APPLEBY, a borough and market-town, having separate
jurisdiction, locally in East ward, county of WESTMORLAND, of
which it is the chief town, 274 miles (N. N. W.) from London,
containing 824 inhabitants. This place is thought, but on
uncertain grounds, to have been a Roman station. Camden, from
a similarity of name, erroneously calls it Aballaba, and
Horsley considers it to have been the Roman Galacum. A Roman
road passed near it from Langton, on the east, to Redlands
Bank on the north-west; and some Roman antiquities are stated
to have been discovered in the vicinity. Appleby has long been
the head of a barony, sometimes called the barony of
Westmorland; the rest of the county, which forms the barony of
Kendal, having been anciently included in Lancashire and
Yorkshire. It was granted by the Conqueror to Ranulph de
Meschines, whose son Ranulph, having in his mother's right
succeeded to the earldom of Chester, gave it to his sister,
the wife of Robert d'Estrivers; and having been in the
possession of the families of Engain and Morville, it was
seized by the crown, in consequence of a member of the latter
family being concerned in the murder of Thomas a Becket. King
John granted it, together with the "Sheriffwick and rent of
the county of Westmorland," to Robert de Veteripont, lord of
Curvaville in Normandy, whose grandson Robert joining the
confederated barons, in the reign of Henry III., it was
forfeited to the Crown, but was restored to the two younger
daughters of Robert, and subsequently, by marriage, came into
the possession of the illustrious family of Clifford, and was
ultimately transferred, by marriage, to Lord Tufton,
afterwards Earl of Thanet, whose descendants have ever since
enjoyed it, with all its rights and dignities. The town was
anciently of much greater magnitude than it is at present as
is evident from the situation of 51 township called Burrals
(Borough Walls), a mile distant and from the discovery of old
foundations at the distance of more than two miles, to which
the town and its suburbs formerly extended. An ancient record,
about the period of the reign of Edward I., makes mention of a
sheriff of Applebyshire; from which it appears that the town
gave name to one of those districts into which Edward the
Confessor divided the earldom of Northumberland. It retained
its importance from the time of the Romans until the year
1176, when William, King of Scotland, surprised the castle,
and destroyed the town; but from this calamity it had so far
recovered in the reign of Henry III., that a court of
exchequer was established in it. A Carmelite monastery was
founded at Battle-Barrow, in the parish of St. Michael, in
1281, by the Lords Vesey, Clifford, and Percy; the site is now
occupied by a neat modern mansion, called the Friary. In the
year 1388, the town was again totally laid waste by the Scots,
from the effects of which it never afterwards recovered: so
that, in the reign of Philip and Mary, it was found necessary
to reduce the ancient fee-farm rent, due to the Crown, from
twenty marks to two. In 1598, it was nearly depopulated by the
plague, and its market was consequently removed to
Gilshaughlin, a village five miles distant. At the
commencement of the parliamentary war, the castle was
garrisoned for the king by the Countess of Pembroke, and
continued hi his interest until after the battle of Marston-
Moor, when all the northern fortresses fell into the
possession of the parliament. The town is pleasantly situated
on the river Eden, by which it is almost surrounded, and
consists of one spacious street, intersected at right angles
by three smaller, and terminated at one extremity by the
castle, and at the other by the church of St. Lawrence: at
each end also there is a handsome stone obelisk, or cross. An
ancient stone bridge of two arches connects the suburb of
Bongate with the borough, from which it is otherwise separated
by the river. The town is well paved and amply supplied with
water. The castle stands on a steep and richly wooded eminence
rising from the river: it suffered much in the wars with
Scotland, especially in the reigns of Richard II. and Henry
IV. Of the original structure, said to he of Roman foundation,
only a detached portion, called Caesar's Tower, and a small
part of the south-east end, remain; the greater part of it was
rebuilt by Lord Clifford, in the reign of Henry VI. It is now
occupied by the steward of the Earl of Thanet, the present
proprietor, who is hereditary sheriff of the county; and has
been, from time immemorial, the temporary residence of the
judges travelling the northern circuit, who are entertained
here at his expense. The market is on Saturday; and fairs are
held on the Saturday before Whit-Sunday, for cattle; on Whit-
Monday, for linen cloth and the hiring of servants; the second
Wednesday in June; and the 21st of August, for woollen cloth,
cheese, horses, and cattle. The market-house, or the
cloisters, is a handsome structure near the church, rebuilt by
the corporation in 1811, in the early style of English
architecture, after a design by Mr, Smirke. Appleby, which is
a borough by prescription, received a charter of incorporation
from Henry I., with privileges equal to those of York, which
was renewed by Henry II., King John, and Henry III., and
subsequently confirmed by Edberlains, a sword-bearer, and a
serjeant at mace. The mayor, who is elected annually by the
common council* men, is a justice of the peace, though
exercising only limited jurisdiction. The borough has sent
members to parliament since the 23rd of Edward I.: the right
of election is vested in the holders of burgage tenements, in
number about two hundred; the mayor is the returning officer.
