Near Penrith on the south, above the precipitous bank of the Eamont, stands a small but beautiful old castellated house, Yanwath Hall.
Penrith, otherwise Penreth, Perith, Perath, was founded by the Cambro-Celts, but on a site farther north than the present town.
In the 18th and early part of the 19th century Penrith manufactured checks, linen cloth and ginghams, but the introduction of machinery put an end to this industry, only the making of rag carpets surviving.
In1597-1598a terrible visitation of plague attacked the town, in which, according to an old inscription on the church, 2260 persons perished in Penrith, by which perhaps is meant the rural deanery.
In 1745 Prince Charles Edward twice marched through Penrith, and a skirmish took place at Clifton.