| Summary : A Medieval courtyard castle, now ruinous, originally built circa 1100 and subsequently enlarged and modified up until circa 1659-61, sited atop a steep slope above the Swindall Beck. It was destroyed by the Scots in 1174 and rebuilt towards the end of the century. Robert Clifford built the round tower about 1300 and his grandson, Roger, built the main block containing the hall about 50 years later. This was destroyed by an accidental fire in 1521, after which the castle lay derelict until it was restored in quasi Medieval style in 1659-62 by Lady Anne Clifford, the last of her line, who also repaired other castles and churches on her estates. Lady Anne ordered the brewhouse, bakehouse and kitchen to be built., the ruins of these structures are to the east of the main property. The castle moat occupies the north part of the ditch of a Roman fort (see record 1060730). The castle is in the care of English Heritage. |
More information : (NY 79151410) Brough Castle (NR) (Remains of) (NAT) Caesar's Tower (NR) (1)
About AD 1100 a stone castle was built on the northern part of a
Roman fort (see NY 71 SE 77). It was destroyed by the Scots in 1174 and rebuilt towards the end of the century. Robert, the first of the northern Cliffords, built the round tower about 1300 and his
grandson, Roger, built the main block containing the hall about 50 years later. This was destroyed by an accidental fire in 1521, after which the castle lay derelict till it was restored in a quasi-medieval style in 1659-62 by Lady Anne Clifford, the last of her line. After her death in 1676, Brough was gradually run down and eventually its walls were robbed for building works. Under guardianship. (2)
Full description. (3)
Surface indications, backed by an excavation of 1954, make it clear that the Normans recut the ditch of a Roman fort to create a moat, and that material from the recutting was heaped over the Roman rampart so that the part of the fort not occupied by the castle could by used as an outer bailey. There are two further earthworks on the hill, the interpretation of which is less clear: (a) a length of rampart of Roman character with a ditch to the west of it, running parallel to the west wall of the fort, barely 100 yards west of it; and (b) a rampart and ditch which seems to have cut the neck of the land, barring access to the fort or to the castle from the east. (4)
Resurveyed at 1:2500. Earthworks and castle remains are well
preserved, and are open to the public. The outer works to the east and west of the Roman fort are probably contemporary with the castle defences. See photographs. (5)
Scheduled. (6)
Surveyed at 1:500 scale by RCHME Newcastle in September-December 1996 as a part of the detailed Brough Castle Survey at Level 3. The historical evidence and the description of the upstanding fabric are generally as described by Charlton (2) and the RCHME (3).
The moat on the south, east and west sides is in good condition, up to 7.6m deep internally and slightly less externally; in the north
the inner side of the moat attains a height of over 8m, but much of the outer scarp is destroyed in the erosion of the river cliff on
this side. There is some evidence that the courtyard of the castle
extended further to the east; here there is a triangular 'forecourt',
isolated from the present courtyard by the construction of the east
curtain and moat, probably in the early 14th century. To the south
of the moated castle, the defences of the Roman fort have been
significantly enhanced in the medieval period to create an outer
'bailey'. The two linear bank-and-ditch earthworks, crossing the
ridge to the east and west of the castle, are of a size and form to
be considered as defensive and are probably contemporary with the occupation of the castle. There is another bank and ditch across the ridge west of, and probably contemporary with the west example, but it is of more slight appearance. (7)
Additional references (8-14)
Listed by Cathcart King. (15)
Additional reference. (16)
Listed with plan and illustrations. (17)
Brough was in the King's hands from 1173-9 and from 1190-1203. (18)
A brief accessible overview of the history and remains of Brough Castle. (19)
An archaeological watching brief at the castle found no major new archaeological features but Roman pottery was recovered. The previous year a watching brief had concentrated on the curtain wall. (20)
Lady Anne Clifford who rebuilt Brough Castle was born in 1590 and died in 1676. She was titled Countess of Pembroke, Dorset and Montgomery. She was an educated, Independent and determined person who at her death was one of the wealthiest women in late Stuart England. She and her Guardian Countess Margaret pursued a long running legal battle for parts of her inheritance, which Anne documented- she was also a diarist. Her dogged character is fuerther indicated by the fact that she insisted on the Book of Common Prayer, which was banned during the time of Cromwell, being used in her estate churches. Lady Anne was unable to visit her northern estates in person during the Civil Wars but from about 1650 she repaired her 4 castles of Appleby, Brougham, Brough and Pendragon and also had a number of churches restored. She also had the spot where she had said farewell to her late mother near Brougham memorialised with the building of the Countess Pillar. In the 1850s she also had almshouses built near Skipton and at Appleby. She is buried in a vault that she had had built for herself at Abbleby (St. Lawrence). (21)
The May 2011 issue of Heritage Today magazine includes an article on Lady Ann Clifford, charting her life, and the people and places she interacted with. The article notes that Lady Anne's rennovations at Brough Castle included the construction of the brewhouse, bakehouse and kitchen, the remains of which are situated to the east of the main property. (22) |