Brougham Castle, Brougham Hall and Shap Abbey

Following some rather tasty lunch at Lowther Castle we continued onto Brougham Castle. The Castle stands in a picturesque setting beside the crossing of the River Eamont in Cumbria.

Brougham Castle was founded in the early 13th century and was the home of the Clifford family. The Castle played such an important role in the Anglo-Scottish wars that Edward I visited in 1300.

The great keep largely survives, amid many later buildings - including the unusual double gatehouse and impressive 'Tower of League'.

The Castle is majestic and the setiing and views are fabulous. No wonder that William and Dorothy Wordsworth visited and William wrote:

.......That river and those mouldering towers
Have seen us side by side, when, having clomb
The darksome windings of a broken stair,
And crept along a ridge of fractured wall,
Not without trembling, we in safety looked
Forth, through some Gothis window's open space,
And gathered with one mind a rich reward
From the far-fetching landscape....

Wordsworth also wrote Song at the Feast of Brougham Castle upon the Restoration of Lord Clifford, the Shepherd, to the Estates and Honours of his Ancestors.

Next, we visited Brougham Hall. A fascinating building but not much left of the original Hall. And, finally we visited Shap Abbey. The solitude and beauty of Shap Abbey never ceases to please. It's so incongruous, to come across the majestic building in a farmer's back garden....