English Place-name Society

Survey of English Place-Names

A county-by-county guide to the linguistic origins of England’s place-names – a project of the English Place-Name Society, founded 1923.

Countess Pillar

Early-attested site in the Parish of Brougham

Historical Forms

  • Pillar 1787 Clarke 1787 ClarkeM
  • Ladys Pillar 1793 WestM

Etymology

Countess Pillar, 'a certaine Pillar lately erected…in a place there called Quinfelclose ' 1676BrmUC , Countesse ('s ) Pillar 1787 Clarke, 1787 ClarkeM, Ladys Pillar 1793 WestM. This was 'a fair stone pillar' 12 ft high, which Lady Anne Clifford, Countess of Pembroke, in 1656 'erected for a memorial of her last parting in this place with her good and pious mother' (CliffordL 149, NB 394, NWm 288–9); it is described in 1750 Pococke 33, RCHM 62. Another stone called Lady's Pillar on Hugh Seat in Mallerstang (ii, 17supra ) was also named after Lady Anne Clifford.