History
Hadrian's Wall runs through the village, and the site once was that of a Roman fort, Aballava. It has also been mooted as a possible site for the semi-mythical Avalon where King Arthur died and the legendary Excalibur was forged.
In the 12th century, the castle and lands of Burgh upon Sands belonged to a female-dominated line of feudal lords, among them Ada de Engaine. Her granddaughter's second marriage founded a younger branch of the de Multon family, a branch which held this castle in the 13th century. The Dacre lords inherited it in the 14th century via an heiress, their foremother.
The Church of St Michael is built with stone from the Roman wall on the site of a Norman church. It has a broad tower with a base dating from the mid 14th Century, and apart from the 18th century east windows, the rest is Early English. The tower, which can only be reached from within the church, is designed for defence and the ground floor is tunnel-vaulted. The top of the tower is probably 18th century.
Read more about this topic: Burgh By Sands
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“False history gets made all day, any day,
the truth of the new is never on the news
False history gets written every day
...
the lesbian archaeologist watches herself
sifting her own life out from the shards she’s piecing,
asking the clay all questions but her own.”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)
“History, as an entirety, could only exist in the eyes of an observer outside it and outside the world. History only exists, in the final analysis, for God.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)
“No one can understand Paris and its history who does not understand that its fierceness is the balance and justification of its frivolity. It is called a city of pleasure; but it may also very specially be called a city of pain. The crown of roses is also a crown of thorns. Its people are too prone to hurt others, but quite ready also to hurt themselves. They are martyrs for religion, they are martyrs for irreligion; they are even martyrs for immorality.”
—Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936)