Eamont Bridge, Brougham Castle and The Countess Pillar Circular
Walk date – 14th January 2026
Distance – 5 miles
Weather – mostly cloudy with a few sunny spells, dry, not very cold, no wind
The weather has changed during the past few days and the familiar grey, cloudy skies and drizzly showers have returned. The ground is still solid despite the slow thaw and the lack of ice and frost was welcome. The forecast was for strong winds and cloudy tops at height so we opted to stay low. We spotted a potential ‘weather window’ over the Penrith area which seemed to indicate the possibility of breaks in the cloud with some sunny spells from roughly 11 am to 1 pm so we decided to give it a try. The morning sky started out covered in the grey blanket stuff so we waited until we could see something a little brighter coming in. When we did we nipped over to Eamont Bridge, parked up in the lane below the Millennial Stone, near Mayburgh Henge, and started our walk from there. The sunny spells did arrive and we spent the first hour of our walk in pleasant conditions. They didn’t last as long as was forecast and after 12 noon we saw no more sun and we ended our walk under gloomy skies.
Route
Off road parking by Mayburgh Henge (Eamont Bridge) – footbridge over Eamont river – riverside path to Low Mill – woodland path – riverside path – Brougham Castle bridge – track to Countess Pillar – road walk back to Brougham & Eamont Bridge – off road parking by Mayburgh Henge
The Millennial Stone at Eamont Bridge with Mayburgh Henge behind it. The lane behind the stone has a small parking area down the hill to the left with space for about six cars. There were three parked when we arrived but the remaining space was taken up by a Sainsbury delivery van complete with driver and its engine running. We thought he was about to leave but no, it was still there as we walked back towards it having found somewhere else to park. We didn’t visit the Henge today but we did on our walk of 12 Nov 2017 where there is more info about the Henge.
From the Henge there is a short walk through the village to the road, and the not so lovely, pedestrian bridges across the river Eamont. There’s a more picturesque view of the road bridge on our Nov 2017 walk. The above shot was taken as we turned down onto the riverside path towards …..
….. the stile crossing at Low Mill. The stile is over on the left at the junction of the wooden fence and the stone wall. In the past a pumping station plus a house were located on the site although the house which is there now is not the original one. More information about Low Mill, in addition to all sorts of details about the village, can be found on this site:
https://eamontbridgeinfo.wordpress.com/history-of-eamont-bridge/local-mills/
Once over the stile there is a path through the woodland adjoining Low Mill which eventually leads back to the riverside path. The sunshine decided to put in appearance just as the shot was taken which brightened up the shot no end.
J having a ‘because its there’ moment as he raises the dog gate even though we don’t have a dog!
The view ahead as we walked the lovely riverside path.
The river was full and fast flowing today and these river bank trees were submerged today.
Another sunny spell arrived and lit up the trees ahead. Some bits of blue sky had appeared too which was a welcome sight and a hopeful sign.
The footbridge across a small tributary feeding into the Eamont river. Its quite an elaborate one too given the size of the tributary.
Another sunny spell lighting up the riverbanks as the footpath curved around and brought us within earshot of the traffic rumbling along the A66.
The turbulent waters of the river today where most of the riverside trees had their trunks well below the water line.
A log stuck in the lower branches of one of the trees was adding to the turbulence by creating a wash behind it. The weight of it had also pulled some of the tree’s lighter branches into the water, which were bouncing up and down and adding to the turbulence.
No fence and no gate were present to bar our progress but there is a stile should anyone fancy using it.
We’ve reached the point where the riverside path veers off in the direction of the A66 and across the river is this view of Brougham Castle.
Looking down river to where I think is the location where there used to be a weir, it looks very similar to a photo on the Eamont Bridge information site referred to in the shot of Low Mill. If that is correct then the house in the photo is probably where the house at High Mill once stood. The weir was removed many years ago and the High Mill site, which underwent several changes of ownership and use, has been re-developed with a number of houses being built on the former mill site. The words ‘Weir’ and ‘Mill’ at this point can still be seen on our route map above. Somewhere between this point and the Brougham Castle bridge the river Eamont is joined by the river Lowther. The path now led us from the riverside to …..
….. this gate in the fence and we were back on tarmac once more. A large camper van with a car parked beside it were immediately on the right but I managed not to include them in the shot. Behind the signpost is the traffic speeding along the A66. From here we made our way over to the road across the bridge, along the way …..
….. J discovered horses in the field alongside the road. I thought the grass in the field was a bit on the short side having been constantly nibbled by the two horses so I looked around for some longer grass, handed it to J, who in turn handed it to one of the horses. The horse, and ourselves, were careful not to come into contact with the white coloured wire between the horse and the fence as it the notice said was electrified. We weren’t too keen on finding out if it was live or not!
J tugging at another handful of long grass as the red covered horse was briefly distracted by something. I couldn’t see what it was but obviously the horse could. The second horse came walking towards us but stopped halfway across and wouldn’t come any closer. J reckoned the horse in the red rug was the dominant one of the two. It was certainly much bigger than the other one. We spent about ten minutes tugging up grass and feeding it to the horse before moving on.
