Irthington Parish

  > Is circumscribed by the parishes of Crosby, Scaleby, Kirklinton, Hayton, Brampton and Walton, and derives its name from the river Irthing, which flows at its southern extremity. It is intersected by the site of the great Roman Wall, and by the military road from Newcastle to Carlisle and in Newby township is situated Watch Cross, the Aballaba1 of the Romans. The soil of the ancient enclosures is light and sandy; that between the town and river consists of a mixture of loam and moss, and clay is found on the hills. The parish contains 7,100 acres, (rated at £5038, and is divided into the four townships of Irthington, Laversdale, Newby, and Newtown, which in 1841 contained a population of 1049 souls.

Irthington is a large straggling village, situate on the north side of the Irthing, 2½ miles west by north of Brampton, and its township comprises 889 acres, (rated at £1,045 8s.) and 270 inhabitants. The earl of Carlisle is lord of the manor, but there are several freehold estates in the parish. The ancient manor house, called Nook, is a good building, now the residence of Mr. Robert Bell, who is a considerable land owner in the township, and who has recently discovered the remains of a Roman fort, or castle, contiguous to his residence. Mr. Bell has in his possession the common seal of Penrith, found a few years age when digging up a hedge near the old church at Brampton. The seal is of brass, and is supposed to have been stolen by the Scots, and lost on their retreat homeward. On its centre is the cross of St. Andrew, and the following is the inscription :- Sigillum Commune Ville de Penrith. Many Roman remains have been discovered in this neighbourhood, at different periods. The Church, dedicated to Saint Kintergern2 is a plain edifice, now about to be repaired by subscription. In the interior is a fine specimen of a Norman arch. The benefice is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £6 1s. 5d., but was returned by the ecclesiastical commissioners as of the average value of £222 a year. It is in the patronage of Joseph Dacre, Esqr., and incumbency of the Rev. John Hancock. The church was given to the prior and convent of Lanercost by Robert do Vallibus, but at the dissolution was granted by Edward VI to Sir Thomas Dacre. The only tithes in Irthington and Newby townships are bout £17 paid to the vicar and T. H Graham, Esq., those of Laversdale have been commuted for £49 paid to Mr. Isaac Phillips, Esq.; and those of Newtown have also been commuted for £6 6s. paid to W. P. Johnson, Esq., and £2 16s. received by T. H. Graham, Esq. The School is endowed with the interest of £200, left in 1792 and 1795, by Jane Hetherington and John Dalton, and also with two-thirds of the interest of £200 bequeathed by the late Mr. James Boustead, of Cumrenton; the other third being given to Laversdale school. Robert Bowman was born at Hayton in 1705, and died at Irthington, June, 1823, at the extraordinary age of 117 years and 8 months, retaining his faculties till about three months before his death which took place on the same day that the last tree of Inglewood forest fell. He lived very abstemiously, was never intoxicated but once in his life, and, at the age of 111, used occasionally to assist his family at their harvest work. The last forty years of his life were spent at Irthington, and his 109th year he walked to and from Carlisle, being 14 miles, in one day.

Ruleholm or Roulholm, is a hamlet at Irthing Bridge, in this township, 2 miles W. by S. of Brampton.

Laversdale, or Leversdale, township, has a village 3½ miles W.N.W. of Brampton, and contains 3225 acres, rated at £2632 6s., mostly belonging to resident yeomen. 

Old Wall is a hamlet in this township, 3 miles W.N.W. of Bampton.

At Cumrenton was formerly a wood, containing 300 acres, with "100 oak saplings growing thereon." Population in 1841, 438.

Newby is a village and township on the Irthing, 4 miles W. by S. of Brampton, containing 701 acres, rated at £535 4s. and a population of 124 souls. The largest owners of the soil are T. H. Graham, Esq., and Mr. John Crosthwaite.

Newtown is a village and township 2½ miles N.W. of Brampton, containing 1515 acres, rated at £826 14s., and a population of 217 souls.

 

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

 

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Notes

1. Aballava (Aballaba) is normally ascribed to Burgh-by-Sands by modern sources.
2. Kintergern (sic.) - St. Kentigern. According to Pevsner, it was renovated over the years 1849-53, but much remains from the Norman period.


19 June 2015

© Steve Bulman