Parishes (West Ward): St Michael, Barton

THE PARISH OF ST. MICHAEL, BARTON

Including the Manors and Townships of Hartsop, Patterdale, Martindale, Pooley, Sockbridge and Yanwath.

ANTIQUITIES.

Within this parish we have Mayborough, a great ring mound of cobbles with one standing stone in the centre. King Arthur's Round Table within a great ring fosse. Little Round Table that was situated west of Lowther Bridge, a ring mound 60 to 80 yards in diameter that was destroyed about 1880. "Castlesteads" a round enclosure with triple ramparts in Yanwath wood threequarters of a mile S.S.W. of Woodhouse. British Settlement to the north of the last. Tumulus 600 feet W.S.W. of the Settlement. Trostermont mentioned in 1320, a triangular area drained and isolated from the main land by an obtuse-angled ditch with its ends entering the lake, and with a mound in the S.W. corner. Cairns at Coombs S.W. of Howtown, also on Hartsop west of the lead mine. The Roman road runs from Yanwath to Loadpot hill, called in the 13th century "Brethstrete" or the street of the Britons; from Loadpot hill to the Knott; and from the Knott over High Street. Collingwood, Ancient Monuments.

THE CHURCH.

William de Romara, earl of Lincoln, granted to the Prior and Convent of St. James, Wartre, the church of Barton. It was appropriated in the year 1318, when a perpetual vicarage was instituted.

In the "Antique Taxatio Ecclesiastica" of Pope Nicholas IV, made in the year 1291, the church was valued at £40. By the "Novo Taxatio" of 1318 the value is reckoned at £10. See page 22. The "Valor Ecclesiasticus" of 26 Henry VIII, 1535, gives the following:—

The Commonwealth Survey of 1657 is as follows:—

That the right of presentation to the church is in the hands of Sir Christopher Lowther and Mr. William Dawes. That Mr. Timothy Roberts is present incumbent and hath for his maintenance the glebe land there worth £15 by the year, the third part of the tithe corn in Low Barton and part of the tithe hay there. The third part of the tithe wool, lamb and other small tithes and dues in Barton and Martindale and prescription rent of £4 by the year out of the tithe of wool, lamb and other small tithes and dues out of Patterdale worth £20 by the year, the prescription rent being part.

In 1637 the vicarage house was erected by Dr. Lancelot Dawes who was also rector of Asby and prebendary of Carlisle.

Timothy Roberts was ejected from the living in 1660 for refusing to read and make use of the Book of Common Prayer. And on 17 March, 1661–2, he was imprisoned at Appleby under a warrant signed by Thomas Sandford and Edward Nevinson. Calamy speaks of him as a "Welshman of considerable learning. He was a man of considerable humility and self denial, a close student and profitable preacher. He was particularly famous for his great skill in the Hebrew tongue. He was imprisoned at Appleby for preaching contrary to the Act. He died of the plague between Shrewsbury and Oswestry upon a little straw, none daring to come near him because of the infection." There is something very pathetic in this account and probably he was making his way homeward when the infection overtook him.

The Church was restored in 1904. On the east side of the porch there is a shield bearing the arms of the Hartsop family, viz.:— Argent, three stag's heads cabossed surmounted with three cross crosslets fitchee gules. Machel says that over the Communion Table were five rows of escutcheons, seven in each row, and amongst them were to be seen the arms of Arundel, Percy, Lucy, Dacre, Lowther, Lancaster, Strickland, Threlkeld, Machel, Moresby, Orpheur and Crackanthorpe.

A list of the Incumbents whose names have been met with during the present research.

ST. MARTIN'S, MARTINDALE.

This chapel standing in Howe Grain is mentioned in a charter dated between 1220 and 1247, in which William de Lancaster granted to his half brother Roger, son of Gilbert fitz Roger fitz Reinfrid, the forest of Martindale by these bounds:—"then descending by the Grenerig as far as Staynraise by the chapel of Martindale." In another charter, dated 1266, settling a dispute between Roger de Lancaster and Henry de Tirril about rights of common a boundary line is defined as following" a stream to the chapel of St. Martin."

The ancient endowment was £2. 15. 4 yearly paid by the inhabitants. The chapel was rebuilt after Richard Birkett was instituted as curate in 1633, who also procured it to be consecrated with parochial rights. During his incumbency, that is, in 1657, the Commonwealth Survey recorded that there was no maintenance belonging to the chapel, but at his death in 1699 Birkett left £100 towards the endowment. The building underwent complete repair in 1833, but is now disused.

The Incumbents appear to have been as follows:—

ST. PATRICK'S, PATTERDALE.

