Not to miss - Day 4

APPLEBY CASTLE 

applebycastle.org/history-of-appleby-castle/

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Appleby Castle, now a hotel, was probably Anne's favourite home and the town itself has many marks of her ability to transform places and lives. It became her primary home and the administrative centre for her estates. She fortified the castle grounds starting in 1651, modernising the mansion house and adding the corner turrets to the 12th-century Norman keep known as Caesar’s Tower.  There is another stone inscription there to immortalise her restoration and again it cites Isaiah 58:12. Small group guided tours are available if booked in advance at applebycastle.digitickets.co.uk/tickets

 

For over 300 years, Appleby Castle housed her famous triptych painting, The Great Picture, artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-great-picture-145117, which was a visual statement of her noble lineage and her legal right to possess her lands. It can now be seen at Abbot Hall Art Gallery in Kendal 

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ST ANNE'S ALMHOUSES, APPLEBY

visiteden.co.uk/location-area/st-anne-s-hospital-almshouses/

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Anne had an intense concern for those who were vulnerable and built this group of almshouses around a courtyard at the top of Boroughgate, just down form her castle, in 1651.  They were built to house and support a Mother and 12 destitute local widows ("sisters"). The stone almshouses are still occupied and you can explore the small, peaceful chapel in the central courtyard. A visit would take about 15 mins and is well worth it. 

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ST LAWRENCE'S CHURCH, APPLEBY

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Lawrence%27s_Church,_Appleby

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Further down Boroughgate, lies the parish church, neglected following Scottish raids. Anne spent approximately £700 in restoring the building.  She chose to be buried here and her self-designed tomb, with its 24 painted heraldic shields to emphasise her family heritage, sits inside the church. On it a plaque reminds us of Anne's deep personal faith. It reads:

Here lyes Expecting the Second Coming of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Dead Body of the Lady Anne Clifford, Daughter and Sole Heir to George Clifford, late Earl of Cumberland... 

It rests beside the monument she built for her mother, Lady Margaret Clifford, who had fiercely supported Anne's legal battle for her inheritance decades earlier. 

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BROUGHAM CASTLE AND THE COUNTESS PILLAR

english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/brougham-castle/

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Anne extensively repaired Brougham's great keep, added comfortable living quarters, and constructed the "Tower of League". She died at Brougham Castle on 22 March 1676, passing away in the exact room where her father had been born. Her body was taken to Appleby for burial. High above the outer gatehouse entrance is the usual inscription reminding us of her work of restoration in 1651 and 1652 and citing once more Isaiah 58.

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Nearby stands the Countess Pillar. Earlier in April 1616, during her inheritance battle, Anne had travelled north to visit her ailing mother, Margaret, who supported her claims throughout. They said goodbye to one another on the road outside Brougham Castle. It would be the last time they saw each other. Her mother died a month later. In 1656, Anne erected the stone pillar precisely on that spot to commemorate their final parting. 

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NINEKIRKS CHURCH, NR BROUGHAM

visitchurches.org.uk/visit/our-churches/st-ninians-church-brougham-cumbria

See my notes about visiting Ninekirks here

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St Ninian’s, known locally as Ninekirks, is a remarkably preserved 17th-century church completely rebuilt by Lady Anne Clifford in 1660. It remains virtually unchanged since the day it was finished and, for me, is the one place where I can imagine Anne Clifford, a devout Christian, worshipping God. Christian worship here traditionally dates back to a 4th-century Celtic monastic settlement founded by St Ninian, but there remains no sign of that or the village which grew up around it.  It is now a lonely and peaceful place. 

 

High on the plasterwork above the altar, Lady Anne left her permanent signature. Molded into a decorative plaster wreath are her initials, "A.P." (standing for Anne Pembroke, using the title of her second husband, the Earl of Pembroke) alongside the completion date of 1660. Her initials sit above an ancient way of showing the name of God, a momentary lapse perhaps of her usual piety and desire to give God the glory. 

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I can imagine her here, week by week, giving thanks, praying for family, friends and those who relied upon her and, in the midst of a busy life, taking in the peace and calm of this remarkable place. ​