Chapter 10

Military action in and around the Castle

The Border Troubles

The first half of the 13th century saw constant warfare for Cumberland. Early in his reign Richard I sold the county to William of Scotland to raise money for the crusades, but his brother John retook the territory, to lose it to Alexander II in 1216. Scottish dominion of the northern counties of England ended with an agreement made at York in 1237, but the feuds between the two kingdoms continued for more than three centuries. A chance of peace was missed about 1290, when the intended marriage of the grand-daughter of Alexander to the son of Edward I was thwarted by the death of the girl.

In 1296 Edward I invaded Scotland and John Balliol surrendered the crown to England. The following year WiIliam Wallace, who had become the champion of Scottish independence, defeated the English at Stirling and, bypassing the garrison at Carlisle, advanced into Cumberland and laid waste the whole of Allerdale as far as Cockermouth. A number of unsuccessful attempts to take Cockermouth Castle were possibly made during the early years of the 14th century.

Edward Il attempted to retake Scotland but his army was defeated at Bannockburn in 1314 and the following year the Scots again poured into Cumberland. They were led by Black Douglas and Robert Bruce (who had become King of Scotland in 1306 by stabbing the rival claimant) and laid waste the area from Cockermouth to St. Bees, plundering Brigham church. There was a further raid in 1319 under James Douglas and Thomas Randolf. Whether this force reached Cockermouth is uncertain, but three years later Bruce again ransacked West Cumberland.

In these troubled times Cockermouth Castle was an important factor in English offence and defence. The feudal lords had to give 40 days free service a year, being paid for anything in excess of this – an expensive business when war was as continuous as it was around 1300. The lords had to provide their quota of cavalry and infantry. Cockermouth men would be conscripted for service by the lord of the manor.

For service outside the county the rates of pay were 4s. [20p] per day for a banneret (a knight in command of troops provided by other knights), 2s.[IOp] for a knight, Is.[5p] for a trooper (a mounted soldier), 2d.[about Ip] for an infantryman (archer or spearman). In 130011 two thousand foot soldiers were summoned from Cumberland for service against the Scots, but only 940 turned out, and many of these returned home after a few days, concerned to protect their homes against marauders. [1]

The Statute of Winchester had laid down in 1285 that

• “Every man between 15 and 60 years of age shall be assessed and obliged to have anns according to the quantity of his lands and goods; that is, he who holds land worth £15 a year and goods worth 40 marks shall have a coat of mail, an iron helmet, a sword, a knife, and a horse; from land worth £10 and 20 marks of goods, a coat of mail, an iron helmet, a sword, and a knife; from land worth £5, a doublet, an iron helmet, a sword and a knife; and from 40 up to 100 shillings’ worth of land, a sword, a bow and arrows, and a knife; and they that have less than 40 shillings’ worth of land shall be sworn to keep halberds, knives, and other smaller weapons; and they that possess goods worth less than 20 marks shall equip themselves with swords, knives, and other smaller weapons; and all others out of the forest shall have bows and arrows, and within the forest bows and bolts.

• The view of arms shall be made twice each year. And in every hundred and franchise two constables shall be appointed to make the view, and the constables shall bring before the justices, when they come into their area, the defaulters whom they have discovered .” [2]

Edward I wanted a thousand men from Cumberland in 1307 and for the local contribution a commission was issued to John de Eglisfeld and Thomas de Musegrave “to select in the liberty of Cockermuwe sixty men to be at Carlisle next Monday” [3]. Financial help was also demanded. Edward II commanded Gilbert de Culwenne, keeper of the castle and honour of Cockermouth in 1309, to pay David, Earl of Athol 50 meares towards the expenses of his march into Scotland.[4] It was essential that the castles should be not only garrisoned but kept in good repair and there are records of money being spent on repairs to the defences and to the accommodation at Cockermouth and on the victualling of the garrison. At the time of the invasion following Bannockburn Thomas de Richmond successfully held Cockermouth Castle with 20 men-at-arms (heavily armed horsemen), 46 hobelars (light horsemen) and 80 archers.