In a charter appointing Thomas de Bampton as attorney to deliver seisin to Christopher de Lancaster and his wife of lands in Tirril, we find it dated "at the chapel of Patrickdale, Monday the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Mary the Virgin, 22 Edward III, 1348.

In 1581 Adam Abbot was admitted curate of Patrickdale on the nomination of John Hudson, vicar of Barton, and with the approbation of Edmund Lancaster and George Hudson, proprietors of the rectory.

The Commonwealth Survey of 1657 is as follows:—

That there is a parochial Chapel in Patterdale eight miles distant south-west from the parish church of Barton and it is endowed with a third part of all the tithes of wool and lamb in Patterdale, worth £6 yearly and some glebe land there worth £4 by the year to the minister of Barton. Peter Birkett is Reader there.

John Mattinson for nearly sixty years curate of this chapel, died at the age of ninety-six and was buried on 19 December, 1765. He was a remarkable man possessing no private means of his own but he was fortunate enough to marry a provident wife. Together they brought up four children although the income from the curacy was but £12 a year. He taught the school which furnished him with another £5, and assisted his wife to card and spin what tithe wool was allotted to him. She was a skilful midwife and made one shilling for each operation. On the day of their marriage her father boasted that his two daughters were married to the two best men in Patterdale—the priest and the bag-piper.

Indenture made 27 June, 1853, between William Marshall of Patterdale Hall, esquire, and John Thompson incumbent of Patterdale Chapel, that the said chapel being inconveniently small and in a dilapidated state, and also the churchyard, the said William Marshall has taken down the old chapel at his own expense and built a larger and more commodious chapel and given ground for enlarging the churchyard. And for the purpose of vesting the said ground for ever in the incumbent for the time being now grants to the incumbent and his successors the said piece of ground, lately part of a close called Great Church Flatt, bounded on the east by the old churchyard, on the west by the rest of the Flatt, on the north by the public road from Penrith to Patterdale and on the south by the glebe lands, to be devoted when consecrated to ecclesiastical purposes and for ever used as a church and churchyard for the use of the inhabitants of the Chapelry of Patterdale. Close Rolls, 14571, pt. 65, m. 4.

The Chapel was designed by Anthony Salvin, built at a cost of £1681. 17s. 4d. and consecrated by the Hon. Hugh Percy, Bishop of Carlisle, on 3 November, 1853. The Communion Plate is made out of Helvellyn silver and was presented by the Greenside Mining Co. in 1850. About this time the splendid Pewter Flagon passed into the hands of John Walton, a waller and joiner, tooth-puller, tinsmith and tinker; in 1892 or soon after his death it was discovered at an auction sale in Hartsop and purchased by A. B. Dunlop, esquire, who presented it back to the church. Trans. N.S. xvj, 221.

The living was declared a Rectory on 10 July, 1866.

The Incumbents appear to have been as follows:—

YANWATH AND EAMONT BRIDGE CHAPEL.

On 1 March, 1428, Henry de Threlkeld, knt., released and quitclaimed to John Hawekyn, vicar of Penrith, and others all rights that he had and services in "Yanewyth and Amotbrig.'

Richard III, in 1483, directed a warrant to his receiver of the lordship of Penrith to pay yearly unto Sir William Bellendre, priest, the sum of 40s. to the intent that the same Sir William should sing mass in the chapel of Our Lady of Grace at Amotbrig. Given at Nottingham the 20th day of March anno primo.

THE SCHOOLS.

Barton Grammar School.

This school was founded and endowed by subscription in 1650. Dr. Gerard Langbaine, Provost of Queen's College, Oxford, a native of Barton, gave £54; the Rev. Lancelot Dawes, vicar of Barton, gave £30; and Dr. Adam Airey, Principal of St. Edmund Hall, Oxford, another native, gave £100. In 1657 Dr. Langbaine also gave lands in Culgaith of which £10 of annual rent was for apprenticing two poor boys of Barton and the rest for the school. The Rev. William Lancaster, Provost of Queen's College, by deed dated 1 December, 1705, gave a house and 4 acres of land called Crakoe for the occupation of the master. About the year 1812 there was built upon Crakoe a substantial dwelling house for the schoolmaster at a cost of nearly £400 with a garden adjoining.

Although this was distinctly founded as a grammar school and in some of the appointments of past masters it is stipulated that Greek and Latin shall be taught, yet it has long been used as a mixed school for boys and girls learning only elementary subjects.

The Greek inscription on the door lintel dates 1770.

Martindale School.

