Egremont, United Kingdom

The estates passed down to Annabel's son Richard de Lucy. Richard's two daughters married two brothers of the de Multon family, Alice (now called de Morville) married Alan de Multon and Annabel (also now called de Morville) married Lambert de Multon. Annabel and Lambert de Multon inherited the Barony of Copeland and again, the castle had a lord in residence.

Around 1205, the tale of Grunwilda was told; she was the wife of Richard de Lucy and was killed by a wolf on a hunting trip; this tale is recounted in the poem "The Woeful Chase". Again leaving no male heir, Richard died and the superstition began that no male heir should inherit Egremont Castle because of the conduct of the forefathers. Egremont was granted a market charter by Henry III in 1266 or 1267, with the right to hold a weekly market and an annual fair.

When the last male Multon died in 1335, one of the co-heiresses married Thomas Lucy, grandson of Thomas Multon. Anthony, the last Lord Lucy, died in 1369, and the lands passed to his brother-in-law Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, staying with the Percy family and its successors ever since. The present lord is Max Wyndham, 2nd Baron Egremont and 7th Baron Leconfield, who lives in the family home, one of the earliest Percy possessions: Petworth House in West Sussex. The dowager Lady Egremont, Pamela, lived at Cockermouth Castle until her death in 2013.

In 1322, Robert the Bruce attacked the town, causing a huge death toll. For the next 100 years or so an uneasy peace followed and the castle fell into ruins.

In 1565, a stone bridge was built over the River Ehen to access the town, which was now smaller because of frequent Scottish raids. Little changed for a century, until new stone buildings appeared on the Main Street, probably built with stone from the castle. In 1683, Edward Benn and his heirs were given land with the provision that they rebuild the stone bridge and maintain it for ever.

In 1748, another bridge was built at Briscoe Mill at a cost of £28-15s-0d (£28.75), paid for by John Pearson, a local hatter. Soon Egremont began to service the Port of Whitehaven and in 1830, iron ore was mined over several sites.

Over the next 60 years new schools and churches were built. The town's Anglican parish church of St Mary and St Michael was rebuilt in 1881, retaining some fabric from the previous church building which had stood on the site since the 12th century.

New housing estates were also built to accommodate the growing town, with many old parts of the town being demolished in 1968.

In 1964, Wyndham School was built, an early comprehensive school. In 1970, there was a large increase in workers moving into the town to work on the new nuclear site.

On 2 June 2010, the town was the scene of some of the Cumbria shootings. Derrick Bird, a 52-year-old local taxi driver, shot and killed twelve people, two of them in Egremont, before committing suicide.

Historically, dyeing and weaving were traditional local industries based around the River Ehen. Iron ore mining and quarrying has been established in Egremont for more than 800 years. Industrial mining of iron ore started around 1830 with many mines being opened, and ended when the Florence Mine closed in 2007.

Around the early 17th century, agricultural lime was mined at Clints Quarry, with more heavy duty mining being undertaken to supply the iron and ore industry in the mid 19th century, finally ending in 1930. Clints Quarry (now a Site of Special Scientific Interest) can be found just north of Egremont town.

In 1950, Rowntrees built a chocolate crumb factory near Christie Bridge and the nuclear industry became established at Sellafield. The Rowntrees site has become a new housing estate, York Place, which is located at the northern end of Main Street.