Morland Parish

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This parish is an extensive and fertile district, about six miles in length and three and a half in breadth, bounded on the east by the parishes of Cliburn, Lowther, Shap, Crosby-Ravensworth, Appleby, Kirkby-Thore, and Long Marton. It is margined by the Eden on its eastern side, and the river Leeth1 forms its northern and western limit. It is intersected by the Lyvennet and another rivulet, and abounds with limestone. The parish contains six townships, and two chapelries, viz., King's Meaburn, Morland, Newby, Sleagill, Strickland Great, and Strickland Little townships; and Bolton and Thrimby chapelries, and its population, in 1841, amounted to 1923 souls. The estimated annual value of its lands and buildings is about £15,000.

MORLAND is a large and well built village occupying a romantic situation on the banks of a small rivulet, seven miles N.N.E. of Shap, and about the same distance W. by N. of Appleby. In 1361 it had a grant for a market and fair, but both have long been obsolete.

In the village is a branch of the Carlisle Savings' Bank, and a library established in January, 1849. The Savings' Bank is open the first Monday of every month.

The church, dedicated to St. Lawrence, is a large Gothic structure, pleasantly situated near the centre of the village. It consists of a nave, chancel, side aisles, and massive tower, all of which appear to be of great antiquity. The south aisle formerly belonged to Thrimby Grange, but was given to the parishioners by Henry Viscount Lonsdale, and Dalston's Porch, the small aisle north of the chancel, belonged to Great Strickland hall. The church was given by Ketel, grandson of Ivo de Talebois, to St. Mary's abbey, in York, for the support of the monks of the house of Wetheral, but the vicarage has long been in the patronage of the dean and chapter of Carlisle. It is valued in the king's books at £11 18s. 1½d., and was certified to the governors of Queen Anne's Bounty, as of the clear yearly value of £45. At the enclosure of the commons, between 1780 and 1800, land was given in lieu of the tithes of the townships of Morland, Bolton, Great Strickland, Sleagill, and Thrimby, and the tithes of the other townships have since been commuted for a yearly rent charge.

The Rev. Wm. Rice Markham is the present vicar, and the Rev. Jas. Simpson is curate. Here is a Wesleyan chapel, erected several years ago.

At a place now called Chapel Garth, about half way between Morland and King's Meaburn, near the Lyvennet, there formerly stood a chapel, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, but all traces of it have long since disappeared. A small Friends' meeting house was built in Morland in 1804.

The free school at Morland is endowed with land, now let for £19 a year, by the dean and chapter of Carlisle, in lieu of their having, as formerly, to provide the tenants of the manor with wood for the reparation of their houses. They also, after the enclosure of the commons, gave their allotment of thirty acres for the benefit of the parish, and directed that five sixths of the rent should go to the schoolmaster, and that the remaining one sixth be appropriated to the repairing of the school, foot bridges, &c. The founders also enjoined the inhabitants to augment the master's salary with an annual subscription, so as to make his stipend £60 per annum. Mr. John Anderson is the present master.

The manor, which is co-extensive with the township, is part of the ancient barony of Kendal, and shortly before the dissolution of the religious houses, was nearly all in the possession of Wetheral Priory, but was granted by Henry VIII to the dean and chapter of Carlisle.

BOLTON township and chapelry has a good village2 on the west bank of the Eden, four miles N.W. by W. of Appleby. In ancient times it was variously written Boelthum, Boetum, Boeltum, and Botheltun. The manor after passing through several hands, was ultimately sold to the Lowthers, and is now possessed by the Earl of Lonsdale. Buley Castle, now a farm house, about one mile and a half W. of Appleby, is in this lordship. It is supposed to have been erected in the 12th century, by John Builly, whose daughter and heiress married the first Robert de Veteripont, but it was the property of the Bishop of Carlisle, in 1256, as appears by a deed relative to the vicarial tithes of St. Michael's Appleby, executed there in that year, by Thomas de Veteripont, incumbent bishop. It has been ever since possessed by the succeeding bishops of that see.

The chapel, which is dedicated to All Saints, is a low antique building, nearly in the centre of the village. It was repaired and otherwise improved in 1846-7, and is capable of seating about 160 persons. The chancel window is of beautifully stained glass, on which are represented the four evangelists, and the crucifixion. The living, which is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the landowners, is now in the incumbency of the Rev. Wm. Shepherd.

