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Print, engraving, Cockermouth Castle, Cockermouth,
Cumberland, engraved by DL, 1775.
Pasted in the Lowther scrapbook, vol.3; between pp.66-67;
with descriptive text:-
COCKERMOUTH CASTLE, CUMBERLAND. / (PLATE I.) / THIS was the
baronial castle of the honour of Cockermouth, built, as is
supposed, soon after the Conquest by William de Meschines,
who possessed that honour by gift of his brother Ranulph,
earl of Cumberland; to whom the Conqueror gave all that part
of Cumberland called Copeland, lying between the Duddon and
the Derwent. / FROM the said William this honour, for want
of heirs male, came to Gilbert Pipard; and from him, for the
like cause, to Richard de Lucy; whose daughter and
co-heiress marrying Thomas de Moulton, had issue a son
Anthony, who took upon him the name Lucy; and to him, as it
appears in Madox's Baronia, this honour, together with the
manor of Pappe Castle, were granted by Edward III. in the
second year of his reign. This Anthony dying without issue,
his estates devolved to his sister Maud, who first married
Gilbert de Umfraville, and afterwards Henry de Percy, earl
of Northumberland. She did, by a fine levied in the Octaves
of St. John Baptist, in the reign of King Richard II. A.D.
1384, settle the castle and honour of Cockermouth, with a
large proportion of her inheritance, upon her husband and
his heirs male, with diverse remainders to the family of the
Percy's, upon condition that they should always bear the
arms of Lucy, which are, gules, three luces or pikes,
hauriant, argent, in all shields, banners, ensigns, and
coats of arms whatsoever, quarterly with their own. In this
family it continued till Joceline, the last earl, leaving
only a daughter, she carried it in marriage to Charles
Seymour, duke of Somerset; and by the death of Algernon (the
last duke) without heirs male, it descended, together with
the title of earl of Egremont, to Sir Charles Wyndham, Bart.
whose son is the present proprietor. / OTHER accounts
attribute the building of this castle to Waldof, first lord
of Allerdale, son of Gospatrick, earl of Northumberland,
cotemporary with William the Conqueror. Waldof, it is said,
resided first at Pappe Castle in this neighbourhood; which
he afterwards demolished, and with the materials erected
this edifice. / THIS castle stands on the west side of the
Coker, on a mount, seemingly artificial, near the Darwent.
The dimensions of the walls, which form nearly a square, are
computed about 600 yards in compass; they are flanked by
several square towers. The entrance is on the east side over
a bridge. Over the outer gate are five shields of arms; four
of them are said to be those of Moulton's, Umfraville's,
Lucy's, and Percy's. In this gate are some inhabitable
rooms, wherein the auditor holds a court twice every year. /
WITHIN the walls are two courts: in the first are some small
modern tenements inhabited by a person who takes care of the
castle. From this court, through a gate, is the entrance
into a second. On each side of this gate are two deep
dungeons, each capable of holding fifty persons; they are
vaulted at the top, and have only a small opening in order
to admit the prisoners, who either descended by a ladder, or
were lowered down with ropes. On the outside of the gate,
just even with the ground, are two narrow slits; one on each
side, sloping inwards. Down these were thrown the provisions
alloted for the wretched beings confined there, who had no
other light or air but what was admitted through these
chinks. / WITHIN the second court stood the mansion, now in
ruins. The Kitchen, as it is called, makes a picturesque
appearance. It has one of those monstrous chimneys, so
common in old mansions, which serve to give an idea of the
ancient hospitality. Under it is a groined vault, said to
have been the chapel, supported near the middle by a large
polygonal column, and lighted by only one window. / DURING
the civil war it was garrisoned, anno 1648, for the king;
and being besieged and taken, was burned, and never since
repaired; although the present earl has caused the outer
walls to be new pointed, and the rubbish to be removed from
the inner court. / This view, which represents the
north-east aspect, was drawn anno 1774.
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from:-
Scrapbook, 4 volumes, History of Westmorland and Cumberland
Illustrated, of descriptive texts, maps, and prints of views
and coats of arms, for Westmorland and Cumberland, assembled
by a member of the Lowther Family, late 18th early 19th
century.
The volumes are quarter bound, with marbled paper on the
covers; each has a bookplate inside the front cover. The
pages cut from various sources are nicely mounted, two sided
pieces set neatly in a window in the scrapbook page.
The main content is the whole of the two volumes of The
History and Antiquities of the Counties of Westmorland and
Cumberland, by Joseph Nicolson and Richard Burn, published
London, 1777. Nicolson and Burn volume 1 is in scrapbook
volumes 1 and 2, volume 2 in scrapbook volumes 3 and 4. Maps
and prints are interspersed to make an illustrated version
of the history.
Some of the sources of maps and prints have been
recognised:-
Maps - coast of Cumberland etc by Andrew Dury, 1764;
Westmorland and Cumberland by Richard Blome, 1673; sheets
from Britannia Depicta, Emanuel Bowen, 1720; Cumberland by
John Speed, Henry Overton edn 1695; Cumberland by John Cary
1787.
Prints from the Set of prints, 20 engravings, Views of the
Lakes etc in Cumberland and Westmorland, drawn by Joseph
Farington, published by William Byrne, London, 1789. Note
that plate numbers vary from edition to edition of this set.
Prints from the Antiquities of Great Britain, drawings by
Thomas Hearne, engraved by William Byrne, published by
Hearne and Byrne, London, 1786-1807.
Prints from Britannia Illustrata, drawings by Leonard Knyff,
engraved by John Kip, published London, 1707-1740.
Print from A Tour in England and Scotland, by Thomas Newte,
published by G G J and J Robinson, Paternoster Row, London,
1788..
Some of the coat of arms are cut from A Display of Heraldrie
by John Guillim late Pursuivant at Armes, published London,
about 1610-11 to 1755.
Coats of arms probably from The Baronetage of England, by
Edward Kimber and Richard Johnson, published London? 1771.
Pages from The Antiquarian Repertory, by Francis Grose,
Thomas Astle, et al, published London, 1775-1809.
Text from the Baronetage of England by Collins?
Scraps cut from an unidentified gazetteer.
At the end is the title page and pp.7-51 from A General View
of the Agriculture of the County of Cumberland, by John
Bailey and George Culley, published by C Macrae, London,
1794.
Individual maps and prints are documented separately; with a
note of their position in the scrapbooks.
inscription:-
: embossed: label on spine: (tatty remains): HI[ ] / [
]/WEST[ ]M[ ] / [ ] / CUM[ ]M[ ] / ILLUS[ ]T[E ]
inscription:-
: printed & embossed: bookplate: gold on grey; crest, 6
annulets from the coat of arms, flowers, thistles: LOWTHER
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