Page:Medieval Military Architecture in England (volume 1).djvu/316

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294 MedicEval Military Architecture, in 1 617, the male line failed, and the estates and baronies came to Countess Anne, the daughter of Earl George. This lady, who repaired Brougham and Brough in 165 1-2, was born at Brougham in 1589, in the same room in which her father was born, her mother died, and King James was received. Margaret, her daughter, by the Earl of Dorset, carried the estates to the Tuftons, earls of Thanet, who also inherited the hereditary shrievalty of Westmore- land, until their extinction in the present century. They dismantled Brougham and Brough, and sold the fittings in 17 14. The present owner appears to be very attentive to what remains of the two castles.. Both are repaired in a very substantial manner. BROUGHAM CASTLE. This very curious pile stands on the right bank of the river Eamont, just below the point at which it is joined from the south by the Lowther, so that the combined stream covers the fortress on the north, as do the two waters and the marshy ground between them on the west front. . The castle is placed but a few yards distant from and but a few feet above the Eamont, and between it and the large rectangular camp which marks the site of the Roman " Brovacum," whence both castle and township derive their names ; such, at least, seems the most probable etymology, though a claim has been set up for Burgham, which would have been more tenable had there been evidence of the place having been an English as well as a Roman stronghold. The Roman road from Brough and Appleby towards Carlisle and Penrith skirts the north-eastern front of both camp and castle, and is carried, by a modern bridge, across the river, a few yards below the latter. Above the castle and upon the Eamont was placed the castle mill, the weir connected with which still remains. The actual site of Brovacum has been claimed for Brougham Hall, on the ad- jacent high ground ; but, however this may be, the camp below is undoubtedly Roman, and an excellent example of the entrench- ments of that people. A Roman altar was found, in 1602, at the confluence of the two rivers. What earlier name is embodied in the Roman Brovacum is not known, but " Bro " in South Wales is the old Welsh word for "the hill country," and is preserved in Brocastle and Broviscin, in Glamorgan. The parish of Brougham is large ; the church is called Ninekirks, probably a corruption of St. Ninian's kirk. The parochial chapel, which stands near Brougham Hall, is dedicated to St. Wilfrid. The camp is contained within a single bank and exterior ditch, both very well marked, though in height and depth very much re- duced. Along the scarp or inner slope of the ditch are traces of a step or terrace, as for a line of palisades, in front of and below the main defence. The area within the ditch is 113 yards broad, and its length, now 134 yards, was probably 198 yards, those being the proportions of the camp at Brough. The ditch is about 25 yards