Part 13

In the earliest records belonging to the family, or to be found in the Tower of London, the place is spelt Broham and Bruham; and this, singularly enough, while it differs from the spelling of the Roman word (which, as Camden says, was in his time changed into Brougham), yet in sound it is absolutely identical with the pronunciation, which has probably always been, and certainly is at the present day, given to the name. We are enabled from original documents preserved in the Charter-room at Brougham, in the Tower, State-paper Office, Rolls Chapel, and Chapter-house, and from other authentic sources, to trace with accuracy the descent of Brougham in a family of the same name, who have been settled there from times long antecedent to the Norman conquest. An ancient pedigree preserved in a copy of Cranmer’s great Bible (1540), now at Brougham, states Walter de Broham to have held Brougham in the time of Edward the Confessor; he was succeeded by Wilfred; and he by Udard, who was appointed keeper of Appleby Castle on the degradation of the previous governor, in consequence of his participation in the death of Thomas à Beckett. This border-fortress was held by Udard until 1175, in which year he was defeated and the castle taken by William, king of Scotland. Soon after this we find him taking part against Henry II. for which he was fined eighty marks, “because he was with the king’s enemies.” Udard was succeeded by Gilbert, who, in the year 1200, “made fine with the king” that he might not go with him to Normandy. This Gilbert, to get rid of the burden of Drengage, gave up to King John no less than one half of the town of Brougham, together with the mill, the advowson of the church of Brougham, a great part of the forest of Whinfell, and the tower which formed the original building of Brougham Castle. The name was at this period changed from Broham to Burgham. From Gilbert, after Henry and Thomas, we come to Daniel, who commanded the king’s forces against Roger Mortimer in Kent. In 1378, Sir John Burgham was Lord of Brougham, and settled the boundary of the Lordship with Sir Roger Clifford; the record of which, after noting the particulars of the agreement, thus ends:--“And so thys ambulacyon was veiwyd and merkett in the secund yeare of King Richard the Secund, by the assentt and consentt of Sr. Rogere Clifforth, knight, and Sr John Burgham, in thayre time.” In 1383, Sir John Burgham was member for Cumberland. He was succeeded by his son John, who represented Carlisle. His son, Thomas, was one of the king’s judges in 1433, as appears by a record of assize taken at Penrith in the 12th Henry VII. John, the son of the above Thomas, was member for Cumberland, and was succeeded in the fourth generation by Thomas, who in 1553 married Jane, heiress of John Vaux of Cattulun and Tryermagne. The next possessor of the name was Henry, who signalised himself in the family records by alienating part of the ancient estate; which, however, was repurchased in 1726 by John Brougham, the then representative of the family.

Henry was succeeded by his son Thomas, whose name we now find changed from Burgham into Browgham, according to the spelling of the place in the deed of 1567; he died in 1607, and was buried in the chancel at Brugham: his widow, Agnes, having Brugham assigned to her for her life, by a deed dated 29th March, 1608. The heir-male of Thomas was Henry Browgham, of Scales Hall in Cumberland, who married a Wharton. His son, Thomas, married a Fleming; and in the deeds of that time his name is spelt Browham. His son, Henry, married the daughter of Lamplugh of Lamplugh, ultimately heir-general of that ancient family (and whose descendant, Peter Lamplugh Brougham, enjoyed their estates). From him descended John Brougham, of Brougham in Westmorland, and Scales Hall in Cumberland, who, dying without issue, was succeeded by his nephew, Henry Richmond Brougham, owner also of Highhead Castle, derived from his mother, the heiress of the Richmonds, and dying in 1749 was succeeded by Henry Brougham, the grandfather of Henry, Lord Brougham and Vaux, the present owner of Brougham, Scales Hall, and Highhead Castle; a nobleman to whose genius the world owes much, and by whose active industry, science and literature have been so extensively served, and so largely promoted, for nearly half a century.

The castle-mansion is irregularly built, and with the court-yards and outer offices covers a vast extent of ground. The garden-court comprises on two of its sides nearly the whole of the buildings occupied by the family. At the lower end of this court is a massive arched entrance-gateway, which, together with the surrounding buildings, is very old and picturesque, clothed with a garb of most luxuriant ivy: of this we append an engraving.

In our lithotint print is shewn the western side of the Hall, considered to be the most ancient part of the structure. It is singularly solid in construction, the works being several yards in thickness. The large tower in the perspective contains the apartment formerly the Armoury. The terrace commands an extensive view of scenes rich in historic interest, and of great natural beauty; comprising in the distance the whole of the mountains of the Lake district, which rear their airy summits, chain upon chain, peak above peak, in almost countless numbers. Nearer, the eye ranges over thick woods, chequered here and there with grey rocks and quiet holms; while nearer, unseen, but plainly heard, the Lowther brawls over its rocky bed and through the wide arches of Lowther Bridge--a famous and most picturesque structure. Higher up the river, the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway passes over an immense viaduct, of which the three or four most central arches are distinctly visible from the Hall. Nothing can exceed the beauty of this scene on a clear sunny afternoon, when the dull red bridge is in shade; the light touched clearly but delicately along the parapet and down the inner sides of the shafted piers: the whole framed, as it were, in ponderous masses of richly coloured foliage, subdued and harmonised by ever-recurring passages of most delicious shade.

