APPLEBY, municipal borough and county town of West morland, England; on the L.M.S.R. and a branch of the L.N.E.R. Pop. ( 1931) 1,618. It is placed in the richly-wooded valley of the Eden, flanked on the north-east by spurs of Milburn forest and Dufton and other fells, which rise to 2,600f t. Appleby is not mentioned in any Saxon records, but after the Conquest it rose to importance as the head of the barony of Appleby which extended over the eastern portion of the present county of Westmorland. This barony formed part of the province of Carlisle granted by Henry I. to Ranulf Meschin, who erected the castle at Appleby and made it his place of residence. The castle, placed on a hill above the town, was rebuilt in the 17th century. It retains a fine Norman keep and is surrounded by a double moat, reminiscent of its position near the Border. Appleby is a borough by prescription; and the burgesses were given the customs of York by Henry II. The impoverishment caused by Scottish raids led to its decline in the later middle ages. Writers of the 16th and 17th centuries speak of it as a poor and insig nificant village. The castle was held for the royalists in the civil wars by Sir Philip Musgrave, and was the residence of Anne, Countess of Pembroke, the last of the family of Clifford, which possessed great estates in this part of England. The modern incorporation dates from 1885, with a mayor, four aldermen and 12 councillors. Area 1,876 acres.