 During the late 18th century , the Lake District became a popular visitor attraction and the sensibilities of Romanticism glamorised such historic ruins as Brougham Castle . In his poem The Prelude , William Wordsworth recounted exploring the ruins of Brougham as an adolescent with his sister . Brougham also provided inspiration another of Wordsworth 's poems , the Song at the Feast of Brougham Castle upon the Restoration of Lord Clifford , the Shepherd , to the Estates and Honours of his Ancestors . The fallen castle attracted sightseers and antiquarians such as William Gilpin and Richard Warner . In his diary , Journey to the Lake District from Cambridge 1779 , William Wilberforce described Brougham Castle as a " very fine ruin " . The painter J. M. W. Turner visited Brougham in 1809 and 1831 , and on the first occasion produced a sketch which would be the starting point of a later watercolour . To avoid the castle decaying further , Charles Tufton , 10th Earl of Thanet , spent £ 41 repairing the structure in 1830 , and his successor Henry Tufton , 11th Earl of Thanet , undertook further repairs in the late 1840s , costing £ 421 . 