The interior contains many apartments of high interest: several of them having been renovated in the best possible taste, and in perfect harmony with the edifice. Our space will not permit us to describe them in detail. The Great Hall (of which we append an engraving) is a double cube forty feet by twenty, and twenty high; the roof supported by arches, with open spandrels, made of walnut-wood. The ceiling has been lately restored, having (at least the greater part of it) fallen to pieces through age and decay. The fireplace also has been restored. The windows (six in number) are filled with very fine stained glass, chiefly of the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th century; the colours are singularly rich: it appears to be of German manufacture, and closely resembles the old glass at Nuremberg. There is a good deal of curious armour here; especially a very old and very perfect suit of Edward IV. or Richard III.’s time. The Armoury was a room about sixteen feet square at the top of the highest tower, with a fine oak roof, but is now used as a bed-room. All its contents were recently moved into the Hall, where, although seen to greater advantage, they have no longer the picturesque effect they must have had in their original situation.

In the Hall is a very old iron chest, with a lock in the lid which shoots twelve bolts by one key, that turns in the centre of the lid. This was probably used in ancient times to keep the vessels belonging to the chapel. The most curious relic in the Hall is an ivory horn (introduced as the initial letter), of very early workmanship, and used (as is believed) in the service of Cornage--an ancient border service, by which certain of the lands of Brougham are held. In former times this service consisted in blowing a horn from the top of the high tower, to give notice of the approach of an enemy (most usually the Scotch), so that the neighbouring barons might be prepared to resist the threatened attack; or the nearest beacon (which is on the top of Penrith Fell, and still in existence) might be lighted up to alarm the country. This service in later times was changed into a _Corn_ rent, and hence it has been erroneously supposed that it was called Cornage: the original service, however, was that of blowing the horn. From its workmanship and ornaments this horn is evidently of Saxon times, and was probably used before the introduction of the cornage tenure as a warder’s horn. Over the chimney-piece in the old drawing-room are the arms of Edward VI. This room and many others in the house are rich in tapestry and old stamped leather.

“At the mansion of Browham stands a chapel of very ancient erection. In the year 1377, ‘Johannes de Burgham’ is said to have had ‘Capellam apud Browham, Sancto Wilfrido sacrum, ab antiquis temporibus fundatam,’ and that a Chaplain attended divine offices at it. Through process of time it becoming ruinous and neglected, it was lately repaird and beautify’d by the piety of Anne, Countess of Pembroke, A.D. 1659.”[69] In this chapel there was formerly a holy well, dedicated to St. Wilfred, which rose through the ancient font by a hole bored through the shaft (in which also was the waste-pipe) into the bowl. The hill near the chapel was cut through about fifty years ago, for the purpose of lowering the road, and from that time the spring which supplied the well was cut off, so that the water now only rises to the height of the chapel-floor: the loss of this singular remnant of antiquity is much to be lamented. There still remains the shrine, or a considerable portion of it, now fixed at the west end of the chapel, noticed by Leland in his “Itinerary,” and to which he says there was a great pilgrimage. The shrine at the east end consists of three compartments, of very remarkable carving, said to be by Albert Durer, but apparently, from the architecture of the canopy work, of an earlier date. It is said to have come from the church of St. Cunegonde at Cologne. The windows at the east end are early Anglo-Norman, and are filled with the earliest stained glass known in England. Two appear to have been repaired, and the broken parts replaced with glass of a more modern date. At one side of the altar, in the north wall, is the ancient “ambrie,” or small cupboard cut in the solid wall, in which were kept the vessels; some of these are still preserved, and are of great curiosity--the pix, now very rarely to be met with; the remonstrance, a small oblong box, either used as a reliquary, or, more probably, to contain the cruet or phial of sacred oil. These are gilt and finely enamelled, and are in a state of good preservation. The chalice and paten (silver gilt) are of great antiquity, and are also well preserved. The door of the ambrie is of black oak, curiously carved; on the back is fixed a very singular gilt and enamelled crucifixion, with a very remarkable representation of a glory above the head of our Saviour: this cross is of the very earliest age, probably of the sixth or eighth century. The sedilia, of black oak, still stands upon the raised part of the floor, on the south side of the altar; and the old drain, or piscina, is still to be seen. The oak carving, especially some of the stall ends, and the screen, are very fine, but have been extensively repaired. Some of the oak and stained glass, which appear formerly to have belonged to the chapel, are now in the great dining-hall; but what is left, still shews a richness and abundance of carving rarely to be met with in so small a space. Service is performed here whenever the family are resident, and generally by the Rector, after his duty at the parish church is over.