The town hall is a large ancient edifice in the principal
street. The assizes for the county are held in the shire hall,
adjoining the gaol, erected in 1771; and the general quarter
sessions ar6 held alternately at Appleby and Kendal, the
Easter and Michaelmas at the former, and the Epiphany and
Midsummer at the latter. The county gaol has been recently
adapted to the radiating plan, in conformity with the
provisions of the late gaol act. Appleby is situated in the
parishes of St. Lawrence and St. Michael, that portion of it
which is in the latter being named Bongate. The livings of
both these parishes are vicarages, in the archdeaconry and
diocese of Carlisle; that of St. Lawrence is rated in the
king's books at £9. 5. 2., and in the patronage of the Dean
and Chapter of Carlisle; and that of St. Michael is rated at
£20.13. 9., and in the patronage of the Bishop of Carlisle.
The church of St. Lawrence is an ancient structure, partly in
the decorated, and partly in the later, style of English
architecture; it contains the remains of Anne, the celebrated
Countess of Pembroke, Dorset, and Montgomery, who died in
1675, and of her mother, the Countess of Cumberland, to the
memory of each of whom there is a splendid marble monument.
The church of St. Michael is situated about three quarters of
a mile south-east of the town, There is a place of worship for
Wesleyan Methodists. The free grammar school, founded by the
burghers, existed long before the dissolution of religious
houses, but was established on its present foundation in the
16th of Elizabeth, when the management was vested in ten
governors, who are a corporate body. The endowment, arising
from different sources, is about £200 per annum: it has five
exhibitions, of £ 8 per annum each, to Queen's College,
Oxford, founded by Thomas, Earl of Thanet, in 1720, and is
entitled to send candidates for one of Lady Elizabeth
Hastings' exhibitions to the same college. Dr. Bedel, Bishop
of Kilmore; -Dr. Barlow, Bishop of Lincoln; Drs. Smith and
Waugh, Bishops of Carlisle; and Dr. Langhorne, the translator
of Plutarch; were educated in this school. St. Anne's
Hospital, for thirteen aged widows, was founded and endowed,
in 1653, by Anne, Countess of Pembroke', the revenue arising
from lands is about £ 490, and it has a considerable funded
property; the building, which is quadrangular, comprises
thirteen distinct habitations and a neat chapel: the chaplain
and sisters are appointed by the Earl of Thanet, as heir of
the Countess, who left also various laiids at Temple- Sowerby,
in this parish, for repairing the church, school1- house, town
hall, and bridge. In the neighbourhood were two ancient
hospitals for lepers, dedicated respectively to St. Leonard
and St. Nicholas; the estate of the latter was applied by the
countess towards the endowment of her almshouse: there was
also a chapel dt the western end of the stone bridge of St.
Lawrence. Thomas de Appleby, Bishop of Carlisle; and Roger de
Appleby, Bishop of Ossory; were natives of this town.