The town is thought to have been founded in the 7th century as an Anglian settlement. The place-name 'Brampton' is first attested in Charter Rolls of 1252, where it appears as Braunton. In the Taxatio Ecclesiastica of 1291 it appears as Brampton. The name derives from the Old English 'Brōm-tūn', meaning "town or settlement where broom grew". Its original church survives a couple of miles away to the west as Brampton Old Church, on the site of a Stanegate Roman fort. The town is overlooked by the large medieval motte known as The Mote, which is surmounted by a statue of George Howard, 7th Earl of Carlisle. Brampton was granted a Market Charter in 1252 by King Henry III, and became a market town as a result. During the Jacobite rising of 1745, Charles Edward Stuart stayed in the town for one night, marked by a plaque on the wall of the building currently occupying the location; here he received the Mayor of Carlisle who had been summoned to Brampton to surrender the city to the Young Pretender. The Capon Tree Monument, to the south of the town centre, commemorates the 1746 hanging of six Jacobites from the branches of the Capon Tree, Brampton's hitherto traditional trysting place. In 1817 the Earl of Carlisle built the octagonal Moot Hall, which is in the centre of Brampton and houses the Tourist Information Centre. It replaced a 1648 building which was once used by Oliver Cromwell to house prisoners. To the right of its door can be seen the old town iron stocks affixed to the pavement. Much of Brampton consists of historic buildings built of the local red sandstone.
Brampton's secondary school is the William Howard School, known as Irthing Valley School until 1980 when it was amalgamated with Brampton's White House School and took on a larger catchment area, with pupils from as far away as Alston and Penrith.
Culture
William Howard School was host to "Brampton Live" every summer, an ever-growing music festival that, since its first appearance in 1995, become the largest folk/roots/world music festival in the North of England. Major artists have included the Levellers, the Waterboys, Egudo Embako, Richard Thompson, Suzanne Vega, Loudon Wainwright III, Altan, Tommy Emmanuel, Seth Lakeman and many others. The last "Brampton Live" took place in 2009 and has been, to a certain extent, replaced in 2012 by the "Stepping Stones Festival" organised by Maddy Prior held in early May at the Brampton Community Centre. , whose Wall passed to the north of Brampton, though little survives locally.
Sport
The Brampton to Carlisle 10 Mile Road Race organised by Border Harriers & Athletic Club is the oldest 10 mile road race in the United Kingdom and is held in November. The first race was completed in 1952. Previous winners include Steve Cram and Ron Hill.
Notable residents
, a footballer who made over 150 appearances each for both Carlisle United and Liverpool, was born and brought up in Brampton; as a scout for Liverpool he recommended the likes of Kevin Keegan, John Toshack, Peter Beardsley and John Barnes, amongst others, to the managers he worked under. Altogether he spent twenty years as head scout of Liverpool F.C.
Brampton was granted Fairtrade status on 6 January 2005, becoming one of the first hundred towns in the UK to be recognised in this way. Brampton Primary School was awarded Fairtrade status in Spring 2007 and RAF Spadeadam became Britain's first military base to sign up to Fairtrade.
Brampton and Beyond Community Trust
Brampton and Beyond Community Trust is a community-based development trust serving Brampton and the surrounding area in north east Cumbria. The Trust is a registered company and a registered charity. The Trust aims to provide accessible, affordable and responsive services for local people and seeks to be self-financing. In 2011, Brampton and Beyond Community Trust formally took over the assets of the former Brampton Community Association, together with responsibility for the operation of the Brampton Community Centre. Subsequently in 2015 the Trust negotiated the asset transfer of site which Brampton Community Centre occupies from Cumbria County Council making the Trust both the owners and operators of Brampton Community Centre.
Anaerobic digester proposal
Brampton and Beyond Energy wants to construct an anaerobic digester on the Townfoot Industrial Estate in Brampton. The project would cost about £1m and it would be expected to make £60,000 profit each year, turning silage and slurry into electricity. Opponents of the proposal cite concerns over odour, noise and the location. The Parish Council discussed the proposal at an emergency meeting at the end of February 2014.
