Brougham Castle

In 1203 King John granted the Barony of Westmorland — Appleby, Brough and Brougham — to Robert de Vieuxpont, one of only a few northern lords loyal to him. He built his castle in the northern part of the old Roman fort of Brocavum, probably using stone from its ruins; an earthen bank and timber palisade enclosed the site, and the keep's first three storeys date from this period. When a Scottish army invaded the Eden valley in 1216, Brougham took no part in the county's defence, probably because it was unfinished. His grandson, also named Robert, was dead by 1264 and, considered a traitor, had his property confiscated by Henry III; the king pardoned him posthumously in 1266, and in 1269 Isabel Vieuxpont's marriage to Roger Clifford brought Brougham to the Cliffords.

From 1296, with the Wars of Scottish Independence under way, Brougham — the furthest north of Robert Clifford's castles — became his most important base. He replaced the timber palisade with a stone curtain wall and added a fourth storey and a double gatehouse to the keep; the four-storey Tower of League was raised in the south-west corner. Edward I visited with a large household in July 1300; historians think it likely, though not certain, that he stayed. Clifford was granted a licence to crenellate Brougham in 1309 and was killed at Bannockburn in 1314. His son Roger, only 14, was too young to inherit, and Scottish raids were severe enough that in 1317 the king granted him £200 towards his castles' upkeep. Roger was executed as a traitor in 1322 after his capture at Boroughbridge; Brougham was confiscated and given to Andrew de Harcla, himself executed for treason by 1323, after which the castle came to Edward II.

Edward III restored most of the confiscated lands to the Cliffords. In August 1388 the Scots attacked in two forces, one confronted at the Battle of Otterburn, the other raiding the west as far as Brough; during this time Brougham was briefly captured. The Cliffords favoured their Yorkshire properties afterwards, and Brougham is not known to have been used as a residence again until 1421, when a man was accused of forging coins there. During the Rising of the North, Henry Clifford, 2nd Earl of Cumberland, dismantled Appleby Castle so it could not be used against royal forces and put Brougham at the Elizabethan government's service, though no fighting took place there. By 1592 Brougham was deserted, and an inventory three years later found it neglected and meagrely furnished.

George Clifford died in 1605 and his widow Margaret began repairing Brougham; their daughter Lady Anne Clifford continued the work and inherited in 1616, only to lose the estates in April 1617 when the king ruled for the Earl of Cumberland. Later that year James I stayed at the castle on his way back from Scotland. Brougham was garrisoned by Cavalier forces when the Civil War broke out in 1641; its commander Sir John Lowther said he took control not for strategic value but to deny the Parliamentarians its use. In June 1648 lightly manned Brougham succumbed easily to Colonel John Lambert, while Appleby endured a four-day siege before capitulating; many castles in Cumberland and Westmorland were dismantled afterwards, but Brougham was spared, most likely because it was not strategically important. Lady Anne, to whom the estates reverted in 1643, began repairing Brougham and Appleby in 1650; the work was mostly complete by 1653 at an estimated £40,000, by which time it was her country house rather than a fortification.

Lady Anne died at Brougham in 1676, and under her descendants it suffered neglect: Thomas Tufton, 6th Earl of Thanet, sold its contents for £570 in 1714 and those of the Tower of League for £40 in 1723, and by the 1750s its only practical use was as a source of building material for the village. The ruin drew Romantic-era visitors: J. M. W. Turner sketched it in 1809 and returned in 1831, and William Wordsworth recounted exploring the ruins as an adolescent with his sister in The Prelude, the castle also inspiring his Song at the Feast of Brougham Castle. In 1927 the 2nd Baron Hothfield granted guardianship to the Office of Works; its successor, English Heritage, maintains it today.