The endowment of this school is attributed to a certain Sisson who some two hundred years ago left a legacy of £20 for that purpose. On 19 February, 1735, a messuage and cottage at Coate How in Martindale was purchased for £21, by Robert Richardson and Francis Sisson the Trustees, for the use and benefit of the school. The property consisted of a small house, used as a public house, with the school adjoining and about two acres of land. A new schoolhouse was built in 1834.

Patterdale School.

There was a very ancient stock of £116 applicable partly to the school and partly to the poor of Patterdale. Of this stock £96 was laid out on 15 February, 1766, in the purchase of land including a freehold messuage, tenement and inclosures at Over Hartsop, called the Guards; and another messuage and tenement called Sykeside. £46 worth of the property was for the benefit of the poor and £50 worth for the school and schoolmaster. The remaining £20 was placed on mortgage and the interest went to the school. A new school-house was built in 1873 and enlarged in 1895.

Yanwath School.

This public elementary school was built in 1854.

HALLS.

Yanwath Hall.

The Pele Tower was built by John de Sutton about the year 1322. The manor then passed to the Threlkeld family and from Grace

Threlkeld by marriage to Thomas lord Dudley. They are supposed to have rebuilt and enlarged the Hall about the year 1520. Christopher Dudley sold the reversion of Yanwath to Sir John Lowther in 1654 for £2000, but it did not pass to Sir John until 1671, when, as he says, "The Hall was left very ruinous."

Sockbridge Hall.

In a settlement of dispute between Roger de Lancaster, the mesne lord, and Christiana, widow of Gilbert de Lancaster, underlord of Sockbridge, made in the year 1279, Roger granted to Christiana common of pasture for herself and her heirs dwelling in Sokebred for stock of every kind the whole year through. Her grandson, another Gilbert, gave to his son Christopher, "a house and land" in Sockbridge. It is probable that the pele tower was built about 1375. The western wing, 67 feet in length, was added in the middle of the 16th century, and later, say in 1575, the southern wing was added, forming a quadrangle. In 1830 the tower was pulled down and the materials used for building Buckham Lodge in Lowther Park.

Barton Kirke.

This Hall dates from the latter part of the 15th century. It was owned by the Dawes family for some 300 years until it came to the Hasells of Dalemain. In 1628 Lancelot Dawes extended the east wing and raised a panel inscribed, "L.D.A. Non est haec requies 1628." There is also a projecting porch inscribed T.D.E. 1693, probably referring to his nephew, Thomas, who succeeded him. The delightful plaster ceiling, dated 1584, has now disappeared almost entirely. This L shaped building bounds two sides of a rectangular court, 50 by 37 feet, which is further enclosed by a curtain wall 9 feet high pierced by a Jacobean doorway. Without, the site is nearly surrounded by a morass—a strong position which speaks of an earlier foundation.

Hartsop Hall.

The former residence of the Bartons of Ormside. It is a little old building say of the 15th century consisting of two blocks at right angles to one another. There is nothing remaining of any note about it.

Patterdale Hall.

This Hall was purchased from the Threlkelds by the family of Mounsey who continued here for many generations, called their hall "The Palace" and who were proud to be known as the "Kings of Patterdale," having no one near them greater than themselves. In June, 1822, the Hall was advertised to be sold together with a water corn-mill, drying kiln and 192 acres of land including 22 acres of plantation with some trees upwards of a hundred years old; also the extensive manor of Glenridding, plentifully supplied with red game, besides which there were many seams of lead ore and two miles of fishing. It was purchased by William Marshall, and is very beautiful within well wooded grounds, as seen from the lake.

ULLSWATER.

Second only to Windermere in size, Ullswater is fed from a number of tarn and torrent-fed tributaries; coming in at the upper end from Angle Tarn, Hayes Water, Brothers Water, Deepdale, Grisedale Tarn, Red Tarn and the Glencoin beck. The altitude of the surface is given as 476 feet above sea level.

The lake is 7.35 miles in length and nearly half a mile in width throughout its whole course. It is practically divided into three reaches.

The "Upper Reach" runs for a little over one mile due north to the island of House Holme. Depths exceeding 125 feet extend across almost the whole breadth and in the centre there is a patch opposite Glencoin Wood where the bed drops down to 162 feet below the surface, rising again to 100 feet at a sort of bar upon which House Holme stands.

The "Middle Reach" is three miles in length, running east-north-east from House Holme to Skelly Nab. From the bar the bed of the lake sinks rapidly from 100 to 205 feet in less than half a mile, when it slowly rises again to 75 feet at Skelly Nab.

The "Lower Reach" is likewise three miles in length and the bed gradually rises from 100, 50, 25 feet, etc. as it proceeds north-eastward to where the Eamont flows out at Pooley Bridge.

