Church Brough

Brough Castle, at the upper end of the Eden Valley, is a spectacular medieval ruin on the site of the Roman fort of Verteris. The earthworks represent an 11th-century castle laid out on the alignment of the Roman ditches and walls, but the visible remains date from the 12th century onwards. The castle was a seat of the celebrated Clifford family for 450 years, and enjoyed a last lease of life in the 17th century thanks to the work of Lady Anne Clifford. Abandoned by her successors, the Tufton Earls of Thanet, it was a ruin by the 1730s and was taken into state guardianship by the Ministry of Works in 1920.