Brampton Motte

Brampton Motte is a ditched motte which has been erected at the top of a locally prominent summit at the end of a ridge overlooking the village of Brampton. The village is actually founded in a low bowl of land from which the Brampton Beck flows, but strategically the castle site gives excellent views westwards over the low lands around the River Irthing and towards Carlisle. The site has been mutilated in the 19th century with the addition of a monument to the Earl of Carlisle, and this most likely involved landscaping as well.

The earthwork consists of an oval ditch around the summit of the hill, this survives best to the north-west, where the external upcast bank is clearly visible Here the ditch is five metres wide and three deep – the bank being about five metres wide and two high. On the eastern side, the ditch has gone altogether, and a footpath leading up to the summit has been created. The summit itself measures perhaps 36 metres by 18. During the 15th century, and probably earlier, this site was used for the positioning of a signalling beacon to warn of raiders from the north, part of a system which stretched from Carlisle to Newcastle. What is curious about Brampton is that the original settlement was closer to the Old Parish Church, which lies about two miles west of the castle. This church was built in the 12th century at the latest, and stands within a fort associated with the Roman Stanegate Road, which ran south of Hadrians Wall, and was built using Roman masonry. The village lay to the east of the church, perhaps in the vicinity of the old vicus – and not in the immediate vicinity of the castle.

Brampton was the chief seat of the manor of Gilsland, which was granted by Ranulph de Meschines to his relative Hugh de Vaux, once Cumberland had been made Ranulph’s lordship by King William Rufus. It remained with the de Vaux family before passing through marriage to heiresses to the Multons, Dacres, and Howards. During the 14th century, and the time of the Dacres, it was supplanted by Naworth Castle as the seat of the barony, but it seems likely that the castle itself was comparatively short lived, and may have fallen out of use before the 14th century wars with Scotland. The summit of the motte has not been excavated, but it is suggested that there may still be remnants of the old castle structures to find beneath the surface. Since the whole site is covered by mature trees, this would presumably not be undertaken for some considerable time. The castle site remains the property of the Howard Earls of Carlisle, but public access is maintained to the summit.