Andrew de Harcla similarly held Carlisle when besieged for ten days by Bruce, with a garrison four times the size of Cockermouth’s, and as a reward he was given Cumberland by the king. The Cockermouth garrison included craftsmen for the castle’s maintenance as well as troops. About 1320, the complement when the Scots threatened was 37 men-at-arms, 51 hobelars, 8 crossbowmen, 60 footmen, 2 porters, a watchman, an engineer, a mason and a carpenter. When the Scots did not threaten this was reduced to 8 men-at-arms and 20 footmen, with the engineer, carpenter, porter and watchman. When Anthony de Lucy took over from de Harcia the numbers at Cockermouth were very low – no knights, 2 men-at-arms, 3 hobelars and 4 foot. The corresponding figures at Carlisle were 5,34,40 and 40, but Egremont had only 0,1,0 and 3.[5]

Raid and counter raid continued, decreasing towards the end of the century – although Carlisle Castle was still attacked four times in the 1380s. These raids affected AlIerdale and Copeland to varying extent. In 1387 the Earl of Fife, the Earl of Douglas, the Lord of Galloway and others, with an army of 30,000 Scots, ravaged Cumberland for three days. Cockermouth Castle held out, but some think the garrison may have been surprised, [6] although with the warning system of the time this may be only conjecture. What is reasonably certain is that the Scots set fire to the castle, tor it was reroofed soon after the raid.

During this century there was intense poverty in the border counties. Edward I had to retire to Carlisle after the Battle of Falkirk in 1298 and after taking Caerlaverock Castle in 1300 because the country was too impoverished to support his troops.[7] People must often have been at starvation level In 1302 the bishop asked no disme (his tenth) from some of the churches and only two-thirds of it from many others. The value of the possessions of Lanercost Priory fell from over £72 in 1292 to nil in 1318. The papal taxation return for Carlisle diocese shows that over the same period the total value on which the tenth was assessed dropped from £3171 to a seventh ofthis amount, £480. [8]

In 1389 Cumberland, together with Westmorland and Northumberland, petitioned for remission of tax arrears, a remission which was granted on account of their poverty. Again, in 1403, Henry IV pronounced

• “This king pardoned and released to the men of the counties of Northumberland, Cumberland, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne, all escapes of felons, fines, issues, and amerciaments, with all kinds of tenths, fifteenths, etc. – on account of the grievous injuries they had sustained by the Scots, and their great losses by the falling of bridges, occasioned by sudden inundations of waters;” [9]

Exemption from tax was again granted in 1488 and even as late as 1555 a similar allowance was made, this time extended to Durham.

The stronger government of the Tudors improved the situation in these northern counties. Henry VII pursued a policy of peace and his daughter Margaret married lames IV of Scotland. The attempted union of the two countries under a common king in 1603 was ineffective and relationships had bad periods until the final Act of Union in 1707. The lessening of national conflict resulted in men who were used to burning and plundering turning to this as a way of life when no longer enlisted in the armies, but these border troubles would rarely affect Cockermouth directly.

During the earlier period of border warfare there developed not only the system of castles noted at the beginning of the last chapter, but the building of peel towers, of which nearly a hundred are to be found from the border areas as far south as Morecambe Bay. These fortified towers, some of which have been incorporated into later buildings as in the halls at Dovenby, Isel and Lorton, consisted of three floors – the ground floor, with ventilating slits, for cattle, sometimes extended by a stockaded enclosure or barmkyn; a first floor with a fire-place, serving as a communal hall; and an upper floor with rooms for the women. From the flat or pitched roof invaders could be fired on. The towers were intended only as short-term refuges until danger had passed. They could not be taken by an ordinary raiding party and there was nothing to burn.

Edward I instituted the system of watching and lighting beacons, which were an important element in defence. In the Cockermouth area they were placed on Workington Hill, Moota, Sandale, Skiddaw, Eaglesfield and ‘Watch Hill’ (the Hay) to the east of the town. [10] Warning could be quickly passed on by beacon fires, starting with those in the north, such as Brampton and Carlisle Castle. The warning system was useless unless rigorously enforced and we have evidence of this being done as late as 1602. In that year there was delivered to a jury of burgesses a

• “petition by John Newcome of Simonscales, in the Township of Eaglesfield, against being amerced by the Cockermouth Jury for not watching at the Beacon on the Hay, saying that he and his ancestors watched at the Eaglesfield Beacon”. [11]

His appeal was successful.