The situation of the parish church is remarkable. It is placed on the borders of a meadow, close to the river Eamont, at a point where there is a ford, in a direct line from the Roman way to Carlisle, and nearer than by Brovoniacum. It is above two miles from the nearest village, called Woodside, and still further from the place where the town of Brougham formerly stood: there is no trace of any habitations having ever existed near it.

Stukeley, who visited this part of Westmorland about 1724, and wrote his account of it in 1725, after describing the British circus or camp on the banks of the Lowther, called King Arthur’s Round Table, directly opposite to Brougham, says,--“This is the most delightful place that can be imagined for recreation; the rapid river Louther runs all along the side of it: the Eamont joins it a little way off in view. Beyond is a charming view of a vast wood, and of Brougham; beyond that the ancient Roman city, and the Roman road going along under the high hill, whereon is the beacon.”--Vol. II. p. 43.

After describing various British remains which abound in this neighbourhood, he proceeds:--“In the pasture on the eastern bank of the Louther, in the way to Clifton, are several cairns, or carrachs as the Scotch call them, made of dry stones heaped together; also many other monuments of stones, 3, 4, 5, set upright together. They are generally by the country-people said to be done by Michael Scott--a noted conjuror in their opinion, who was a monk of Holme Abbey, in Cumberland. They have a notion, too, that one Turquin, a giant, lived at Brougham, and that Sir Lancelot du Lake lived at Mayborough and slew him.”--P. 45. Stukeley accompanies his description by a view of Brougham, as seen rising from the midst of fine old trees (most of which are now cut down), with King Arthur’s Round Table in the foreground.

SIZERGH HALL,

WESTMORLAND.

Sizergh Hall, with its venerable towers, presents to the traveller journeying from Lancaster to Kendal an appearance peculiarly impressive. After passing Levens Hall, famous for its antique gardens and other vestiges of the olden time, two miles bring us to Sizergh, which a sudden turn presents to view, standing about half a mile from the main road, on a fine natural terrace of considerable elevation above the general level of the surrounding country. Fine time-honoured trees are thickly spread around; among them are some noble elms, whose stateliness is, however, rapidly giving way before the inroads of age. The park is small, and not particularly well ordered; it has also the appearance of being much diminished in size, the main turnpike-road having, in all probability, been cut through it, as in the case of Levens, where the house is on one side of the road and the park on the other.

The palmy state of this place belongs to other days; nevertheless much is left to shew what it has been, with the added interest of increasing years and antiquity to throw its halo of mystery around the scene. The hall front faces the east: the lithotint view will shew that it is singularly irregular and picturesque in its general outline, the whole being a collection of parts belonging to various eras; exhibiting here and there incongruities of style, particularly in the ugly modern windows, which, about eighty years ago, were introduced to supplant those that were mullioned. These abominations, we were informed, are shortly to be removed, and their places supplied by windows in keeping with the structure. By far the oldest parts of the building are the two southern towers, of the erection of which, it is said, no record remains; these towers are embattled, and are of amazing strength, the walls and the floors that divide the several stories being of great thickness and solidity, displaying a lavish use of materials in their construction: the beams are particularly remarkable in this respect. The smaller tower rises considerably above the other: in the upper part there is a guard-chamber, capable of containing a dozen men--a necessary precaution in feudal times to prevent sudden attacks. Behind, is a large square courtyard, one hundred and eighty feet from side to side, and enclosed on three sides by the back buildings of the mansion. These large yards were a necessary part of the old Border strongholds; they were generally large, as in this case, fortified by strong walls, and were used to protect the cattle, which were regularly secured therein at night, and during the frequent inroads of the turbulent and ever-watchful enemy, whose visits were not by any means either few or far between. In front a double flight of steps leads from the garden-terrace to a second terrace, leading direct into the Hall, a large room fifty feet in length, hung with rich tapestry and some good family pictures, many of the latter being of considerable artistic merit, as well as of historical interest. Among these the most “noticeable” are--Sir Robert Strickland, a zealous adherent of the Royalist party in the civil wars of the time of Charles I.; Sir Thomas Strickland, knight-banneret, and one of the privy council to James II.; and of his third son, Roger Strickland; Thomas Strickland, bishop of Namur, and ambassador to England from the Emperor Charles VI., by Rigaut. There is also a good portrait of Mary Queen of Scots, said to be by More. The drawing-room contains portraits of James II. and his queen, and one of Charles II., a royal gift from James himself to the family.

