The village of Brougham is situated at the northern extremity of the county, on the military way to Carlisle, where that way crosses the river Eimot, it is generally believed to be the Roman station Brocavum, in which the company of the Defensores were quartered. Though time has reduced this ancient city to an inconsiderable village, yet it has preserved the Roman name almost entire; and here have been found several coins, altars, and other testimonies of its splendour and antiquity.

To the north of the village are the venerable ruins of Brougham Castle, which appears from its ancient remains to have been of Norman architecture, but history has not recorded its builder, nor handed down to us the time when it was erected. It is situated on the banks of the river Eimot, and its remains shew that it was once a strong, extensive, and beautiful edifice; but we shall extract the following agreeable description of this castle as given by a late writer."We quitted (says our author) the highroad in order to pass by Brougham Castle, a spacious ruin, on the banks of the river Yeoman. That we might enjoy the prospect to advantage we crossed over the river, and made a sweep round the mill, which stands almost opposite to Brougham, from whence a view opened upon us delightfully."The mill, with its streams, lay on the foreground to the left;—a beautiful and shining canal, formed by the river Yeoman, margined with shrubs, laid spreading to the right;—in front, the streams which fell over the weir made a foaming cascade;—immediately on the opposite brinks of the channel arises Brougham Castle;—three square towers projecting, but yet connected with the building, form the front; —from thence, on either side, a little wing falls back some paces; to the northeast a thick grove of planes and ashes block up the passage, and the gateway;— to the southwest the walls stretch out to a considerable distance along a fine grassy plain of pasture-ground, terminated by a tower, one of the outposts of the castle. In the centre of the building arises a lofty square tower, frowning in Gothic strength and gloomy pomp. The shattered turrets which had formed the angles, and the hanging gallery which had communicated with each, were grown with shrubs and waving brambles. The sun-beams, which struck each gasping loup, and bending window, discovered the inward devastation and ruin; and touched the whole with admirable colouring and beauty. To grace the landscape, fine groups of cattle were dispersed on the pasture; and through the tufts of ash-trees, which were irregularly dispersed on the back ground, distant mountains were seen skirting the horizon." The lower apartment in the principal tower is still remaining entire; being covered with a vaulted roof of stone, consisting of eight arches, which, as they spring from the side walls, are supported and terminate on a pillar in the centre. The apartments mentioned to have been in Bowes Castle was assuredly of the same architecture; appears from the remains of the groins, still projecting from the walls there, together with part of the elevation of the centre pillar." Brougham was the lordship and castle of the Viponts, included in the barony of Appleby and Burgh, given to Robert de Vipont by King John, in the fourth year of his reign; from whose family, after a few descents, it passed by the heir-general to that of the Cliffords; and they enjoyed it for several generations. For through Brougham, and divers of their estates, (says Mr. Gough) occur as in the possession of Guy Beauchamp, earl of Warwick, and others, about the 7th of Edward the Second, yet they held them not in their own right, but as guardians to Roger de Clifford, then in his minority, who had them restored to him when he became of age. To him succeeded his brother Robert, who entertained Robert de Baliol, king of Scotland, at this castle, who came hither to enjoy the pleasure of hunting How this manor became alienated does not appear; but that it was, seems evident from the following circumstance:—When the Lady Anne Clifford endowed her almshouse at Appleby, she (it is said) purchased this manor to settle upon it.

A little to the south of the village, on a small but beautiful eminence, stands Bird’s Nest, or Brougham Hall, the seat of H. Brougham, Esq. a handsome building, which, not only from its elevated situation, but also from its extensive and various prospects, has, not improperly, been styled the ‘ Windsor of the North.’—The house has a long front to the west, with a terrace of considerable breadth running from north to south. The views from this terrace, both for variety and extent, are seldom to be equalled, and the scenery around exceeds all description. It is observed of this place that there is one uncommon advantage, which it enjoys from these varied landscapes at each point of view, viz. that the whole is taken in (the view to the north only excepted) from every room in the house. The shrubberies and pleasure grounds, which are very extensive, are perhaps the first of their kind in the north of England. Within the former, in a recess adapted to the purpose, and near a fine spring, is a hermit’s cell, a small circular building, covered with thatch, and lined with mosses of various kinds: the seats around are matted, and the windows are of painted glass, with the usual characteristics of a hermit in his retirement, viz. the hourglass, cross and beads, and a skull. On the table some appropriate lines are painted from Milton’s Il Penseroso; and in another part of the building is a scroll, with these lines: "Beneath this moss-grown roof, this rustic cell, Truth, Liberty, Content, sequestered dwell: Say, you who dare our hermitage disdain, What drawing-room can boast so fair a train?" An adjoining wood of several acres contributes greatly to the beauty of the scene, and is so much in character, as to be considered a necessary member of the whole.

