Brougham Castle to fire on an enemy emerging from the gatehouse. Four storeys tall and with a single room at each level, the presence of a garderobe and fireplace on each floor suggests that the tower was reserved for high-status visitors. The tower's square plan is typical of such structures built in northern England at this time, as seen at castles such as Warkworth and Egremont, although it contrasts with rounded towers preferred in the south. The antiquary William Stukeley visited Brougham Castle in 1725 and recorded local beliefs about certain "monuments of stone" south of Brougham Castle: They are generally by
Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux had supported William Wilberforce to support Brougham as a committed opponent of slavery However, Brougham was adopted as a Whig candidate by only a tiny majority at the nomination meeting: the Whig gentry objecting that he had no connection with agricultural interests, and no connection with the county. Brougham came second in the poll, behind the other Whig candidate; although the liberals of Leeds had placarded the town with claims that one of the Tory candidates supported slavery, this was strenuously denied by him. In November the Tory government led by the Duke of Wellington fell, and the Whigs came