In the Great Tower are two rooms of much beauty and importance; one is the drawing-room, the other is called the Queen’s Chamber. Both these rooms are profusely decorated with rich carving, particularly in the chimneypieces. Of that in the drawing-room we procured a sketch. It is exceedingly rich and quaint, the centre compartment being occupied by a well-executed carving of the arms of the Stricklands. The fireplace is, as the reader will perceive, of recent date, and quite out of harmony with the more ancient part above. There is scarcely a room of any importance in the Hall that is not decorated with a rich chimneypiece and other carvings, all of great merit, and some of them of rare beauty and originality. These carvings are of the time of Elizabeth, in whose reign Walter Strickland, Esq., the then owner, refitted the greater part of the rooms. They are all exceedingly interesting. The Inlaid Chamber--a bedroom in the great tower--is, perhaps, the most curious of all; it is panelled with rich dark oak, inlaid with holly in curious arabesque devices. The bed is of the olden time, exceedingly massive, and magnificently furnished, the pillars being quaintly carved and very elaborate, supporting a canopy covered with rich draperies. There is not much old movable furniture, but some chairs attracted our attention; on the back of one was carved the date 1571. In one angle of the tower we were shewn a deep dark hole, constructed in the wall, with which tradition has connected some strange stories of secret violence committed in times when might was right; of which, however, there is no more direct evidence than rumour and the suspicious look of the place. No ancient Baronial Hall could be complete without its ample kitchen, and accordingly we find Sizergh in this respect well supplied. The important adjunct to hospitality is of large dimensions, with an enormous fireplace, in which, no doubt, was once placed an old-fashioned and most capacious cooking apparatus: all this has given way to the modern range, which had a look so undeniably recent and _patent_ as to preclude all particular examination from us. The kitchen is low, and approached from the corridor by a broad flight of stairs.

Sizergh Hall has been for many centuries the property and place of residence of the Strickland family. At what time they first came here is not exactly known; they were originally from Great Strickland, in the parish of Moreland. “The son and heir of Walter de Stirkland was a hostage, in 1215, for the good behaviour of Roger Fitz-Reinford.” The erection of the great tower is attributed to Sir Walter de Stirkland, in the reign of Edward III., during which he procured from the king a license “to enclose his Wood and Demesne Lands on this estate, and to make a Park here.” This supposition is supported by the sculptured shield of arms on the north side of the tower, “placed corner-wise, D’Aincourt quartering Strickland: three escallops, the crest a full-topped holly-bush on a close helmet.”[70] Sir Walter was thrice returned to Parliament, an honour which several of his descendants also enjoyed. This was in the time of Edward III., when the name was spelt Sirezergh. The family took part in the Border Wars; and it is said that in the time of Henry VI. they mustered “bowmen, horsyd and harnessed, lxix; bylmen, horsyd and harnessed, lxxiiii; bowmen, without hors harnesse, lxxi; bylmen, without hors harnesse, lxxvi; totalis numerus, cclxxxx.” The Sir Thomas Strickland, whose portrait is mentioned above, went into France with the king, where he died, and was buried in the church of the English nuns at “Roan” in Normandy. “His third son, Roger Strickland, was page to the Prince of Condé, when he went from France to be elected king of Poland.” The fourth son was the already mentioned Bishop of Namur. In Kendal church, “Strickland’s Aisle” contains tombs of members of this family; “one of them is remarkable for the figure of Walter Strickland, a fat lad in a loose gown, with a most fulsome epitaph, dated in 1656.”

There is a tradition that Sizergh was once the property of the Crown; and this supposition seems in some degree supported by the fact of the royal arms being placed among the decorations of one of the chambers, and placed there it is said by Catharine Parr: but for this there is no sufficient authority.

For some years Sizergh has been the residence of D. Crewdson, Esq., in whom the old Hall has had a worthy and careful keeper, shewing its various matters of interest with a courtesy and kindness not too common among custodians of English antiquities. There is a moat in front of the house. This place was visited by the poet Gray when on his tour of the Lakes, in 1769, and its fine situation and antique appearance seem to have had a powerful impression on his mind--proved by his letters to Dr. Wharton. From the Hall two avenues diverge to the highway, one towards Kendal, and the other southward, in the direction of Levens, Milnthorpe, and Lancaster. The gardens are on the southern end of the terrace, and contain, in addition to the usual modern flowering plants, some fine old trees, clipt into the fantastic forms of other times, and also an old summer-house, fast falling to decay. Altogether the old place is a deeply interesting relic of times now happily gone by. The feudal tower--the varied and somewhat rude magnificence of the time of Elizabeth and James--the spoliating barbarism of the eighteenth century--all mingle here in curious contrast; carrying the mind rapidly through a long series of years, and exhibiting, as if in mockery, memorials of men, whose works remain, but whose hands--many of them, at least--had mingled with the dust before the arrival of periods of which even the antiquary speaks as “the past.”

CHARLTON HOUSE,

WILTSHIRE.