England In Photos: Cumbria - Part IV - Brough Castle

Brough Castle, located in Brough, Cumbria, England, is a castle built on the ruins of an old Roman Fort (Fort of Vertris). It is one of England's first stone castles and was built in the 1090's. It was rebuilt in the 1180's after an attack of England by William the Lion, a Scottish King, when all but it's keep (the most protected part of the castle) was destroyed. The castle has been handed down to one other owner before passing to the Clifford family who occupied the castle from 1268-1521 until the castle was ruined by a fire. After 140 years Lady Anne Clifford  and came under the protection of the Ministry of Works since 1920's.

We visited the castle twice in the same day, so some pictures are darker than others. It was an amazing thing, and the first castle we have been inside.  Castles are fantastic, and interesting to us. To learn something interesting about castle washroom/toilets make sure you take a look at the final picture in this entry.

Brough Castle ruins, taken March 18, 2012 by us.

From the inside looking out

Stainmore Pass, view from the remains of the kitchen of Brough Castle

Part of the square keep of the castle ruins

What we can only assume this is the remains of the garderobe (a medieval castle washroom)
A square room fitted with a stone or wooden bench, sometimes up to as many as 4-6 hole in it.
The chutes (the square holes you see) of the garderobe provided an exit for waste which often led
to the castle moat, or grounds.
A 'garderobe' is also the name for a cloakroom/wardrobe, even for the clothing of guest clothing
(which in some cases doubled as the washroom) because they believed that that ammonia
from the waste protected clothing from moths, lice and other community spread insects/bugs.

More info on Brough Castle: http://www.visitcumbria.com/pen/brough-castle.htm