EGREMONT, a market-town and parish in ALLERDALE
ward above Darwent, county of CUMBERLAND,
42 miles (S. W. by S.) from Carlisle, and 293 (N. W.byN.)
from London, containing 1741 inhabitants. This place
is of great antiquity, and the neighbourhood is supposed
to have been the scene of various conflicts between the
Saxons and the Danes. At the time of the Conquest,
Ranulph de Meschines, to whom William had granted
the whole county of Cumberland, gave the great barony
of Copeland (now called the barony of Egremont,) to
his brother, William de Meschines, who erected his
baronial castle on the site of an ancient Danish fort.
The remains of this fortress, to the north-west of
the town, though not extensive, exhibit traces of antiquity
and strength; they consist chiefly of the gatewaytower
and vaulted entrance, of circular arches in the
Norman style; portions of the outer wall, enclosing a
quadrangular area; the postern, and three narrow gateways,
communicating with the outworks, which are of
later date. The town is situated within less than three
miles of the Irish sea, and consists principally of one
spacious street; the houses are in general ancient, but
many improvements have been recently effected, and a
new bridge has been built over the river. The clothing
business appears to have been anciently carried on here;
the principal articles of manufacture at present are checks,
linen, canvas, sail-cloth, and paper; the tanning arid
dressing of leather prevails to a limited extent, and in the
parish are mines of iron-stone, from which about one
hundred tons of ore are raised per day, and shipped at
Whitehaven, for the supply of the iron-foundries of South
Wales; limestone and red freestone are found- in the
neighbourhood, and a- considerable quantity of lime is
burnt.. The market is on Saturday, and is well supplied
with corn: the fairs are, February 18th for horses, the
third -Friday in May, and September 18th for horned
cattle, sheep &c; on the three days following the last
fair, a festival is celebrated, during which the inhabitants
are allowed to sell ale without a license; statute
fairs for hiring servants are held at Whitsuntide and
Martinmas. The town was anciently a borough, and returned
members to parliament in the 23rd of Edward I.,
but was, on its own petition, disfranchised, in the 24th
of the same reign; the burgesses possessed many other
privileges, of which all records are lost: there are about
one hundred and twenty burgage tenements in the
borough. A borough Serjeant, two bailiffs, four constables,
two hedge and corn-viewers, and assessors of
damages, are annually appointed at the court leet of the
lord of the manor, held in April, at which time a
customary court is also held; a court baron is held every
third Friday, under the Earl of Egremont, for the recovery
of debts under 40s.: these courts are held, by adjournment
from the castle, at the King's Arms Inn, the
ancient court-house in the castle having gone to. decay.
The living is a discharged rectory, in the archdeaconry
of Richmond, and diocese of Chester rated hi the king's
books at £7. 12. 1., and in the patronage of the Earl of
Egremont. The church, dedicated to St. Michael, is an
ancient structure, of which the east end is in the early
style of English architecture, and the remainder chiefly
Norman; it .has a low tower. There is a place of worship
for Wesleyan Methodists. A National school
is supported by subscription, to which £4 per annum,
arising from a bequest by Mr. John Nicholson, for apprenticing
children, and another trifling sum, have been
added. Near the ruins of the castle is a cairn of stones,
called Woful Bank, which seems to have some reference
to a battle fought prior to the Conquest. Egremont
gives the title of earl to the family of Wyndham.