Venue Type & Location
Performance Spaces
Overview
The castle is located 8 miles SE of Appleby on the main medieval road running NW from York to Carlisle.
Now a majestic ruin, Brough rises high on a mound above Swindale Beck, with its defensive moat still visible.
Performance History
A possible performance venue. No medieval household records survive to prove that minstrels patronized by Thomas, 8th Baron Clifford, performed at home as well as elsewhere in the N in the 15th c.
Current Status
History of the Venue
ca. 1100 Original stone keep built.
1174 Siege by the Scots resulted in the destruction of most of the castle.
late 12th c. Keep rebuilt.
1203 Brough given to Robert de Vipont by King John. Vipont built the gatehouse and a hall on the E side of the courtyard.
1291 Robert de Clifford, 1st Baron Clifford inherited Brough via his mother, Isabel de Vipont, and subsequently rebuilt the hall and Clifford's Tower as a residence.
late 14th c. Roger, 5th Baron Clifford replaced the hall with another on the 1st storey along the SE stretch of curtain wall.
early 15th c. Domestic building extension along the N, probably by Thomas, 8th Baron Clifford.
1521 Devastating fire destroyed much of the castle after Christmas festivities. No longer used as a residence by the Cliffords.
1659--62 Restoration by Lady Anne Clifford.
1676 Estate passed to the Earls of Thanet upon the death of Lady Anne Clifford. The castle was neglected by the heirs.
1695 Gradual demolition of the castle began, with some of the stone used in the renovation of Appleby Castle..
1714 Most of the roof and fittings sold. Stables and part of the gatehouse and hall preserved for conversion into the Brough manor courthouse.
mid-18th c. Stables gone and much of Clifford's Tower demolished. Castle sank into decay.
1792 SE angle of the keep fell.
1920 SW angle of the keep fell.
1923 Baron Hothfield placed the castle ruin under the custodianship of the Department of the Environment, Ancient Monuments and Historic Buildings.
Record Source
REED York 1.66, 67, 69, 71
Patrons who owned this venue
| Name | Date | Titles |
|---|---|---|
| Clifford, Thomas de | 1414-1455 | Baron Clifford |
Bibliographic Sources
- Buck, Samuel, and Nathaniel Buck. [A Collection of Engravings of the Castles, Abbeys, and Towns in England and Wales]. 5 vols. London: The authors, 1726--52
- Clark, G.T. 'The Castles of Brough and Brougham.'. Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society os 6 (1883): 15--37.
- Clark, George T. Mediaeval Military Architecture in England. 2 vols. London: Wyman & Sons, 1884
- Curwen, John F. The Castles and Fortified Towers of Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire North-of-the-Sands. Kendal: Titus Wilson, 1913
- Curwen, John F. 'Brough Castle.'. Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society ns 9 (1909): 177--91.
- Hugill, Robert. Castles and Peles of Cumberland and Westmorland. Newcastle upon Tyne: Frank Graham, 1977
- King, David J. Cathcart. Castellarium Anglicanum: An Index and Bibliography of the Castles in England, Wales and the Islands. 2 vols. Millwood, NY, London and Nendeln, Liechtenstein: Kraus International Publications, 1983
- Machell, Thomas. Manuscripts of the Reverend Thomas Machell, vicar of Kirkby Thore (d 1698). 5 vols. Np: npub, nd
- Mackenzie, James D. The Castles of England: Their Story and Structure. 2 vols. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1896
- Perriam, D.R., and J. Robinson. The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria:
An Illustrated Gazetteer and Research Guide. Kendal: Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, 1998 29: - Pettifer, Adrian. English Castles: A Guide by Counties. Woodbridge: The Boydell P, 1995
- Pevsner, Nikolaus. Cumberland and Westmorland. Harmondsworth, Midd: Penguin Books, 1967
- Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England. An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Westmorland. London: HMSO, 1936
- Simpson, W. Douglas. Brough Castle, Westmorland. London: HMSO, 1949
- Simpson, W. Douglas. 'Brough-under-Stainmore: the Castle and the Church.'. Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society ns 46 (1947): 223--83.
- Somerset Fry, Plantagenet. Castles of the British Isles. New York: Dorset P, 1990
- Summerson, Henry. Brougham and Brough Castles. London: English Heritage, 1999