I gave taxi man a call to pick me up at Lowther Castle and he arrived about 20 minutes later. We then headed to Brougham Castle, a 12 minute drive.
Me and taxi man chit chatted a bit on the way and I asked him if I was pronouncing "Brougham" correctly and he said no. 🤣 I was saying it like "Brow-em." I'm surprised he could even understand what I meant, because he told me it's pronounced "Broom." I would've never guessed that.
Henry Clifford, 10th Baron Clifford was, more than likely, my 15th great-grandfather. He was born in 1454 and died in 1523. Brougham Castle was one of his favored residences.
Henry served King Henry VII in the north of England, trying to squash rebellion by the Scots and others. He outlived King Henry VII and attended the coronation of King Henry VIII in 1509, the famous king who beheaded two wives and divorced two others.
His daughter, Dorothy Clifford, married into the Lowther family of Lowther Hall/Castle, so Dorothy is how I am connected to both Lowther Castle and Brougham Castle. Dorothy was born at Brougham Castle. Dorothy is my 14th great-grandmother and her line connects to my dad and Grandma Scheffert.
I enjoyed Brougham Castle. Once again, I was pretty much alone and it was fun to imagine all that occurred here, that people I am related to existed in the space.
The clouds in this pic make me happy.
This has been an interesting case study on how wealth and status really degrades after time if you are not the first born. Dorothy married a Lowther of high status and the five generations after her stayed relatively wealthy, marrying into families with important names in the area like Dacre, Dalston, Fallowfield, Fletcher, Martindale, and Musgrave. I've found other manor homes, estates, and castles with connections to this line like Acorn Bank, Carlisle Castle, Dalston Hall, Naworth Castle, Hutton-in-the-Forest, Hornby Castle, Middleton Hall, and Thurland Castle. Lots of birth and death occurred in these places in my family tree.
It seems like wealth and status took a downturn in this line in the 1700s and then we just ended up being regular people in the northeast of England.
I exited the grounds of Brougham Castle and started my walk back to Penrith, but had a little pit stop on the way.
I have several books I consult before any trip to England and one of them is England's Thousand Best Churches by Simon Jenkins. It's an enormous book that covers all areas of England and points out the best churches in the vicinity. I'm not sure what criteria the author uses to decide these are the best but he's the expert here, I suppose.
St Wilfred Chapel is quite nearby to Brougham Castle and is featured in the book and the first sentence describing it says "Cumberland was a land of [Scottish] border magnates, of Cliffords, Dacres, Lowthers, and Nevilles." All of those last names are in my ancestry. It just brings me such joy to make these connections! (Side note: Isn't Dacre such a bad ass sounding last name?) So I had to stop by the chapel to have a look. Unfortunately it wasn't open, but that's okay. I took a little turnabout outside and had a moment to think about the DNA that exists inside -- my DNA!
St Wilfred's Chapel
From here, it was about an hour walk back into Penrith but for some of it I was in the countryside and I took in the beautiful weather. I stopped into a grocery store in the town centre to grab a sandwich, crisps (potato chips), and strawberries for dinner. I love looking at items in grocery stores in England; things are so different! But then sometimes you're surprised to see recognizable brands too.
I saw this sign cluster on the way back into Penrith and just liked the look of it.
Back at my bed and breakfast, I took my breakfast order slip down to the foyer. I wrote a note on it saying I didn't need breakfast -- that I was off pretty early in the morning for my next destination. I got a knock on my door a bit later and it was the guesthouse owner. He was bringing me some fruit for the morning since I wasn't going to have breakfast. I thought that was very sweet and thoughtful! I definitely recommend Norcroft Guest House if you're ever in Penrith (and hopefully you are)!
Ended the night verifying bus timetables and packing my bag -- I was leaving Penrith for Keswick in the morning.