Further up the road is this great view of Brougham Castle beside the river Eamont. It would have looked better in the sunlight but the last sunny spell occurred as we were feeding the horse and we didn’t get any more after that.
A close up view of Brougham Castle from the bridge. The castle is closed for the winter at present but will be open again from the beginning of March and further details can be found at https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/brougham-castle/
We really ought to get around to visiting the castle and having a look round as we’ve never done it so far. You don’t tend to visit places & things which are virtually on your own doorstep though, do you?
Once we were across the bridge we turned left and made our way over to The Countess Pillar or, as J called it ‘the princess post’. He always gets the names of things muddled up and all the ‘knotts’ and ‘pikes’ dotted around the fells absolutely flummox him. This view of the Pillar is from the A66 side to show the whole thing in situ.
The Pillar commemorates the last meeting between Lady Anne Clifford and her mother and the information board has plenty of info about it although it will need a zoom in to read it. Note the last bit of info, the white notice with the geometric shapes, and we’ll come to them a bit later on.
Looking east along the A66 to show how close to the highway the pillar is. I wonder how many motorists notice it as they drive along?
The sundial at the top of the pillar. Zoom in for the clue that the pointer is not original. Hint – cross point screwdrivers weren’t around in the 1600s. The small plaque is said to have details about the erection of the pillar and Lady Anne’s wishes concerning the poor of the parish but it was too high and too indistinct to be easily read.
View looking west to show the ‘charity stone’ from which charitable donations were distributed in accordance with Lady Anne’s wishes that money be given to the poor of the parish in remembrance of her mother.
The charity stone in close-up. It did have a few coins on it but whether they had been placed there as an example of what the stone was about or whether they had been tossed through the railings by visitors I don’t know and couldn’t get close enough to find out what the coins were.
The various heraldic shields related to the Clifford family occupy one of the four ‘faces’ of the pillar and carries the date the pillar was erected in 1656. This side is facing the A66.
Now why has the Ordnance Survey mark been inscribed across the original mason’s mark when it could have been placed on either side of it? The mason’s mark behind the OS benchmark was the mark of Jonathan Gledall which signified that he had worked on the stone and had been paid for his work. We couldn’t find the other mark which was mentioned on the preceding shot of the information board.
We began walking back along the track with this look back to the pillar. I thought about all the changes which have taken place around this spot since Lady Anne Clifford’s last goodbye to her mother and whether she would recognise any of it now.
Tree fellers have been busy along here and we wondered if the felling had taken place during the preceding two weekend closures of the roads around Penrith. I certainly hope that the tree fellers come back and clean up the mess they’ve left lying around whenever they made it.
At the end of the track were the barriers prohibiting entry to all traffic including pedestrians so we had initially made our way to The Countess Pillar along the roadside verge of the A66 and in the face of oncoming traffic which was a little ‘hairy’ at times. Had we known, on our outward leg to the pillar, that no-one was working anywhere along the track we would have simply climbed over the wooden fencing and walked to the pillar via the track instead, which is what we did on our return from the pillar.
Back on tarmac now and at the crossroads where a right turn takes you to Brougham Castle, a left turn takes you to Fremington, and straight on leads to Brougham.
We carried straight on towards Brougham with a view of the castle keep in the neighbouring field and Carleton village in the distance.
Its not a long walk back and before long the rooftops of the houses around Brougham began appearing.
The road takes us up to Brougham Hall …..
….. which the road sweeps around and eventually drops down into Eamont Bridge. Brougham Hall has been home to craft workers and run by a charitable trust for some years now but in 2024 it was announced that the trust would be wound up, its assets disposed of and the buildings possibly sold into private ownership. The artisan tenants who rent the various properties within the walls for their shops and workshops were facing closure so they decided to get together and buy Brougham Hall to save it and themselves from extinction. Through personal investment and various grants they have been able to buy Brougham Hall and have set about doing all the property repairs that were needed. Their website is https://www.broughamhall.co.uk/ and the Hall has car parking, shops and a cafe. The opportunity to clamber up the battlements and play at being a ‘knight of old’ is probably best left to the kids, while the adults spend time in the cafe and shops.
Brougham Hall’s ‘big knocker’. Oo’er missis, as comedian Frankie Howerd used to say.
We didn’t call in at the Brougham Hall cafe and carried on down the walled road to its end at the junction with the A6. We turned right and …..
….. walked to the road bridge over the river Lowther where this shot was taken looking downstream …..
….. then crossed the bridge to take this shot looking upstream …..
….. before walking back to Eamont Bridge and down the lane back to Mayburgh Henge where our car was parked. The sky had gradually been returning to its familiar grey blanket appearance and we hadn’t seen a sunny spell during the last hour of our walk. Best go home then, get the kettle on and decide on what we fancy having for lunch, which is exactly what we did. Today (Thursday) has been just as dull and cloudy. Such grey weather day after day does get a bit tiresome after a while. A very pleasant walk though despite that.