Cliburn Parish

 

Is bounded on the east, south, and west, by the parish of Morland, and on the north by the parishes of Lowther, Clifton, and Brougham, the latter of which completely surrounds the farm of 365 acres, called Winderwath, though a member of Cliburn. This farm, which is the property of Miss Salmonds, is occupied by Mr. James Atkinson. The village of Cliburn, which is the only assemblage of houses in the parish, is situate six miles S.E. of Penrith, on the Leeth1 rivulet, which rises near Shap, and flows in a circuitous route to the Eden, receiving at Cliburn Mill, the brook called Lyvennet, which rises near Orton Moor. On the 2nd of February, 1822, the river Eden, and most of its tributary streams, were swollen to a greater height than was ever before remembered. The water was about three feet deep in Appleby church, and it also entered the gaol, court house, and many other buildings in that town. In this great and destructive flood the bridges at Temple-Sowerby, Cliburn Mill, Cliburn, Eastfield, and Beckfoot, were all broken down; and those at Coupland Beck, Kirkby-Thore, Long Marton, and Bolton, were much damaged. The rebuilding and repairing of these bridges cost the county upwards of £7000. The Cliburn bridges are now built of red freestone, which abounds in the neighbourhood. In 1598 a market was held here, at the place called Gilshauglin2, while the plague raged at Appleby, from which town it is distant seven miles.

The manor was anciently in two divisions, denominated Cliburn Talebois, and Cliburn Hervey - names doubtless derived from its owners; but, after passing through several families, it was mortgaged to Sir John Lowther, surnamed The Rich, and now belongs to his descendant, the Earl of Lonsdale. The Cliburns seem to have flourished here for above two centuries. Robert de Cliburn was Knight of the Shire for Westmorland, in the 7th and 10th of Richard II. In 1577, Richard Cliburn built the hall, as appears by an inscription over the door.

The Church, dedicated to St. Cuthbert, is a small ancient edifice, on an elevation near the bank of the Leeth rivulet. It is now [1849] undergoing repairs. Though it was appropriated to St. Mary's Abbey, in York, in A.D. 1248, it still continues a rectory, and has been from an early period in the patronage of the succeeding bishops of Carlisle. The benefice is valued in the king's books at £9 1s. 5½d., and was subsequently certified to the governors of Queen Anne's Bounty, at £40 10s. The rector has thirty acres of ancient glebe; and, on the enclosure of the common, in 1807, there were 189 acres allotted, as a commutation for the tithes of the parish, and ten and a half acres for the endowment of a school, which was built by subscription, 1809. The Rev. William Jackson, D.D., chancellor of the diocese of Carlisle, is the present rector, collated in 1841, on the death of John Robinson, D.D.

The rateable value of the parish is £1754, and the largest owners of the soil are Mrs. Salmonds, the Earls of Thanet and Lonsdale, Mr. Geo. Workman, and Mr. Richard Temple. The hall, now a farm house, although much modernized, bears many traces of antiquity.

 

Mannix & Co.,History, Topography and Directory of Westmorland, 1851

 

 
 

Notes

1. Now Leith.
2. Referred to in the Appleby parish description as Gilshaughlin.


29 April 2008

© Steve Bulman