Brampton, Carlisle

History

The town is thought to have been founded in the 7th century as an Anglian settlement.

The place-name 'Brampton' is first attested in Charter Rolls of 1252, where it appears as Braunton. In the Taxatio Ecclesiastica of 1291 it appears as Brampton. The name derives from the Old English 'Brōm-tūn', meaning "town or settlement where broom grew".

Its original church survives a couple of miles away to the west as Brampton Old Church, on the site of a Stanegate Roman fort.

The town is overlooked by the large medieval motte known as The Mote, which is surmounted by a statue of George Howard, 7th Earl of Carlisle.

Brampton was granted a Market Charter in 1252 by King Henry III, and became a market town as a result.

During the Jacobite rising of 1745, Charles Edward Stuart ('Bonnie Prince Charlie') stayed in the town for one night, marked by a plaque on the wall of the building (an antique shop) currently occupying the location; here he received the Mayor of Carlisle who had been summoned to Brampton to surrender the city to the Young Pretender. The Capon Tree Monument, to the south of the town centre, commemorates the 1746 hanging of six Jacobites from the branches of the Capon Tree, Brampton's hitherto traditional trysting place.

The octagonal Moot Hall, which is in the centre of Brampton and houses the tourist information office, was commissioned by Frederick Howard, 5th Earl of Carlisle in 1817. It replaced a 1648 building which was once used by Oliver Cromwell to house prisoners. To the right of its door can be seen the old town iron stocks affixed to the pavement.

The population in 1841 was 2,754 inhabitants.

Brampton was granted Fairtrade status on 6 January 2005, becoming one of the first hundred towns in the UK to be recognised in this way.

In 2011, Brampton became the 66th town in the United Kingdom and the second in Cumbria to gain Walkers are Welcome status.

Transport

Brampton railway station, on the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway, which is about a mile outside the town, opened in 1836.

Governance

Brampton is in the parliamentary constituency of Carlisle. Currently Mark Green (former mayor) is running to reclaim his mayoral title after he stepped down in 2023.

Education

Brampton's secondary school is the William Howard School, known as Irthing Valley School until 1980 when it was amalgamated with Brampton's White House School and took on a larger catchment area, with pupils from as far away as Alston and Penrith.

Culture

William Howard School was host to 'Brampton Live' every summer, an ever-growing music festival that, after its first appearance in 1995, became the largest folk/roots/world music festival in the North of England. Major artists included the Levellers, the Waterboys, Egudo Embako, Richard Thompson, Suzanne Vega, Loudon Wainwright III, Altan, Tommy Emmanuel, Seth Lakeman and many others. The last 'Brampton Live' took place in 2009 and has been, to a certain extent, replaced in 2012 by the 'Stepping Stones Festival' organised by Maddy Prior (of Steeleye Span) held in early May at the Brampton Community Centre.

Media

Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC North East and Cumbria and ITV Border. Television signals are received from the Caldbeck TV transmitter. Local radio stations are BBC Radio Cumbria, CRFM - Community Radio Station and Greatest Hits Radio Cumbria & South West Scotland. The town is served by the local newspaper, News and Star.

Sport

The Brampton to Carlisle 10 Mile Road Race organised by Border Harriers & Athletic Club is the oldest 10 mile road race in the United Kingdom and is held in November. The first race was completed in 1952. Previous winners include Steve Cram and Ron Hill.

Weather

Brampton has a Met Office Weather Station, established in 1999. It records weather data on a daily basis, which is forwarded to the Met Office.

Between 2001 and 2023, the highest temperature recorded was 35.4 °C on 19 July 2022 and the lowest was -12.1 °C on 3 December 2010.

| Jan record high C = 14.1 | Feb record high C = 17.0 | Mar record high C = 19.5 | Apr record high C = 25.7 | May record high C = 27.2 | Jun record high C = 29.1 | Jul record high C = 35.4 | Aug record high C = 31.6 | Sep record high C = 28.8 | Oct record high C = 22.5 | Nov record high C = 18.4 | Dec record high C = 15.0 | year record high C = | Jan record low C = -10.7 | Feb record low C = -6.4 | Mar record low C = -8.0 | Apr record low C = -4.1 | May record low C = -2.2 | Jun record low C = 1.8 | Jul record low C = 5.4 | Aug record low C = 2.5 | Sep record low C = 0.3 | Oct record low C = -3.2 | Nov record low C = -6.1 | Dec record low C = -12.1 | year record low C = -12.1

Notable residents

Geoff Twentyman, a footballer who made over 150 appearances each for both Carlisle United and Liverpool, was born and brought up in Brampton; as a scout for Liverpool he recommended the likes of Kevin Keegan, John Toshack, Peter Beardsley and John Barnes, amongst others, to the managers he worked under. Altogether he spent twenty years as head scout of Liverpool F.C.

Li Yuan-chia (1929–1994) was a notable Chinese artist, poet and curator, and a significant influence on contemporary Chinese art. Born in Guangxi province, he lived the last twenty-six years of his life in Brampton, Cumbria, where he founded the LYC Gallery and Museum, which exhibited his own works and those of other notable artists.

Brampton and Beyond Community Trust

Brampton and Beyond Community Trust is a community-based development trust serving Brampton and the surrounding area in north east Cumbria. The Trust is a registered company and a registered charity. The Trust aims to provide accessible, affordable and responsive services for local people and seeks to be self-financing. In 2011, Brampton and Beyond Community Trust formally took over the assets of the former Brampton Community Association, together with responsibility for the operation of the Brampton Community Centre. Subsequently, in 2015 the Trust negotiated the asset transfer of site which Brampton Community Centre occupies from Cumbria County Council making the Trust both the owners and operators of Brampton Community Centre.

References

References

1. "Parish/Ward population 2011".
2. "Brampton Parish Council".
3. [http://www.thecumbriadirectory.com/Town_or_Village/location.php?url=brampton_(carlisle) Cumbria Directory: Brampton]
4. [[Eilert Ekwall]], ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names'', p.60.
5. {{NHLE
6. "Howard Monument". Old Cumbria Gazetteer.
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11. (1848). "The National Cyclopaedia of Useful Knowledge". Charles Knight.
12. (2005-01-06). "Cumbria Fairtrade Network". Cumbriafairtrade.org.uk.
13. "Brampton Walkers are Welcome".
14. Joy, David. (1983). "The Lake Counties - (A Regional history of the railways of Great Britain)". David & Charles.
15. "Stepping Stones Festival".
16. (May 2004). "Full Freeview on the Caldbeck (Cumbria, England) transmitter". UK Free TV.
17. (11 April 2014). "News and Star".
18. "Our Races". Borderharriers.co.uk.
19. "Synoptic and climate stations".
20. "Brampton Weather Home".
21. https://www.roostweather.com/ukobs/temp_station_extreme_map.php {{Bare URL inline. (August 2025)
22. "Spadeadam climate normals 1991-2020". Met Office.
23. "Monthly Temperature Extremes". Roost Weather.
24. "Tribute to Geoff Twentyman".
25. "Brampton and Beyond Community Trust".