A later development of the border troubles was the establishment of country-keepers. An act was passed in 1662-3

• “for preventing of Theft and Rapine upon the Northern Borders of England” by “a great number of lewd, disorderly and lawless persons, being thieves and robbers, who are commonly called Moss-Troopers”

and who constantly crossed from one country to the other to avoid punishment. The justices in Cumberland in Quarter Sessions were empowered to raise £200 (similarly £500 in Northumberland) to employ what came to be known as country-keepers. Usually appointed from one of the leading families, the officer held what rapidly became one of the most important positions in the county. He had a force of 12 men (30 in Northumberland) to help him catch offenders, and we may picture these groups patrolling the border area. [12]

However, his salary of up to £200 had strings attached. Owners registered their horses and cattle with the booker or book-keeper in the nearest market town, giving full details of each animal. If an animal was stolen or strayed the loss was reported within 48 hours and, if it was not found, the owner had the right to recover its value at the next Quarter Sessions supported by a certificate from the booker -and if he was successful in his claim the money came out of the £200.

Although far from the trouble area and unlikely to make claims. Cockermouth helped by providing some of the officers from local families and no doubt bore a share of the cost. The Fleming Senhouse papers record that in 1738 Humpbrey Senhouse followed his father in the office, the salary being then £140. [13] Cockermouth inhabitants would also be reminded of the scheme when claims were made at the Quarter Sessions held in the town. The plan was intended for five years only, but was so successful that it was repeatedly renewed until found to be no longer necessary in 1757, 50 years after union.

The Wars of the Roses

In the Wars of the Roses (1455-1485) Cockermouth Castle saw little action. It was held by the Lancastrians until April 1461 and then by the Yorkists after the defeat of the Lancastrian army at the Battle of Towton, near Tadcaster. The Earl of Wiltshire and Dr. John Morton, chancellor to the young Prince of Wales, were captured at the castle with very different consequences -the Earl was beheaded at Newcastle soon afterwards, the Doctor became Archbishop of Canterbury. We saw in an earlier chapter how the castle changed hands at this time, passing from the Lancastrian Percies to the Yorkist Warwick and returning later to the Percy line. It was only under Mary in Tudor times that the Percy estates were fully restored.

Mary Queen of Scots

One of the occasions in Cockermouth’s history most frequently referred to is the visit to the town of Mary Queen of Scots in 1568. Her forces had been defeated at Carberry Hill on 15th June 1567 and she abdicated in favour of her son, James. She herself was imprisoned in Lochleven Castle but escaped, and when her supporters were again defeated at Langside near Glasgow on 13th May 1568 she sailed from Abbey Burnfoot, landing at Workington on Sunday evening, 17th May, after a four hour crossing of the Solway. Sir Henry Curwen took her to Workington Hall for the night, where Lady Curwen is said to have given the Queen and her maids a change of linen. She wrote to her cousin Elizabeth, whose protection she was seeking, “I am in a pitiable condition, not only for a queen, but even for a gentlewoman, having nothing in the world but the clothes in which I escaped.”

The Curwens, who had no wish to be involved in plot and counterplot, regarded Mary’s arrival “as a very troublesome and unwelcome business” but they acted kindly towards her.

The next day Sir Henry, his son and other gentlemen accompanied the Queen to Cockermouth. News had spread and tradition says that the town turned out in its best attire to welcome her. The Earl of Northumberland was not in residence at Cockermouth but at TopcIiff in Northumberland, so she was entertained for the night by Henry Fletcher.

(Another version is that the castle was not in a fit state for her to stay there, but this is less likely to be correct, especially as an incident described below shows that the Earl was indeed away.) The Fletchers, ancestors of the Fletchers of Hutton and the Vanes of Armathwaite Hall, were successful merchants and had acquired land and property. Henry lived in a large house in the Market Place (later demolished and replaced by an Elizabethan mansion which became known as Cockermouth Old Hall) and it was here that the Queen spent the night. Her host gave her 13 ells (about 16 yards) of rich crimson velvet for a dress. The following morning, after holding court in the Fletcher house for the ladies of Cockermouth, the Queen left on a horse litter for Carlisle, watched by the people of the town. She was conducted to Carlisle by Sir Henry Lowther, sheriff of the county and deputy warden of the western marches, who had hastened to Cockermouth to meet her.

