BROUGH-under-STAINMOOR, or BURG, a parish
in EAST ward, county of WESTMORLAND, comprising the
market-town of Brough, the chapelry of Stainmore, the
townships of Brough-Sowerby and Hilbeck, and part of
the township of Kaber, and containing, exclusively of
Kaber, 1837 inhabitants, of which number, 940 are in
the town of Brough, 8 miles (S.E. byE.) from Appleby,
and 262 (N. N. W.) from London, on the high road to
Glasgow. This town occupies the site of the ancient
Verterai, or Veteris, where, towards the decline of the
Rontan empire in Britain, a prefect, with a band of
directores, was stationed. It was partly built with the
ruins of that fort, from which circumstance it probably
derived its appellation, and is distinguished from other
places of the same name by its vicinity to an extensive
ridge of rocky mountains, that separates this county
from Yorkshire. It flourished as a place of considerable
importance prior to the Conquest, soon after
which a conspiracy was formed here by the northern
English, against the government of William. At what
time the castle was erected is not precisely known; but
in 1174 it was nearly demolished by-William, King of
Scotland, who laid waste the town: it was subsequently
restored, and, in 1521, was nearly destroyed by a
fire that' broke out after the celebration of a Christmas
festival by Lord Clifford; it remained in a ruinous
state till 1660, when it was repaired by Lady Ann
Clifford, Countess Dowager of Pembroke; This fortress
was situated upon an eminence, abruptly steep towards
the north and west; and on the south and east, where
the acclivity is more gentle, it was defended by a ditch
and a strong rampart: the remains consist of some
massive towers, of which the keep, a large square tower
with turrets at the angles, called Csesar's tower, was
almost perfect in 1792, when the lower part of one of
the angles fell down, leaving the upper part adhering by
the cement only to the main building. Great part of it
has within the last few years been removed, and the
remainder is in a state of progressive dilapidation:
its present proprietor is the Earl of Thanet. The town,
divided into .Market-Brough and Church-Brough, is
pleasantly situated, and is crossed by the Swindale
Beck, which flows into the river Eden: it consists
principally of one long street; the houses are rather
commodious than handsome; the inhabitants are well
supplied with water. Two attempts have been made to
introduce the cotton manufacture into the town, but"both
have failed; part of the buildings has been converted
into dwellings, and part into a large corn-mill: several
Of the female inhabitants are employed in knitting white
yarn stockings. The parish contains mines of lead and
coal, with strata of limestone and freestone. The market;
granted in 1331, by Edward III., to Robert, Lord Clifford,
is on Thursday, but is of little note; corn is admitted
toll-free. Fairs are held on the Thursday before Whit-
Sunday and September 30th; the latter, called Brough
Hill fair, is held on a common, two miles from the
town, and is celebrated for the sale of linen and woollen
cloth, wearing apparel, articles of hardware, and live
stock: cattle fairs are also held in the town, on the
second Thursday in March and April.
This parish was formerly a chapelry within the
parish of Kirkby-Stephen: the living is a vicarage, in
the archdeaconry and diocese of Carlisle, rated in the
king's books at £8. 8. 9., endowed with £200 private
benefaction, and £200 royal bounty, and in the patronage
of the Provost and Fellows of Queen's College,
Oxford, to whom the rectory and advowson were given,
at the request of Robert Egglesfield, founder of that
college, and for several years rector of this parish. The
church, dedicated to St. Michael, is a large handsome
structure of great antiquity j a square embattled tower
was added in 1513: the windows are ornamented with
richly stained glass, which, from an inscription on one
of them, appears.to be of the time of Henry VIII.: the
pulpit is formed of one entire stone/ and within the
church are several interesting monuments. There are
places of worship for Independents and Primitive and
Wesleyan Methodists. The free school is endowed with
a portion of the revenue of a dissolved chantry and hospital,
founded in 1506, by John Brunskill, the former
for two chaplains, one of whom was to instruct the children
of the parish in grammar: the present building
was erected by Lord Thanet; and though, at the dissolution
of the chantry, the pension was reserved for
the continuation of the grammar school, the course of
instruction is at present confined to reading, writing,
and arithmetic. A National school for sixty girls was
established in 1828. Many Roman coins and other
antiquities have been found at various times near the
castle, and, within the last thirty years, an earthen vessel
full of silver quinarii, many of which are in good
preservation, and particularly one with a perfect imf
pression of the head of Titus Vespasian, having on the
reverse the figure of a female in a weeping posture:
there are several tumuli on the mountains in the neighbourhood.
On Stainmoor, in that part of the parish
which verges upon Yorkshire, William the Norman, and
Malcolm, the Scottish king, erected a cross, -called Reycross,
as a boundary between the two kingdoms: the site
is now marked by two stones. Cuthbert Buckle, lord
mayor of London in 1593, was born here.