The islands, Cheery Holme, Wall Holme, Ling Holme and House Holme, are all masses of solid rock rising steeply from a great depth of water and they all bear clear marks of ice action. House Holme is a triangular pyramid, the base being almost equilateral, measuring some 200 yards on each side at the 100 feet isobath.

We are indebted for this information to Dr. Hugh Robert Mill, who made his survey of the lake, on behalf of the Royal Geographical Society, from 29 June to 3 July, 1893.

BRIDGES

Aikbeck Bridge, over Aik Beck on the road from Pooley Bridge to How Town.

On 28 April, 1679, a petition was presented to Quarter Sessions setting forth that this bridge in Barton was in great decay and that it could not be ascertained who ought to repair the same. The Court ordered that the lower part of Barton, viz.:—Sockbridge, Tirril, Yanwath Bridge and Low Winder, should contribute to the charge of repair as well as the inhabitants of the high part. On 19 April, 1680, the Court was informed that several of the inhabitants refused to contribute as the above order required and therefore a further order was issued to the constables to make distress upon such persons as should continue to refuse. There appears to have been continuous trouble as to liability between the neighbouring Townships like, as we shall see on page 275, between Martindale and Yanwath regarding the repair of the roads.

Cadwell Bridge.

Whereas it appeared to Quarter Sessions, on 5 October, 1696, that this bridge in Patterdale was a public bridge, and that it was very ruinous and in decay, the Justices ordered that a sum of 4d. in the pound should be levied within the Bottom of Westmorland for the repair thereof.

Cawdale Bridge in Hartsop.

On 15 June, 1754, an order of Quarter Sessions was directed to the High Constables to repair this bridge with 300 feet of causey at each end.

On 3 April, 1769, Robert Rigby of Ambleside was indicted with two others, being evil disposed persons, that they with force and arms did maliciously break down, throw off and destroy certain parts of the ledges of Cawdale Beck Bridge, so that the liege subjects of the king could not pass over it with their horses and carts as they were wont and ought to do without great danger to their lives and goods. They were each fined one shilling.

The bridge appears upon the list of public County bridges that was made out in 1825.

Cow Bridge in Hartsop.

On 15 June, 1754, Quarter Sessions issued an order to the High Constables to repair Cow Bridge it being a public bridge belonging to the County. It appears upon the list of County Bridges made in the year 1825.

Deepdale Bridge leading from Patterdale to Kirkstone Pass.

On 7 April, 1684, Quarter Sessions ordered that, whereas the two bridges called Deepdale and Gowderdale have become ruinous by the late sudden breach of the storm and that the said bridges and the rest of the bridges in Patterdale have been formerly repaired at the county's charge, the same be brought in as public bridges and that £3. 10. 0 be levied forthwith for and towards their repair.

On the Rolls of the Sessions held on 4 October, 1686, it is recorded that forasmuch as the Court is satisfied that the sum of £14. 10. 0 hath been expended about the building of Deepdale Bridge it is therefore ordered that 2d. in the pound be forthwith levied for the same. On 15 June, 1754, the Justices ordered the High Constables to repair this bridge, it being a public bridge belonging to the county. It appears upon the list of County Bridges made in the year 1825.

Eamont Bridge.

In the perambulation of the Forest of Inglewood, made in 1300, the bridge of "Amote" and the road from thence to Palat Hill at Newton Reigny, are mentioned. Trans., N.S. V, 40.

John Marshall, vicar of Edenhall, by his will dated 29 July, 1362, left a shilling a piece to six bridges of which Eamont and Lowther were two, the others being in Cumberland. Testa. Karl., 64. Thomas de Anandale, rector of Asby, left by his will dated 18 November, 1374, one mark each to eight bridges of which Eamont was one. Ibid., 107.

On 14 July, 1380, there was a grant of pontage for six months for the repair of the bridges of "Loutherbrig and Amotbrig" from things for sale passing over or under them or by the "Castlewath of Burgham." Cal. Pat. Rolls, 1377–81, p. 530.

The bridge was rebuilt, perhaps for the first time in stone, in the year 1425, when Thomas Langley, Bishop of Durham, made a grant of forty days indulgence to any who should contribute adequately towards the building of a new stone bridge across the waters of Amot. "Qui ad constructionem novi pontis lapidei super et de ultra aquam de Amot in parochia de Penreth Karliolensis dioceseos." The bishop was also Lord Chancellor, cardinal and Pope's legate. N. & B. i, 414.

Eamont Bridge appears upon the list of public County Bridges made on 28 April, 1679. On 15 June, 1754, there was an order to the High Constables to repair the bridge and 300 feet of the causey on the Westmorland side.