On the brink of the Louther stands a thatched building, consisting of two rooms, one of which contains a collection of curious prints, and specimens of natural history, with a gallery for the convenience of angling in the river beneath; the other is the residence of the person, who feeds the poultry, and takes care of the pleasure grounds, &c.

A short distance to the east of Brougham stands the Countess’s Pillar, erected by Anne, Countess Dowager of Pembroke. The pillar is adorned with coats of arms, dials and other embellishments, and is terminated by a small obelisk. In the front of it is an inscription, importing, that this was the place where she parted with her mother; and that she left 4l. a year to be distributed to the poor of the village, every second of April, for ever.

BROUGHAM is a parish and village, on the borders of Cumberland, 1 ½ miles north from Clifton station and 2 south from Penrith station, both on the London and North Western and North Eastern railways, in the Northern division of the county, West ward, petty sessional division and union, county court district of Penrith, rural deanery of East Penrith and archdeaconry and diocese of Carlisle. The church of St. Ninian (locally called “Ninekirks”) stands in a lonely dale, within a curve of the river Eamont, and is an edifice of stone, originally Norman, but repaired in 1658 by Anne, Countess of Dorset, Pembroke and Montgomery; it consists of chancel, nave, south porch and a gable turret containing one bell: in the interior, on the north wall of the chancel, is a brass to the Rev. William Preston, 50 years rector of this parish, d. 1 April, 1770, and to his wife, d. 26 April, 1767, to their youngest son, Anthony, d. 15 Feb. 1773, and his daughter, d. 1 Feb. 1784: in the floor of the chancel are three large tombstones, with brasses of effigies in devotional attitudes, belonging to the Burgham and Brougham families, and dating from 1570 to 1833: on the north wall is a brass to Eleanora, only child of the Rev. James Syme, widow of Henry Brougham, of Brougham Hall, and mother of Henry, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux, Lord Chancellor of England; she died 31 Dec. 1839: on the north wall is a fine brass to William, 2nd Baron Brougham and Vaux, who died 3 Jan. 1866: the church affords 100 sittings. The registers date from the year 1681. The living is a rectory, net yearly value £180, after deducting a pension to the late incumbent, with 185 acres of glebe and residence, in the gift of Lord Hothfield, and held since 1901 by the Rev. Arthur John Heelis M. A. of Queen’s College, Oxford. In Oct. 1846, in the course of some repairs to the vault of the Brougham family under the chancel, a perfect skeleton, with the legs crossed, was found on the south side; round the left heel was a corroded iron prick spur, and near the head a semi-eggshaped fragment of vitrified glass, enamelled on the outside in scolloped lines of black and white; the incised slab of red sandstone covering the grave bears a cross flory, with a sword on one side and a round shield on the other, and has always been assigned to Udard de Broham, c. 1140-85, sometime governor of Appleby Castle, but afterwards, about 1174, in arms with the others against Hen. II. and subsequently a partaker in the 2nd Crusade: on further examination, another slab, incised with a stepped triple cross and a sword, was uncovered to the north; beneath it lay a skeleton 6ft. 2in. in height, assumed to be that of Gilbert de Broham, ob. c. 1230; alongside lay another and very perfect skeleton, beneath a slab, the inscription on which had become illegible; and by the side of this, under a plain slab, a fourth and smaller skeleton, with which was found a circlet of metal engraved with knotwork and figures of cherubim, and apparently Saxon work: besides the preceding, five other skeletons were met with in this part of the church, but only in two cases was there any trace of a coffin. St. Wilfrid’s church, or chapel of ease, near Brougham Hall, at the west end of the parish, is an ancient edifice of stone, thoroughly repaired, about 1840-50, by Henry, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux; it consists of chancel, nave and a turret containing one bell: the interior is splendidly fitted up in the cathedral style, with stalls and open seats richly carved and the pulpit is also elaborately finished: the reredos is of oak gilt and includes a magnificent altar-piece of the 15th century, with carvings of “Christ bearing the Cross” and the “Crucifixion,” brought from the Continent: at the west end is an elaborate parclose screen, behind which is the organ: the east and west windows are stained: the roof, of oak, is divided into panels, each containing a shield of arms, or crest, richly emblazoned. The services are conducted by the rector. The Countess of Pembroke’s charity of £4 yearly, is for distribution in money, and is distributed annually by the rector and churchwardens on a stone near the Countess’s Pillar.

