Church Of St Bridget

The Church of St Bridget is a parish church located in Brigham, dating from the late 11th century with additions and alterations from the 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries. It underwent restoration between 1864 and 1876 by William Butterfield. The church is constructed of calciferous sandstone ashlar and features a graduated greenslate roof with coped gables, cross finials, and shaped ridge tiles.

The structure includes a 3-bay nave and a south aisle, along with a square 3-storey west tower and a south porch. The chancel consists of 2 bays and has a north vestry. The nave has a blocked north doorway beneath a round-headed niche and features 19th-century 2-light windows. The aisle has a buttressed wall with 14th-century windows; the west wall window is almond-shaped, while the east wall window is a 5-light design, both with heavily restored tracery. The porch, dating from around 1390, has a pointed arch and hoodmould. The tower features a blocked 14th-century west door beneath a 2-light ogee-headed window, along with 2-light bell openings and a gabled roof added in 1876.

The south and east walls of the chancel were partly rebuilt in the 19th century, but the lower courses retain a small rectangular window and a blocked priest's doorway on the south side, as well as a 3-light window that retains some original 13th-century tracery. The vestry includes a reused 2-light window with 13th-century tracery.

Inside, there is a 13th-century font and a 3-bay aisle supported by round arches on round columns with waterleaf capitals. The painted timber ceiling from 1876 adds to the interior's character. A medieval cross slab is built into the north wall, and the aisle features a piscina, sedilia, and a tomb recess for vicar Thomas de Burgh from 1348. The east window has flanking statue niches, and various sculptured fragments from the medieval and earlier church are present. The pointed tower arch leads to a vaulted lower chamber, and there is a newel staircase within the wall thickness. A medieval cross slab is also built into the blocked west door. Wall plaques commemorate the Langton family of Cockermouth. The pointed chancel arch leads to a chancel with a 19th-century painted timber ceiling, a 19th-century aumbry recess, and an unsigned 19th-century carved white-marble wall plaque dedicated to Ann Mary Morris. The church contains 19th-century furnishings and fittings, including stained glass by Cox & Buckley and Sons from 1870 and by Alexander Gibbs from 1865.