One of the most spectacular and interesting castles in the Cumbria region, located at the top of the Yorkshire Dales, is Brough Castle. In fact, this bit of land served as a Roman fort before it was a stone castle. The earthworks date from the Roman fort and a previous castle here, but the stone that can be seen today dates from the 1100s. This castle has a rich history.
This site began as a Roman fort Veretis. It was one of a number of forts on an old Roman road between York to Carlisle (similar to the next fort toward York, where Bowes Castle currently stands), and it was probably built around 80AD. It is thought to have accommodated 500 men, and items discovered near here suggest that it was a Thracian army, which were men from modern-day Turkey. The old Roman road follows the current road, where the below photograh was taken between Bowes Castle and Brough Castle. The view is impressive, and I can see why the Romans built two forts here as it gave them the advantage of looking out over their empire.
When the Normans invaded in the late 1000s, the site of the fort was reused. The earthworks provided them with a new castle. The ditches were dug deeper and the walls wider, following the outline of the Roman fort. This area was always under attack from the Scottish (whose border was actually not far from this castle at one time), and the castle was given to Vieuxponts family by King John; this was then inherited by the Cliffords family who used it as their primary residence.
When the castle suffered a fire over Christmas in the mid-1500s when Lord Clifford hosted a party, it was rebuilt by Lady Anne Clifford in the mid-1600s. Lady Anne Clifford was the last to reside here. She was the last of the family line and also helped repair other castles. The castle was unused from the late 1600s and finally abandoned in 1713, which is a shame because it looked like a fantastic castle.
Today, the castle is located next to the village that sprung up beside it, and a cafe and ice cream shop is near the entrance. There is also a playground and picnic tables for families here. In the field next to the castle are horses that greet visitors, and the castle grounds are pasture that contained sheep when I visited.
The castle keep (pictured below) sits at one end of the castle, and it was rebuilt after being destroyed by the Scottish in a siege in the late 1100s. The keep can be climbed up a few stairs to the first floor, but there's nothing much to see except some good views over the valley. The castle does not have a well, so rainwater would have been collected from the gutters.
The entrance to the castle is through a small door, and the interior courtyard is completely paved in cobblestone.
The keep is in the background in the photograph below, but the remains of walls to other buildings can be seen. To the left in the photograph below are the remains of the stables.
The photograph below shows the main living quarters. Opposite these (to the left corner in the photograph) were the kitchens.
The kitchen walls can be seen to the right in the below photograph with the keep in the distance.
I had a wander around the living quarters, and the walls here are mainly intact. Visitors can make out the doorways, chimneys, and staircases as well as where the wooden beams for the upstairs rooms would have been.
I recommend Brough Castle to visit because it is an interesting castle with a long history dating from Roman times and is set in a picturesque setting with a small cafe on site and beautiful views over the countryside.
Leave a comment