In January, 1871, the Penrith Local Board called attention to the dangerous character of the bridge, urging the Justices to take steps to improve it. Joseph Bintley, the Bridge Surveyor, confirmed this opinion stating that the roadway over the bridge was not wide enough for two conveyances to pass one another and that owing to the nature of the approaches, not being able to see what was coming, it was undoubtedly dangerous. He and Mr. Cory, the surveyor of Cumberland, were of opinion that the bridge could be widened at a cost not exceeding £235 to Westmorland. In 1872 Joseph Salkeld gave notice that he would lay before the next Sessions certain proposals of the Cumberland Court for the widening of the bridge.

On 2 July, 1874, a committee of Cumberland and Westmorland Justices reported that they found the roadway over the arches only 12 feet 2 inches wide and considering the great increase in traffic they deemed it dangerous to the public. They considered that nothing material could be done to improve the approaches except at very great cost and they recommended that the plan prepared by Joseph Bintley and Mr. Cory, the Cumberland Surveyor, be carried out which was to add 6 feet 4 inches to the low side thus making the roadway 18 feet 6 inches wide at a cost of £600. The minority report was signed by John Whitwell who said that the danger would not be remedied; the impossibility of seeing at the commencement of the ascent what was coming up on the other side would remain, the rapid descent from the north and the sudden and steep rise on to the bridge would be unaltered, further that if a footpath be taken from the proposed width for a protection of foot passengers the altered bridge would not have a sufficiently wide roadway. He advocated an iron girder bridge, in order to avoid the sharp rise over the arches at a cost of £1427. The majority report was confirmed and on 22 August, 1874, the tender of William Grisenthwaite for the sum of £594. 18. 0 was accepted, the expense to be borne equally by the two Counties. On 24 July, 1875, the work was reported as complete.

On 10 December, 1926, it was reported that the bridge consists of three segmental spans of 29, 30 and 29½ feet, each arch having about 8½ feet rise from the springing line. The two central piers are 11½ feet wide. The width of the highway between the parapets is 18½ feet. The appraoch gradient on the North side is about 1 in 10, and on the south side 1 in 11. Each arch is composed of 13 ribs, 19 inches wide, seven in the upper tier spaced out some 18 inches apart and six in the lower tier covering the spaces. The two tiers are not connected except by the overlap of the upper tier upon the lower. With regard to its weakness the surveyor reported that the parapet walls on the north side had been thrust out 1½ inches, while on the south side the upstream wall had been thrust out fully 11 inches from the verticle owing to heavy pressure on the road.

Two schemes were laid before the County Council. The first provided for a new bridge, of mass concrete faced with the old stones, built upon eliptical arches so as to reduce the approach gradient from 1 in 10 to 1 in 62, on the north side, and from 1 in 11 to 1 in 17 on the south side; with a road surface of 50 feet between the parapets. The scheme included for taking down certain cottages on the North side and raising the approach by material obtained from the Kemplay Bank wall.

Estimated to cost:—

The second scheme provided for retaining and strengthening the existing bridge and adding to it 31 feet 6 inches in width of new bridge upon the downstream side; also for thickening the road surface to allow of heavier transport with the necessary extra filling to the approaches.

Estimated to cost:—

In the meantime H.M. Office of Works had written to the County Council that the Ancient Monument Board had declared the bridge to be "a monument the preservation of which is of national importance"; while the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings wrote urging "that this noble medieval structure should be maintained . . . In its way the structure is comparable to the other great structural feats of the Middle Ages—though not on so large a scale as the cathedrals of England, nor even as the magnificent oak barns, it is as representative of medieval civilization and thought as any building of either of these other classes."

Glencoyne Bridge, over the Glencoyne Beck which is the boundary between Cumberland and Westmorland.

At the Quarter Sessions held on 9 January, 1775, it was ordered that this bridge, indicted as being in danger, be rebuilt and that an advertisement be inserted in the Newcastle paper for the undertaking thereof. On 15 April, 1776, Jacob Woofe was paid £9 for rebuilding the said bridge. In December, 1904, it was reported that the bridge was 15 feet wide with a clear roadway of 13 feet but that it was not fit for the Greenside Mining Company's heavy traffic that passed over it. The Cumberland surveyor submitted a plan for a proposed new bridge to be built of Aspatria stone, to cost between £400 and £500 to be shared equally between the two counties. In May, 1905, the tender of Thomas Telford was accepted at the sum of £396.

Glenridding Bridge.

This bridge appears upon the list of public County bridges, made in the year 1825.

Goldrill Bridge.

This bridge appears upon the list of public County bridges made in the year 1825.

