houses and 143 inhabitants.

Brougham Castle, a magestic and venerable ruin on the site of thge Roman station Brovoniacum, stands proudly at the confluence of the Eamont and Lowther rivers, ½ miles south-east of Penrith. The vallum and other vestiges of the station may still be traced ; and the present high road, which now turns to the west, has, in the time of the Romans, led forward in a direct line, and either gone through the camp, or just without the ditch, which appears to have enclosed an area 140 paces in length, and 120 in breadth. Many coins, altars and other antiquities have been found on the south side of the station, where a city is said to have stood under the protection of the garrison, (a company of Defensores) from which circumstance the Saxons called it Burg-ham, (in which way it was anciently spelt) signifying Castle-town. An inscription on an altar found here in 1602, was read by Horsley thus, "Imperatori Casari Valerio Constantino Pientissimo Augusto" ; and another thus "Deabus matribus Tramarinis vexillatio Gemanorum pro salute Reipublica votum solvit libens merito". The present ruined castle is evidently of Norman architecture, and its earlies owner recorded in history, was John de Veteripont, but in his time it was called the "house of Brougham". so that probably it was not then castellated. The first Roger Lord Clifford built the greatest part of it ; and there still remains above the inner gateway this inscription "This made Roger". His descendant, of the same name, built the keep and the parts facing the Eamont, but the whole pile was ruined by the Scots in 1412, and is not mentioned again in history till 1617, when James I., on his return from Scotland, was entertained in it three days by Francis Earl of Cumberland. After this royal visit the castle is supposed to have been injured by fire, for an inscription records that it was reparied by the Countess Dowager Pembroke in 1651, "after it had lain ruinous ever since 1617." Since this reparation it has been left to the spoiling hand of time, and much of the interior walls ahve been removed for the erection of buildings in the adjacent farmholds, yet still, even in its ruins, it wears a majestic aspect, which recalls the mind to a remembrance of its once formidable strength. "the entrance is by a michicolated gateway and tower ; a short covered way leads to an inner gateway, with iron grated gates ; the dungeon tower or keep, rises in the midst of the area, a stately edifice of excellent masonry ; all the inner apartments are destroyed, except one vault, which we conceive was the dernier retreat for the family in time of assault ; the roof of this vault is formed of groined arches, supported by an octagonal pillar in the centre ; the whole is elegantly finished with chiselled work, and ornamented with sculptured faces and distored figures." The inner gateway is also vaulted, but is formed with groined arches with a portcullis. The out-works are so destroyed that it is not possible "to trace what offices they consisted of". At the south-west angle is a stong tower, the under chambers of which are all destroyed. The outward gateway is vaulted with common arches, and had also a portcullis. Standing on a woody eminence, above the confluence of two fine streams, the castle is a conspicuous and picturesque object in the approach from every direction : near it is a lofty and handsome pillar, called the Countess's Pillar, which was erected, as a lengthy inscription upon it records, in 1656 by Ann Countess Dowager of Pembroke, "for a memorial of her last parting in this place with her good and pious mother Margaret Countess Dowager of Cumberland,the 2d of April, 1616, in memory whereof she also left an annuity of four pounds to be distributed to the poor of the parish of Brougham every second day of April for ever, upon the stone hereby." The pillar is adorned with coats of arms, dials, and other embellishments, and is terminated by a small obelisk. Brougham Castle, independent of the manor of Brougham, passed through the families of Veteriponts and Cliffords to the Tuftons, and is consequently now posses by the Earl of Thanet, together with the manor of Forest of Oglebird, and Whinfell Park, with free chace and warren thereunto belonging. The paramount seigniory of this forest of Oglebird extends over the parishes of Brougham and Clifburn, but whence its name is derived does not appear, unless it comes from the family of Bird. In Whinfell Park, (now enclosed) on the south-east side of the parish, there were formerly three oak trees of prodigious growth, called the Three Brothers, the last of which was cut down some years ago, and measured 13 yards in circumference. When Edward Baliol King of Scotland visited Robert de Clifford in 1333, it is said "they ran a stag by a single greyhound out of Whinfell Park to Redkirk, in Scotland, and back to this place ; where, being both spent, the stag leaped over the pales but died on the other side, the greyhound attempting the same leap, fell and died on the contrary side." In memory of this improbable circumstance, the stag's horns were nailed upon a tree near the spot, afterwards called Hart's horn Tree, but cut down some years back. The dog being called Hercules, he, and his long-winded antagonist, live in the following trite couplet :