The Earl of Northumberland, learning of these events, went to Carlisle and demanded to take charge of her, since she had landed in his liberty of Cockermouth, and he wished to take her to Alnwick. Sir Richard refused to hand over the Queen, whereupon Northumberland became angry, very angry, as described by Lowther:

• “My Lord growing into some heat and angre and a like language, calling me ‘varlett’ and suche others as I neither desserved at his handes neither looked for at anye man’s hand for the servyce of the prynce. ” [14]

The insulted Lowther having complained to Queen Elizabeth, the Earl was severely rebuked. This rebuke was one of the factors which led him to join in the ‘Rising of the North’ in the following year, an unsuccessful attempt under the Earls of Northumberland and Westmorland to rescue Mary from imprisonment, to bring down the government of Elizabeth, and to restore the Catholic faith. [15] As he owned the barony of Cockermouth he must have drawn some of his supporters from this area.

The story has two sequels – Mary, who had hoped for the sympathy of her cousin, spent 18 years in prison before being executed at Fotheringay Castle in Northamptonshire; and, on a happier note, when James I, son of Mary, visited Carlisle in 1618 he summoned Richard Fletcher, grandson of Henry, and knighted him in appreciation of the help given to his mother by the Fletcher family.

It is interesting to speculate what course English history might have taken if the Earl had been at home to receive Mary.

The Civil War

Cockermouth next saw action in the Civil War (1642-8). We have seen how Algernon Percy hated the Stuarts because of their treatment of his father and the castle was garrisoned for Parliament. Most of Cumberland supported the King, including the local families of Fletcher, Lamplugh, Vane, Stanley and Dykes. Among the few supporting Parliament were the Lawsons of Isel and of course the Earl of Northumberland.

• “Cockermouth was a den of Puritanism, for it was under the influence of the Earl of Northumberland,….. who had espoused early the side of Parliament.” [16]

Events in Cumberland at first moved slowly. Carlisle garrison had been disbanded in 1641 following a treaty with the Scots, and the arms and munitions were stored in the Cathedral Fratry. It was regarrisoned when the war began and an attempt was made to seize it for Parliament in 1643. [17] In April 1648 there were two strong Royalist forces in Carlisle, the English and the Scottish being under separate commands as the former would not take the covenant supporting Protestantism and the Presbyterian system and the Scots would not combine armies unless they did! [18] General Lambert, in command of Parliamentary forces in the north, made his headquarters at Penrith. Life was still quiet in Cockermouth, where Lieutenant Bird was in charge of the castle for Parliament. Then in July all three armies moved south into Lancashire and beyond. The Royalists thought they now had Cumberland at their mercy and 500 of them, under Sir Marmaduke Langdale, laid siege to Cockermouth Castle.

Cromwell’s forces began to move northwards again and as they did so, passing through Penrith to take Carlisle Castle, a force was sent under Lieutenant-Colonel Ashton to relieve the besieged garrison in Cockermouth. The Roundheads were freed on 29th September 1648, the Royalist besiegers withdrawing to Appleby having suffered some casualties, as listed below. By now the end of the war was near, for Charles was executed four months later.

Nicholson and Burn (1777) and Askew (1866) mistakenly state that the castle was garrisoned for Charles I and that it was besieged by Cromwell’ s forces. Mate attributes the confusion to a mistake in copying from the church register, writing ‘reduced’ instead of ‘relieved’ by Parliamentary forces, the former wrongly implying that the Royalists were inside the castle. Askew further states that the besieging forces erected a half-moon battery “above Fitz House”, a quarter of a mile south-west of the town, and at the time he was writing a ditch eight or nine feet deep could still be seen. He also attributes the origin of the Broughton Baptist Church to the presence of the Parliamentary troops and a former Baptist Church in Waterloo Street would probably begin at the same time. The troops seem to have created an impression in Cockermouth – they were God-fearing, paid fully for anything they bought, did not gamble and did not molest the women. When there was no immediate Royalist threat the castle garrison would be free to move around the town.

The site of the half-moon battery is traditionally at the corner of Fitz Road and Lamplugh Road, where the ‘pepperpot’ house now stands. There was possibly another battery in the Wood Hall area. [19]

[19] Casualties were few in the siege. A page in the register for the chapelry has the following entries:

“The fiege was laid agt Cockermouth Caftle Auguft 1648 and the Caftle was relieved the 29th. September in which time were flain of the Befiegers

1. George Bucke near the Goate bridge.
2. Chnftopher Burne, on Cockerbridge.
3. Anthony Johnfon of Workington, shot on Cockerbridge.
4. John Cape, Milner, shot in the ftreet near the Mootehall.
5. John Hartley.
6. Henry Dalston.
7. John Hire,
8. . .. a Trumpeter in Mr. Tukell loft.
9. Myles ffisher of Cocker mouth shot about the quenching of Mrs. ffearons back-houses (bakehouse?) ..
10. Captain John Hobson, shot on Cockerbridge.
11. Robert Murell, shot in ye Caftle being all that was flain in ye Garrison, September 21,1649.” [20]

