Lowside Quarter

For all ecclesiastical matters a township in St. Bees, has been constituted a distinct parish for all civil business in Allerdale-above-Derwent ward and petty sessional division; the poor law union, rural and county court districts of Whitehaven; and the electoral division of Egremont. It extends from Egremont to Braystones, and contains the hamlets of Middletown, 1½ miles S.W.; Nethertown, 2 miles S.W.; and Coulderton, 2¼ miles S.W. by W.; with part of the hamlet of Low Mill, 1 mile S. of Egremont. The parish contains 1,756 acres of ratable land, assessed at £3,972, with a gross rental of £4,422. The population remains almost stationary. In 1801 there were 226 inhabitants; in 1811, 311; in 1821, 353; in 1831, 229; in 1841, 299; in 1851, 362; in 1861, 261; in 1881, 314; and in 1891, 334.

Rothersykes, 1 mile N.E. of Egremont, is the handsome residence of Robert and Miss Jefferson. Here are the celebrated herds of Galloway cattle, Border Leicester sheep, and Berkshire pigs, which have won numerous prizes at the principal shows, including the Royal and the Highlands.

The Tower at Braystones was erected by William Henry Watson, Esq., J.P., in memory of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. It stands on an eminence, is built of stone, with three floors, and is used as a museum for the local antiquities, of which it contains about twenty-five specimens of the Neolithic age, a quern or corn-grinding stone found on Bagholes, plaster casts of old arrows and hammer heads, the originals of which are in the British Museum, &c. There are two cannon from Woolwich which were used at Waterloo. The tower bears the following inscription: "In honour of the Queen and in commemoration of the Diamond Jubilee - sixty years reign, 1837 to 1897 - of Her Gracious Majesty Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, this tower was erected by William Henry Watson, Esq., of Braystones, and opened by John Quayle, for thirty-six years overseer of this parish, and by Thomas Jenkinson."

Upon the draining of Ehenside Tarn, some years ago, several stone battle axes were found, evident relies of the Stone Age of our history.

At Braystones and Nethertown are railway stations on the Furness line. At the latter place is also a small Board School, with an attendance of 33 children - girls, boys, and infants.

Bulmer's History & Directory Of Cumberland, 1901

30 July 2006

© Steve Bulman