Cammerton1 Parish

  Is about 3½ miles in length, and 2 in breadth; bounded on the south by the river Derwent, on the west by the sea, on the north by the parish of Flimby, and on the east by the township of Great Broughton. Near the river, the soil is loamy, and particularly fertile, yielding excellent crops of wheat, oats, grass, &c; and near the coast it is light and sandy, but the most prevailing description of the soil in the parish is a deep clay. It is divided into the two manors and townships of Cammerton and Seaton, "both dependant on the barony of Allerdale." These manors were given by Waldeof to Orme, son of Ketel, whose chief seat was at Seaton, where the ruins of the old castle are still visible. When Hutchinson wrote, both these manors were the property of the Curwen family, who are lineally descended from Orme, but Ralph Cooke, Esq. is now lord of the former, and the earl of Lonsdale of the latter.

Cammerton township has a small village on the Derwent, 3 miles E. by N. of Workington, and in 1841 contained 154 inhabitants. It is rated at £1576, and the principal owner of the soil is Ralph Cooke, Esq., whose seat is Cammerton Hall, and ancient and substantial building, near the banks of the Derwent. There are several coal mines in this township. The Church is an old fabric, and was given by Gospatric, son of Orme, to the priory and convent of Carlisle. It contains an ancient effigy, in armour, of a renowned warrior, called "Black Tom of the North," who is said to have resided at Seaton castle2. The curacy, which was certified to the governors of queen Anne's bounty at £15 10s., and to the ecclesiastical commissioners at £95, is in the patronage of the dean and chapter of Carlisle, and incumbency of the Rev. Robert Lloyd Joyce, B.A. In 1844 the tithes of the parish were commuted for a yearly rent charge of £110 1s., viz. Cammerton £32 1s., and Seaton £88.

Seaton is a large village half-a-mile N.E. of Workington, and its township, which also includes the hamlet of Barepots, half-a-mile N. of the same town, contained in 1841, 787 souls. At Barepots3, the Derwent is crossed by a stone bridge, and here are situated the extensive cast and wrought iron works of Seaton. The earl of Lonsdale is the principal land owner of this township, but Mrs. Parkin, Mr. Thomas Lowrie, and a few others, have estates here.

   

Mannix & Whellan, History, Gazetteer and Directory of Cumberland, 1847

 

 
 

Notes

1. Cammerton is now Camerton.
2. The old castle ruins at Seaton are mentioned in Bulmer's 1901 directory, but not by Pevsner, and are not shown on the 1:50,000 OS map. Do they still exist? Stacey Clark, a resident, has no knowledge of them. Is it possible that the Roman site of Burrow Walls is meant, which is just to the west of Seaton ?
3. Barepot (as it now is) is a little way south of Seaton. It of course recently gained notoriety for the "Baby in the concrete block" murder investigation.


29 April 2008

© Steve Bulman