Brackenthwaite
Has, of recent years, been formed into a distinct civil parish, but for ecclesiastical matters it still remains united with Brigham. It is comprised within Derwent ward and petty sessional division; the poor law union and rural district of Cockermouth; the county court district of Cockermouth and Workington; and the county council electoral division of Derwent Fells. Within its limits an area of 1,056 acres of ratable land is embraced, producing a gross rental of £1,317 18s., and assessed at £1,269. The population, amounting to 118, are all employed in agriculture, and live in scattered houses over the parish. At Scale Hill, about 8 miles from Cockermouth, and at the foot of Crummock Lake, is a commodious and delightfully situated hotel and posting house, where boats are kept for the convenience of tourists visiting the majestic scenery of the neighbourhood. Brackenthwaite is said to have derived its name from the brackens or ferns which formerly abounded here.
The Manor was held in olden time by
the Moresby family, from whom it was purchased by Thomas Multon, who assumed his mother's
maiden name of Lucy, and was the progenitor of the Lucys, barons of Cockermouth. It
continued for some time in this family, which, terminating in an heiress, the manor was
conveyed by marriage to the Percys, of Northumberland, and was, by the sixth earl, given
to Henry VIII. It was afterwards granted to Lord Grey, of Wilton, and another, from whom
it passed by sale to one Richard Robinson, clerk; and in the 4th and 5th of Philip and
Mary, a license was issued to enable John Robinson to alienate it to Thomas Stanley, Esq.
It subsequently passed to the Fishers and others, coming ultimately to the Wyndhams, and
is now held by Lord Leconfield. The other landowners are - W.H. Marshall, Esq., Patterdale
Hall; The Misses Reed; Mr. Grayson, Cockermouth; the Trustees of the late Peter Burnyeat;
Mr. John Wilson Towers, Miller Place; Mr. William Coates Hope, Cornhow; Messrs. Bell and
Prince. In this parish is the lofty eminence of Grasmoor, rising to a height of 2,756
feet. The Loweswater and Brackenthwaite Agricultural Society was established in 1870;
secretary, Mr. W.G. Hope.
Bulmer's History & Directory Of Cumberland, 1901
30 July 2006
© Steve Bulman