It was anciently only worth £4 10s. a year, viz., £3 paid by the vicar of Morland, and 30s. arising "from the produce of the yard, surplice fees, and the tithes of garths, chickens, eggs, ducks, hemp and flax, in the lordship of Bolton," but since 1753 it has been augmented with £1000, of which £800 was obtained from Queen Anne's Bounty, in 1754, 1761, and 1785, and £200 was given by the Countess Dowager Gower. Two estates at Bolton were purchased with £800, and the remainder was laid out in the purchase of the Scarside estate at Orton.

There was formerly a chantry in this chapel, founded by the Derwentwater family.

The school has been endowed with benefactions amounting to £312, the principal of which are, £40 bequeathed in 1721, by James Hanson; £10 left by Elizabeth Hanson; £40 given by Joseph Railton, of London, in 1762; £50 given by William Bowness, in the same year; £100 given by Michael Richardson, D.D., in 1765 and 1784, and £21 given by John Fallowfield, in 1804. The yearly interest of this money amounts to about £13, for which the master teaches thirteen free scholars, under the control of five trustees.

A Methodist chapel was built here in 1818, an land given by William Dent, who also contributed £30 towards its erection. As has already been stated this township was exonerated from all tithes at the enclosure of the common by an allotment of 382A. 3R. 10P. to the dean and chapter, the appropriators of the corn and hay tithes; 35A. 3R. to the vicar; and 1A. 3R. 20P. to the perpetual curacy of Bolton. The principal landowners of the township are the Earl of Lonsdale, Richard Tinkler, Esq., John Dent, Esq., and Robt. Addison, Esq., and its rateable value is £2153 15s.

"In 1816, a cast iron chain bridge was raised across the Eden, within a quarter of a mile N. of the village, at the expense of the landowners on both sides of the river. It is thirty yards in length, and was originally only supported by strong buttresses at each end, but having given way about two months after its completion, two massive pillars were raised under it, so that it may now endure for ages."

Eden Grove, the seat of Richard Tinkler, Esq., is a neat mansion in this township.

KING'S MEABURN (Meabum regis) is a township situate on the west of Morland, having a village of its own name seated on a pleasant eminence five miles W. by N. of Appleby. The manor was once held by the crown and hence it was called King's Meaburn, to distinguish it from Mauld's Meaburn. The hereditary high sheriff is the present lord, and the tenants pay 10d. fines on the death of the lord, and 17d. fines on change of tenant. Sir Hugh de Morvil gave to the Priors of Carlisle thirty-two acres in Milburne Field, in this township, with the meadow at the head of two corn lands, and common of pasture for the cattle of their men; the priory of Weatheral3 also had some lands in this township, granted to it by John de Ravensby. Here is a school, established in 1831, and now endowed with £8 a year, being the interest of £200 collected by subscription. It is under the superintendence of seven trustees. The tithes were commuted in 1842 for a yearly rent charge of £137, and the rateable value is £1192. The largest owners of the soil are Robt. Addison, Esq., of Appleby, Robt. Addison, Esq., of Cross Rigg Hall, and Bowness Addison, Esq., of King's Meaburn.

NEWBY4, or Newby Stones, is a village and township five miles N. by E. of Shap, and adjoining the township of Morland. It abounds with limestone, and contains a seam of coal twenty-five yards below the surface. Towcett is a small hamlet in this township three miles N. by E. of Shap. The rateable value of Newby is £2351 12s. 4d., and the rent charge in lieu of tithes is £112 10s., viz., rectorial £100, and vicarial £12 10s.

In the reign of Henry VIII, sixteen messuages and 300 acres of land in this township were held of the king in capite, by Richard Vernon, but the manor was soon after possessed by the Nevison family, who continued to hold it for several generations, and now belongs to the Earl of Lonsdale. Ketel de Talebois, third baron of Kendal, gave lands in Newby to St. Leonard's hospital, York.