The castle buildings may not have suffered greatly but when the Parliamentary troops withdrew roofs were removed and the upper walls demolished. Only the outer gateway and the flag tower, venue of the Quarter Sessions for many years, were left intact. The empty building was looted, for in April 1649 a list was made of castle goods recovered in the town – a cartload of lead, many planks and joists, five bedsteads, two doors, a table, etc.

A sequel to the siege came six years later, when two of Cromwell’s supporters claimed promised compensation.

• “September 1st. 1654. Minute of Council of State. Petition of Richard Uriel and Thomas Crosthwaite, late merchants of Cockermouth, Cumberland, to the Protector. In 1648, by order of Major-General Lambert, we assisted the later Major William Bird to defend Cockermouth Castle. on a three months’ siege by Sir William Huddleston, who totally plundered our estates, value £1965, by which we have been disabled to maintain ourselves. When the Castle was relieved by you on your march from Lancashire to Carlisle we told you our losses, and you acknowledged our fidelity and ordered us to appeal to you in London when something should be done for our relief. This we did, but after our long journey found you had gone to Ireland. We have since been often solicited by persons of quality, and in June 1652 were promised speedy reliet: but have obtained none, to the total ruin of our families, and our creditors daily threaten to imprison us. We beg speedy relief, according to your former gracious promises. “[21]

Two certificates were appended, each with 12 signatures testifYing to the loss of £1000 by Richard Uriel and his father and of £965 by Thomas Crosthwaite.

The claim was considered by a committee and an order made for settling land in Ireland, the order being finally approved on 2nd September 1654 [22]

• “for their faithfulness to Parliament and losses at the siege of Cockermouth Castle”.

The Jacobite Risings

In the next important military events at national level, the Jacobite Risings of 1715 and 1745, the castle was not involved, for activity in Cumberland was largely along the Carlisle-Penrith-Kendal road and Cockermouth was by-passed. The people of the town were however drawn into national affairs. On the first occasion forces were raised under the Militia Acts – a troop of horse and seven companies of foot from Carlisle, Cockermouth, Penrith, Millom, Appleby, Kendal and Kirkby Lonsdale areas. The Cockermouth force was commanded by Thomas Lamplugh and sent to Penrith, the Penrith company being moved up to Carlisle. The company from Millom, under a Senhouse, was stationed in Cockermouth. [23] There was no active support for the Jacobites, any likely leaders (including Curwen of Workington) having already been imprisoned in Carlisle Castle.[24]

The above arrangements suggest that for military purposes Cumberland and Westrnorland were regarded as one unit and in the 1745-6 rising there is a reference to “the Regiment for Westmorland and Cumberland”. On this later occasion Colonel Pennington (of Muncaster) had a company raised from Allerdale-above-Derwent based at Whitehaven and Major Senhouse a company from Allerdale below-Derwent stationed in Cockermouth with leave to march to Workington. [25]

Again nothing much happened in the Cockermouth area, but there were a number of alarms. A Mrs. Dorothy Palmer of Great Broughton wrote letters [26] at the time which indicate the state of unrest. Under the date 18th October 1745 she relates

• “As for us hear (sic) at Broughton and the towns about we are not terrified about the Rebills marching this way, as we were some time since, nor do we think the Rebills will attempt to take Carlisle.”

This confidence had been shaken by 12th November

• “… this day an Express came to Cockermouth, that they had left Carlisle, and marching towards Penrith, we’re all in the utmost consternation here, especially at Whitehaven and Workinton (sic), where they have shipped their best effects and put to sea most places about have removed their best effects I have sent our Horse with 2 of Bro: Fletchers to Mrs. Clarke of Buttermere.”

The 1745 militia has been described as a rabble. Men were enlisted only a month before the Highland forces reached Carlisle and they were untrained, undrilled, without uniforms, carried an assortment of arms and were inclined to run from the enemy. The parish or landowner, having to provide a quota, tended to make a contract with the first idler encountered, sometimes giving him arms, sometimes promising a wage. The low standard of the militia, not only in Cumberland, led to the passing of the 1757 Militia Act