Brougham Hall the seat of that distinguished statesman and orator, Henry Brougham, Esq., M.P., and his brother James Brougham, Esq., stands at a short distance from the castle, 1½ miles south-east of Penrith, upon a beautiful eminence, commanding extensive views of the fertile vales of Eamont and Lowther, including the town of Penrith, with the fine groves and lawns of many noble parks and handsome villas. From its elevated situation and varied prospects it has been emphatically styled "the Windsor of the North" ; but was formerly called Bird's Nest from the family by whom it was long occupied. It is a plain but lofty and aged pile, with an embrasured parapet, and has been built at different periods. It has a long front to the west, with a terrace of considerable breadth extending from north to south. The five Gothic windows of the hall or principal apartment, are filled with painted and stained glass, some of which is very ancient. The shrubberies and pleasure grounds are extensive and are laid out with great taste. In a recess, near a fine spring, is a Hermit Cell, a small circular building, covered with thatch, lined with mosses of various kinds, and furnished with matted seats, painted glass windows and the usual characteristics of a recluse ; viz. the hour-glass, cross and beads, and a skull ; with some appropriate lines painted on the table from Milton's II Penseroso. On the brink of the Lowther stands a thatched building with two rooms, one of which contains a collection of curious prints ; and specimens of natural history, with a gallery for the convenience of persons angling in the river beneath ; the other is the residence of a servant. An extensive wood, forming the segment of a circle, covers the bank, which rises gently from the meadows below to a level with the terrace, and when in foliage casts an air of grandeur over the whole scene. Two bridges cross the Lowther and Eamont within half a mile south and west of the hall, and another handsome bridge was thrown across the Eamont, on the north side of the castle in 1614, for the purpose of shortening the way from Penrith to Appleby. The Manor of Brougham was at an early period the seat and property of the ancient family of Brougham or Burgham, the elder bench of which seems to have ended in three daughters, who, in the reigns of Edward I. and II. were married to John Godberd, William Crackenthorp and Henry Ryden, amongst whom the manor was separated into three divisions, and so continued for about 350 years, till it was united in the family of Bird, who were seated at Croglin as early as the years 1200, and removed to Brougham Hall in the reign of Henry Vth. when one of them married an heiress of the Ryden, or Redding family. The last of the Birds at Brougham was James Bird, who possessed one-third of the manor by inheritance, and the rest by purchase. He was steward to the Earl of Thanet, and though he had nine sons who arrived at "man's estate" yet he died without a male heir ; and the manor was sold by his three grand-daughters to John Brougham, Esq., of Scales, (commonly called Commissioner Brougham) who thus regained the ancient property of his family, who had removed to Blackhall and Scales, in Cumberland, and by this purchase returned to Brougham, where they still remain.

Brougham Church stands pleasantly on the south bank of the Eamont, within an angular curve of the stream, nearly two miles east by north of the castle and hall, and 3 miles east of Penrith. It is dedicated to St. Ninian, from which circumstance it is vulgarly called Ninekirks, or Nine Churches. For the convenience of the inhabitants, at the west end of the parish there is another Church or Chapel, (supposed to be dedicated to St. Wilfrid), situated near the hall, and the site of the village of Brougham, which was long since demolished, and the lands "swallowed up in the demeane" of the now deserted castle. These places of worship, being in a dilapidated state, were both re-built, "more handsomely and strongly," by the Countess of Pembroke in 1658 and 1659. The rector's curate performs Divine service at both places alternately, the parish and its population being so small as not to require an assistant when the incumbent is resident. The Rectory is valued in the King's books at £16 10s. 7½d., and is in the patronage of the Earl of Thanet, and incumbency of the Rev. Edward Heelis, A.M. of Dufton. The Rev. Thomas Hutchinson, the officiating curate, resides at the parsonage house, which stands nearer to the chapel that the church.

Hornby Hall, near the church, was long the seat of the Birkbeck family, but is now occupied by a farmer.

Woodside, a hamlet belonging to Brougham Castle, and situated near the confluence of the Eden and Eamont, 2 miles north-west by north of Temple Sowerby, at the east end of Brougham parish, of which the following are the principal inhabitants.

Brougham Parish Directory - 1 reside at Whinfell, 2 at Woodside