On 3 January, 1867, the surveyor reported that it is constructed with two arches of 30 and 20 feet span respectively with a 9 feet pier separating them. The roadway is only 7 feet wide between the parapets which are scarcely higher than the road surface so that several accidents have occurred there. He proposed to rebuild the 20 feet arch and widen the bridge to 14 feet clear, also to raise the parapets to give proper protection to passengers. On 18 November, 1871, it was reported that one of the arches had given way and required rebuilding at once. The Surveyor is careful not to state which arch had fallen, the modern or the ancient!

Gowderdale Bridge.

On 7 April, 1684, Quarter Sessions ordered that, whereas the two bridges called Deepdale and Gowderdale have become ruinous by the late sudden breach of the storm and that the said bridges and the rest of the bridges in Patterdale have been formerly repaired at the county's charge, the same be brought in as public bridges and that £3. 10. 0 be levied forthwith for and towards their repair.

Grisedale Bridge.

On 15 June, 1754, Quarter Sessions ordered the High Constables to repair this bridge it being a public bridge belonging to the county. It appears upon the list of public County bridges made in the year 1825. On 1 June, 1886, a portion of the bridge succumbed to the weight of a heavy engine, when it was reported that the original structure was 10 feet 9 inches wide to which some 3 feet had been added at a later period. Even with this addition the roadway is only 10 feet 8 inches wide and as the bridge is situate in a very awkward turn of the road it is dangerous. It was resolved to rebuild the bridge with a span of 24 feet and with a roadway of 17 feet in width at an estimated cost of £200. On 18 November, 1898, after a report that the waters had washed under and let down the north-west corner of the bridge, and that the arch was twisted out of all shape and cracked across in all directions, it was ordered that this thirty year old bridge should be demolished and a new bridge be built in its place. The difficulty of attempting to widen it more than 18 inches was owing to the walls of Mr. Marshall's garden on the east and pleasure grounds on the west. Finally the construction was let to William Lightburn at a cost of £442. 11. 6.

Horseman Bridge.

On 15 June, 1754, Quarter Sessions ordered the High Constables to repair Horseman Bridge, it being a public bridge belonging to the County. It appears upon the list of County bridges made in the year 1825.

Pooley Bridge over the river Eamont on the road between Penrith and Patterdale.

On 17 April, 1732, Quarter Sessions ordered that the sum of 3d. in the pound should be levied forthwith in the East and West Wards for the rebuilding of a certain bridge called "Poulow." This appears to have been a stanch or dam for raising the water level in the interests of fishing, with a pathway over the top of it. On 11 April, 1763, it was ordered that the High Constables should meet the High Constable of the Leith Ward in Cumberland at "Powley Bridge" to make an estimate of what is necessary for the repairing or rebuilding of the bridge. And upon this report being presented with several plans for the rebuilding thereof, it was considered that the same should be built with three arches of a proper width to contain the water and be in breadth twelve feet six inches without and ten feet within the battlements. And considering that the co. of Cumberland hath heretofore built and repaired one large arch being half of the ancient bridge and also built one additional arch on the Cumberland side, and the co. of Westmorland hath heretofore built the other large arch on the Westmorland side which is now standing although the Cumberland part has fallen down, this Court upon consideration of the whole circumstances doth resolve that the co. of Westmorland do contribute two-fifths towards the expense of rebuilding the said bridge. On 12 July following, the co. of Cumberland agreeing to pay three-fifths of the expense, it was agreed that the bridge should be built of hewn stone and consist of three arches, the middle or large arch to be 49 feet and the other two arches to be 29 feet each; the pillars to be 11 feet thick and proportional in width and that the bridge be 15 feet wide over the battlements with the ends turned to make the approach as easy as possible; that the battlements be 3 feet 6 inches high, 18 inches thick at the bottom tapering up to 10 or 12 inches at the top; the top stones to be cramped with irons.

Pasture Beck.

This is a pack-horse bridge over the beck between Low Hartsop and Hayeswater in Patterdale. It is of one span formed with rough voussoirs with no walling or parapet above.

Stybarrow Crag Bridge.

