Images Of Cumbria - Staffield

Staffield

Or Staffold is a civil parish in Leath ward and petty sessional division; the county council electoral division of Kirkoswald; and the union, county court and rural districts of Penrith. On the north it is bounded by Ainstable, Cumwhitton, and Croglin, from which it is separated by Croglin Beck, on the east by the Fells, on the south by Renwick and Kirkoswald, and on the west by the Eden. The area covered by the parish is about 5,636 acres, though only 5,463 of these are under assessment, of which the gross estimated rental is £4,298; the ratable value of the land amounts to £3,168; and of the buildings £711. The inhabitants, who numbered in 1891 209, are chiefly employed in the cultivation of the land. There is no church, the parish for ecclesiastical purposes being included in Kirkoswald. The village, of the same name, consists of a number of scattered houses one and a half miles north of Kirkoswald; there are also the hamlets of Scarramanwick and Scales.

Staffield is a fee of Kirkoswald, and was held in ancient times by a family who bore the local name. The direct make line ended in the reign of Henry V, and the three co-heiresses married into the families of Chambers, Mulcasters, and Blennerhassetts, of Carlisle. Subsequently, the estate became the property of the Fletchers of Hutton, and the Lowthians. From the latter family it passed by sale to Francis Aglionby, Esq., of the Nunnery; it is now the property of Sir R.G. Musgrave, whose seat is Edenhall. Other landowners are Sir Henry Vane; Mrs. Watson; Dr. Armstrong; J.H. Parkin, Esq.; Arthur C. Aglionby, Esq.; J. Ellwood and J. Ellingsworth.

Little Croglin is another fee of Kirkoswald, and was formerly held by lease under the Dean and Chapter of Carlisle. In the reign of Henry VII, Little Croglin was possessed by the Beauchamp family, by whom it was sold to the Dacres and added to their lordship. Croglin Hall afterwards passed by purchase to George Towry, Esq., who was in possession in 1688. It has since changed ownership two or three times.

Near Kaber Slack may be seen the remains of trenches, probably formed for military or protective purposes against the marauding incursions of the Scottish freebooters in those troublesome times.

Bulmer's History & Directory Of Cumberland, 1901

30 July 2006