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Appleby-in-Westmorland b&b, guesthouse and hotel accommodation

Visit Appleby-in-Westmorland and the surrounding villages and stay in bed & breakfast accommodation:

Appleby-in-Westmorland is set in the pleasant Eden valley, sheltered from much of the western rains by the Lake District mountains, on a well-drained site in a loop of the river by the A66. To the North East the Pennines run like a wall for about 30 miles. The area is rich in flora and fauna, and geological formations are diverse. Appleby-in-Westmorland has been an inhabited site for over 1,000 years but has none of the more ancient British remains whose builders, unlike the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings, seemed to prefer the higher land, such as around Crosby Ravensworth. Traces of the Roman road (Brough to Kirkby Thore) can be seen on the East but the first evidence of settlers is that of Norsemen in the 10^th century. The town was transferred from Scotland to England only in 1092; but suffered Scottish attacks later, culminating in that of 1388, which laid it waste.

The castle is a motte-and-bailey type of the 12^th century, the main eastern part having been rebuilt by Lord Clifford in 1454. A later member of his family, Lady Anne Clifford, dismantled and restored the castle (now a private residence) in the mid-l7^th century. She became an important figure in the history of this part of Westmorland, and rebuilt her family's castles at Brough, Brougham, and Pendragon (Kirkby Stephen), as well as restoring churches in these places and in Appleby-in-Westmorland, building bridges and endowing almshouses.

Lady Anne's tomb is in St Lawrence's Church. This, the parish church, was rebuilt in the late 12^th century after the Scots had burnt the earlier one. From that rebuilding there remains the tower's lower story, with its small original window, and the base of the chancel's east wall. There was more rebuilding in the 13^th century, the 15^th, and by Lady Anne in the 17^th. Most of the clerestory and upper walls are 15^th-century. The organ, formerly in Carlisle Cathedral, is one of the three oldest in the country. St Michael's has Appleby's oldest stone monument, a Scandinavian hog-back gravestone, built into its north wall. Lady Anne also did much to restore this church.

The main street, Boroughgate, has old houses, mainly Georgian in the upper part. The hospital has old carvings. The grammar school succeeds an earlier building on another site, which has a record of a headmaster as far back as 1478. The school had a number of famous men as pupils, including the Dean of Lichfleld (1632—1703), who was the father of Joseph Addison the essayist (1672-4719), and John Langhorne, the translator of Plutarch's Lives, published in 1770. The Moot Hall, with one stone dated 1596, is another historic building. The annual fair, traditionally the horse fair, is in June.

There are various pleasant country walks in the neighbourhood, including that to High Cup Nick where a beck flows in unusual Pennine formations.

Nearby towns: Alston, Barnard Castle, Brough, Kendal, Kirkby Stephen, Penrith

Nearby villages: Blencarn, Brough Sowerby, Cliburn, Colby, Coupland, Crackenthorpe, Crosby Garrett, Crosby Ravensworth, Crossdale, Culgaith, Drybeck, Dufton, Edenhall, Gaisgill, Great Asby, Great Musgrave, Great Ormside, Great Strickland, Hackthorpe, Harwood, Hilton, Keisley, Keld, Kirkby Thore, Knock, Langwathby, Little Strickland, Long Marton, Lowther, Maulds Meaburn, Middleton-in-Teesdale, Milburn, Morland, Murton, Nateby, Newby, Ousby, Ravenstonedale, Rosgill, Sandford, Shap, Skirwith, Smardale, Soulby, Tebay, Temple Sowerby, Warcop, Winton

Have you decided to visit Appleby-in-Westmorland or the surrounding villages? Please look above for somewhere to stay in:

• a Appleby-in-Westmorland bed and breakfast (a Appleby-in-Westmorland B&B or Appleby-in-Westmorland b and b)
• a Appleby-in-Westmorland guesthouse
• a Appleby-in-Westmorland hotel (or motel)
• a Appleby-in-Westmorland self-catering establishment, or
• other Appleby-in-Westmorland accommodation