At the Quarter Sessions held on 5 October, 1724, the surveyors of highways for Hartsop and Patterdale and others petitioned showing that they have every year by their 6 days labour done what in them lies to make their highway safe and commodious, notwithstanding the frequent floods that fall suddenly from the mountains, and which cannot be made free from danger without a very great charge which they are not able to raise among themselves, and especially at a place called Stybarrow over which travellers must unavoidably pass, lying between a steep and threatening rock on the one side and Ullswater on the other, that several unfortunate accidents have happened in passing by, both to men, horses and carriages who have fallen down eight or ten yards from the said road into ten fathoms of water below, some have been drowned and others narrowly escaped with life, and that near adjoining there is a water course which in the time of sudden and great rains is so filled with a heady and violent stream that for many hours it is not passable so that both horse and foot are forced to wait for the abating of the water; and praying that a small stone bridge of one arch may be erected over the said water and that there may be a strong battlement of stone 80 yards in length, four feet high erected on the top of the pass on that side next Ullswater to secure travellers from falling down the said precipice. The truth thereof being made clear to the Court and for the prevention of danger in the future it is ordered that the battlements be erected forthwith and leave be given to the inhabitants to erect a bridge as desired at their own charge and the said bridge to be kept up and repaired by the inhabitants and towards the costs the chief constables of both wards in the Bottom of the County are ordered to pay the Surveyors fifty shillings each when the said bridge is finished as a voluntary gift, nor shall the said bridge be taken for a public bridge nor be afterwards repaired by the County. In 1825 the bridge appears upon the list of public County bridges.

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.

1304

John de Lowther was presented to Barton Church in August, 1304. He had received tonsure but was only in his fifteenth year; he was instituted to the rectory in 1308 while still a minor. In 1316 he is termed "sub-deacon," when leave of absence was granted to him for three years to study.

1379 Trinity.

William de Threlkeld, knt., by Adam Crosseby his attorney, appeared against William Carter of Lowther, William Michelson of Lowther, Thomas Staffulman of Clifton, John Orred of Clifton, John Bell of Clifton, William son of John de Pullowe, John Milner del Brig, Thomas de Hoton de Penerith, and Thomas del Brig, in a plea wherefore with force and arms they cut down and carried away the trees and underwood lately growing at Yanewyth to the value of £10 belonging to the said William de Threlkeld. De Banco Rolls, 475, m. 224; 476, m. 366.

1379–80 Hilary.

Thomas de Stanley, Master of the Hospital of St. Nicholas next York, against Walter de Strickland, Christopher de Lancastre and John de Carleton, in a plea for two bovates and one acre of land with appurtenances in Barton which he claims as the right of the said Hospital by a writ of the king. De Banco Roll, 477, m. 489d.

1380 Trinity.

William de Threlkeld, chivaler, appeared against William son of John Colynson and John Johanson Alanson, in a plea of violently cutting down and carrying away his trees and underwood at Yanwath to the value of £10. De Banco Roll, 479, m. 378.

1415

Barton cum Hemell paid a fifteenth as a subisdy to the king amounting to £12; and Yaneswyth, 26s. 8d., a total of £13. 6s. 8d. Excheq. Q.R. Miscell. Books, vol. 7.

1619

By an inquest taken at Brougham, 15 October, 1619, it was found that Edward Lancaster long before his death was seised of the manor of Sockbread and divers lands in Tirril, the manor of Hartsop a moiety of the advowson of the vicarage of Barton, a moiety of the rectory of Barton and of tithes in the parish of Barton, except those in Martindale. So seised he by deed dated 28 September, 1576, granted to feoffees all the premises to the use expressed in certain indentures of same date made between the parties for the advancement of Lancelot Lancaster his son and heir and for the jointure of Jane Musgrave, one of the daughters of William Musgrave, if a marriage hereafter should be had between the said Lancelot and Jane. To hold the residue of the premises to the use of the said Edward Lancaster for the term of his life and after his death to the use of Lancelot and his heirs male. Edward Lancaster died 20 January, 1618, and Lancelot is his son and heir, aged 50 years at the time of his father's death.

1641

Christopher Lowther who married the daughter and heiress of Christopher Lancaster held the moiety of the manor of Sockbridge by knight's service rendering yearly a pair of gilt spurs.

1669–1672 Hearth Tax Roll

1669–1672 Hearth Tax Roll, Lay Subsidy 195, n. 73.

HARTSOP.

PATTERDALE.

POOLEY.

Twelve householders were exempted from paying the Tax by Certificate.

SOCKBRIDGE.

Six householders were exempted from paying the Tax by Certificate.

YANWATH.

EAMONT BRIDGE.

Five householders were exempted from paying the Tax by Certificate.

1670 29 November.

William Lancaster of Sockbridge was presented to Quarter Sessions for allowing his child to be baptised by a Nonconformist; at the same Sessions Samuel Harrison son of Edward of Martindale was presented for not attending Divine Service or receiving the Sacrament at his parish church.

1673

Among those who took the oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy and declared against the doctrine of Transubstantiation are the names of John Harrison, minister, and William Airey, schoolmaster of Barton; Christopher Langhorn, curate of Patterdale and Richard Birkett, curate of Martindale.