SLEAGILL township has a village seven miles W. by S. of Appleby, and is another manor of the Earl of Lonsdale's. It formerly belonged to a family of its own name, and in the time of Edward II was included in the manor of Newby. In 1670, William Mason, Esq., gave a lease of the rectorial tithes of Sleagill, to the vicarage of Penrith, but at the enclosure, in 1803, they were commuted for an allotment of 140 acres, and the vicarial tithes of Morland for an allotment of 55A. 2R. 14P. This township contains 1323A. 1R. 24P., rated at £782 1s. 10d., and the principal owners of the soil are Messrs. Wm. Dobson, Thomas and William Salkeld, and Henry Richardson.

STRICKLAND (GREAT) is a village and township, about six miles S.S.E. of Penrith. It gave name to the family of Strickland, who after residing here for many generations removed to Sizergh Hall, as will be seen at a subsequent page. The manor was anciently called Stirkland, and was held by the Stricklands of the barons of Kendal, for upwards of two centuries, till it passed in the reign of Henry VI to the Fallowfields, whose heiress carried it in marriage to the Dalstons, of Acorn Bank, who sold it to Sir John Lowther, an ancestor of its present lord, the Earl of Lonsdale. In the village is an ancient Quaker's chapel, with a burial ground.

The school was built in 1790, with money belonging to the township, and is endowed with a small plot of freehold land, purchased with £10 left in 1757, by William Fletcher, and £20 left by William Stephenson, in 1797. In 1818 a neat school and house for the master was erected here, at the cost of £500, by Mrs. Sarah Plumber, who also endowed it with an estate at Strickland, now let for £30 a year. This benevolent lady purchased both the estate and site for the school of the dean and chapter. Rateable value £1264.

STRICKLAND (Little) township is in the chapelry of Thrimby, nearly three miles N. of Shap, and its manor is included in that of Great Strickland. In the reign of Henry VIII a branch of the family of Crackenthorp, of Newbiggin hall, settled in this township, and in the reign of Charles II Thos. Fletcher, Esq., barrister-at-law, resided at Little Strickland, where he had a good estate. He was recorder of Appleby in 1692, and was ancestor of Sir Fletcher Norton, formerly speaker of the house of commons. Rateable value £840 13s. 3d.

THRIMBY township and chapelry has a pleasant hamlet about two miles N.E.5 of Morland, and three miles and a quarter N.W.of Shap., The manor was anciently held by a family of its own name, till the reign of Edward III, when it passed to the Harringtons, but in the reign of Charles II it appears to have been in the possession of Sir John Lowther, to whose successor, the present Earl of Lonsdale it still belongs. He is also the principal owner of the soil, which was purchased by his ancestor, John Viscount Lonsdale.

The chapel, which includes within its jurisdiction both this township and that of Little Strickland, was rebuilt in 1814, at the expense of the Earl of Lonsdale and the curate, the farmers leading the materials. The original chapel was quite deserted and dilapidated for many years, prior to 1681, when Thomas Fletcher bequeathed a yearly rent charge of £10 to be paid out of property in Little Strickland, for the benefit of the curate and schoolmaster, which offices were to be filled by one man, who was to remain unmarried6 as long as he officiated, unless a dispensation were granted to him by a majority of the trustees. It has also been augmented with £30 by the ecclesiastical commissioners. The chapel is situated in Little Strickland, and is a plain humble edifice. The vicar of Morland is patron of the curacy, which has received four lots of Queen Anne's Bounty, amounting to £800, one half of which was laid out in the purchase of the Stony Gill estate in Crosby Ravensworth, and the other half remains at interest. The Rev. John A. Whitehead is the perpetual curate. The school adjoins the chapel, and "pursuant to Mr. Fletcher's deed of endowment the children of Little Strickland and Thrimby, whose parents live by day labour, are to receive gratuitous instruction," though no augmentation to its first endowment has ever been made." As the office of curate and schoolmaster is not now filled by one person, the foregoing rent charge is equally divided between both. Rateable value £1487 16s. 9½d.

 

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

 

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Notes

1. Now Leith.
2. Not to be confused with Bolton parish in Cumberland.
3. sic - Wetheral.
4. There is also a Newby in Irthington parish in Cumberland.
5. Thrimby is W.S.W. of Morland, and just west of due north of Shap.
6. A curious condition of service, which I haven't seen elsewhere. Perhaps the grantor, Thomas Fletcher, had had an unhappy marriage !


19 June 2015

© Steve Bulman