Egremont Castle

The original castle was built on a mound above the River Ehen on the site of a Danish fort following the conquest of Cumberland in 1092 by William II of England.

The long wide street provided a marketplace for traders, who were granted privileges and given security in return for payment of tolls.

Some of the profits were undoubtedly used by this founding father of Egremont in the foundation of St Bees Priory, dedicated to Saint Bega, at St Bees on the Cumbrian coast.

The legend was the subject of William Wordsworth's poem The Horn of Egremont Castle.

[2] An idealised view of the castle (as a painting in progress) appears as a detail on the cover of The Big Lad in the Windmill, the 1986 debut album by the band It Bites (three-quarters of whom grew up in Egremont).