Brougham Hall, the beautiful seat of Lord Brougham and Vaux, is a noble mansion in the castellated style, standing on a terraced eminence above the river Lowther, about 1 ½ miles south-east from Penrith, and surrounded by lofty trees, extensive shrubberies and pleasure grounds. The estate was acquired by John Brougham esq. great-grandfather of Lord Chancellor Brougham, in 1727, and the mansion was partially rebuilt by the latter in 1829 and 1840, much of the interior fittings being executed on the spot. The interior, which is beautifully furnished and decorated in the Old English style, contains many objects of great interest; the entrance hall, about 45 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 20 feet in height, and sometimes used as a dining hall, is a magnificent apartment with a tesselated paved floor, hung round with suits and demi-suits of armour and implements of war, and lighted by six windows filled with richly painted and stained glass of Germaam manufacture, dating from 1492 to 1667; the roof is of oak, resting on spandrels, enriched with gold and brilliant colours. The library, dining and drawing rooms are wainscotted with panelled oak and fitted with antique furniture, and have fine ceilings; in the drawing-room are fire-screens made from the Great Seal purse of Lord Chancellor Brougham. The walls of the Norman corridor are painted in imitation of the Bayeux tapestry, this corridor leads to the Norman bedroom, a spacious and lofty apartment, with a noble Norman arch at one end, forming a recess, in which is an ancient, ponderous, and elaborately-carved oak bedstead, adorned with the heraldry of the Talbot family. Some of the bedrooms are hung with rich tapestry, and others have their walls covered with leather, beautifully coloured, embossed, and gilded, and are furnished with carved oak bedsteads and other fittings. In the visitors’ book is recorded the name of H. R. H. the Prince of Wales (now King Edward VII. ), who was here on the 18th May, 1857.

Brougham Castle, anciently a magnificent structure, and “one of the strongest and most important of the border fortresses,” stands on an elevated plateau rising immediately from the right, or south bank of the river Eamont, and just below its junction with the Lowther, Like the Castle of Brough, it occupies part of the site of a Roman camp, identified by some with the “Brocavum” of the V. Itinerary of Antoninus, by which ran the Roman road from London through Brough (Verterae) to Carlisle; and the rectangular defences of this camp, whence the name of the township seems to have been derived, adjoin the castle on the south, and consist of a single vallum with a ditch about 25 yards broad on the outer side, the area within the ditch being now 113 by 134 yards, though probably at first 34 yards longer. The castle, consisting of one ward only, is in outline a polygon, the two longest sides, respectively 80 and 77 yards, being on the south and west, and meeting in that direction at an acute angle, where there is a lofty tower about 35 feet square, and a postern entrance; the north side, 50 yards in length, includes a large and lofty block of buildings projecting from the curtain, and forming the gate-house, with a central courtyard, and abutting on, and opening into the keep; the domestic buildings stood along the south wall of the castle area. The keep, originally built early in the 13th century, by Robert de Vipont, and at first an isolated structure, was probably heightened and altered in the Decorated period on the erection of the adjoining gate-house and other portions of the castle: it is 44 feet square, with walls 11 feet in thickness, and comprises a basement and three stages or floors, but the upper part is now inaccessible: the basement was vaulted and is lighted by splayed loops, and the central pier remained until 1775; the first and second floors have round-headed windows, the former being once surrounded by arcading; the third floor is converted by additional walls into an octagonal form, with a window in each face and a singularly built fireplace; at its south-east angle a small oratory of Early English character has been constructed in the thickness of the wall and projecting beyond it and carried on corbels; it has a groined roof and retains its piscina. Externally, the angles of the keep were covered by broad flat pilasters, originally rising into four square turrets, traces of which remain. The gate-house is a great rectangular structure, 90 by about 40 feet, erected, it is supposed, by Roger de Clifford, who in 1268 married Isabel, daughter and co-heiress of Robert de Vipont; it occupies the whole space between the keep and the north wall, and extends some distance beyond it towards the river, viewed from which it presents a strikingly massive and imposing appearance. The gate way proper, forming the southern half, next the keep, is in two unequal portions, each over 30 feet in length and separated by a small open court: the vaulted passages leading to the courtyard are 11 feet wide, and the entrance at either end was defended by a portcullis; over the eastern, or outer gateway, is a sunk panel, removed here from the inner gateway, and bearing the record, Thys: made: roger-The remaining or northern part of the gate-house consists of chambers and offices, and the river front is strongly relieved by enormous flanking buttresses and other projections. The domestic buildings and the forebuilding on the east side of the keep are said to have been the work of another Roger de Clifford, great-grandson of the Roger previously mentioned, and lord of this place from 1351; he married Maud, daughter of Thomas (Beauchamp), 3rd Earl of Warwick, and died 13th July, 1390. Of the chapel on the south side of the ward there are still remains; its south side, formed by part of the curtain wall, has two tall windows, three sedilia and a Late Decorated piscina; the ruins next the chapel seem to be those of the hall and kitchen, and of some other apartments of later, perhaps Tudor, date. The castle was restored during the Stuart period by Anne, Countess of Dorset, Pembroke and Montgomery, more fully referred to under Brough; she died in 1675, and by the marriage of her eldest daughter, Lady Margaret Sackville, with John (Tufton), 2nd Earl of Thanet, the castle then became the possession of the Tuftons, but now belongs to Lord Brougham. About a quarter of a mile from the castle, on the Penrith and Temple Sowerby road, is a low octangular pillar, with square facings above, surmounted by an obelisk; the sides of the square portion bear sun-dials and are also adorned with a shield of arms and the following inscription:-"This pillar was erected in 1656 by the Right Hon. Anne Countess-Dowager of Pembroke &c. daughter and sole heir of the Right Hon. George, Earl of Cumberland &c. for a memorial of her last parting in this place with her good and pious mother, the Right Hon. Margaret Countess-Dowager of Cumberland, the 2nd of April, 1616. In memory whereof she also left an annuity of £4 to be distributed to the poor within this parish of Brougham every 2nd day of April, for ever, upon the stone tablet here hard by.” Near this pillar an inscribed Roman gravestone was found in 1874. King Arthur’s Round Table, a circular plateau inclosed by a ditch, is 2 ½ miles from the pillar. At Moorhouse Farm, in this parish, a cist, bones and pottery have been met with. Fremington, the seat of Mrs. Francis Parker, is an old mansion affording extensive views of Crossfell, Saddleback and the lake hills Hornby Hall, situated on an eminence on the south bank of the river Eamont, was formerly the seat of the Birkbeck family, but is now occupied as a farmhouse by Robert Todd; it appears to have been built for the most part by Edward Birkbeck, to whom this place was granted in 1: 553 by Henry (Clifford), 2nd Earl of Cumberland, some addition being made in 1602 by Thomas Birkbeck: the mansion, built of red sandstone, is rectangular in plan and two storeys in height, and has a projecting entrance tower, rising above the main building; at the back is a courtyard with an arched gateway; the lower stage of the tower forms a porch, and over the entrance is a shield of arms with helmet and crest; the hall, on the left of the porch, is about 21 feet square and its mullioned windows retain some old heraldic glass displaying the arms of Birkbeck, a fess chequy between three bears’ heads; the fireplace is inclosed by a mantel with a segmental arch of 12 feet span; this apartment has also some good carved oak wainscot at one end and a plaster ceiling, and there stands in it a fine oak dresser, bearing the initials G. I. B. and the date, 1640: adjoining the hall is a smaller room, once the lord’s parlour; the doorway opening to it from the hall is of the Renaissance period and the time of its insertion is indicated by the initials T. I. B. and the date 1602; this room contains a carved mantelpiece of oak, adorned in the centre with the Birkbeck arms: the drawing-room, which is over the hall and corresponds with it in size, is lined all round up to within a short distance of the ceiling with panelled oak wainscoting; the space between this and the ceiling has once been painted, with mottoes in Latin, but these are now almost illegible; the ceiling itself is of ribbed plaster work, in panels, the central portion being richly ornamented with figures, fruit and foliage; the mantel-piece is an elaborate work in carved oak, with demi-figures of a negro and negress as supporters on either side; the upper portion is divided by pilasters and in the centre is an emblazoned shield of the Birkbeck arms: the porch tower has two rooms, the uppermost of which was anciently a domestic chapel; the ceiling of the lower room bears the date 1584: the hall remained in the possession of the Birkbecks till 1695; it is now the property of the Earl of Lonsdale. The landowners are Lord Hothfield, the Earl of Lonsdale and Lord Brougham and Vaux. Lord Hothfield is lord paramount of the manor of Oglebird and Whinfell Park, with free chase and warren belonging thereunto, and lord of the manor of Brougham. The soil is principally of a light sandy nature and the greater part of the parish is arable; subsoil, sandstone rock. The chief crops are turnips, oats and potatoes. The area is 6,167 acres of land and 56 of water; rateable value, £5,727; the population in 1901 was 279. In this parish there is neither a post office, shop or public house.

Parish Clerk, William Samuels.

Public Elementary School (mixed & infants), built in 1876, for 48 children; average attendance, 20; Miss Rose Samuels, mistress.