1679

Pooley Bridge Cross was repaired by the Earl of Sussex, but it was ruinous again in 1789.

1685 5 October.

Upon the petition of the inhabitants of Yanwath setting forth that Yanwath lane is in very great decay for want of reparation and that the whole parish of Barton ought to contribute, Quarter Sessions ordered that the rest of the parish be chargeable therewith and contribute to the charge of repair to the said lane.

1686 4 October.

Forasmuch as it appears to the Court that the parish of Barton should either free the inhabitants of Martindale from being contributory towards the repair of the highways within the said parish or that the whole parish contribute towards the repair of the highways in Martindale, and whereas the inhabitants of Martindale have already contributed to the repair of Yanwath lane, it is therefore ordered that the townships of Yanwath and Eamont Bridge be contributory for and towards the repair of the highways in Martindale and that they appear at the next Sessions to show cause to the contrary why they have not done so according to the former Order.

This bone of contention appears to have been settled on 25 May, 1688 when it was ordered that the inhabitants of Yanwath and Eamont Bridge do within 20 days refund the sum of £3 to the inhabitants of Martindale formerly paid by them towards the repair of Yanwath lane, and that from henceforth the inhabitants of Martindale repair their own highways and the inhabitants of Yanwath do repair theirs.

1695 16 July.

Whereas it appears to this Court that on the 17th day of June last past there happened a lamentable fire in the dwelling house of George Cookson of Martindale which in a very short time did burn down and consume the same with all his goods and the loss amounting to above £30 whereby the said George and his family are utterly ruined without the charity of well disposed christians. The deplorable condition of the sufferer is hereby recommended to the charitable benevolence of well disposed christians within the County of Westmorland.

1706–7 2 January.

John Sanderson of Eamont Bridge, yeoman was indicted for keeping a gun not being qualified so to do.

1711 1 October.

Thomas Fletcher of Hutton Hall, esq. appointed gamekeeper to the Rt. Hon. Thomas, earl of Sussex, for his manor or lordship of Martindale. Registered 5 December, 1711.

1743 12 July.

Presentment that 2000 yards in length and 2 yards in breadth of the King's highway lying between Kirkstone and Oak How in the township of Patterdale and leading from Patterdale to the market town of Penrith, is dirty, founderous and in decay for the want of reparation so that his majesty's subjects could not pass without great danger, etc., and that the inhabitants of Patterdale of ancient custom ought to repair the said way as often as occasion should require.

1756 26 April.

John and Michael Lancaster were both convicted of coursing, hunting and killing one fallow deer in the forest of Edward Hasell, esquire, called Martindale Forest.

1766 13 January.

On petition that the highway leading from the market town of Penrith to the market town of Ambleside is in many parts too narrow for carriages to pass with safety. Quarter Sessions ordered that the same be widened so that the ground to be taken therein did not exceed 8 yards in breadth and that no house, yard or garden be interfered with.

1796 26 November.

For the provision of soldiers to serve in the army, the parish of Barton together with the Townships of King's Meaburn, Low Winder, Hartsop and Little Strickland, having 155 houses inhabited had to provide three men, or pay a penalty of £20 for each man missing from the quota.

1813

Whereas there are within the manors of Sockbridge, Yanwath and Eamont Bridge, certain tracts or parcels of Common and Waste grounds, containing together 150 acres or thereabouts, called Tirril and Yanwath Low Moor, High and Low Round Table and Sockbridge Green; and that there is also a certain common stinted pasture called Tirril High Moor, containing by estimation 85 acres. May it therefore please your majesty to appoint John Machell of Low Plains and John Thompson of Dacre as Commissioners for putting this Act into execution. The Commissioners were authorized to appoint Isaac Slee of Tirril as their Surveyor.

The Award was enrolled at the General Quarter Sessions held on 11 January, 1819.

1842 19 July.

Indenture made between Lancelot Dobson of Grassthwaithow, in Patterdale, yeo. of the 1st part; Benjamin Dobson of the same, joiner, of the 2nd part; and George Head Head of Rickerby House near Carlisle of the 3rd part. Whereas by Indenture of 10 January, 1832, the said Lancelot Dobson by licence of Edward William Hasell, esquire, lord of the manor of Patterdale, sold to Benjamin Dobson a customary messuage near Patterdale Church called New House Field alias Parkside Hall Field, and Broad acre adjoining, and another field called Martindale Grassing on the south-west of Llamrig Park, and eight cattlegates in Grisdale Forest. Now in consideration of the sum of £5 the said Lancelot and Benjamin Dobson have sold to the said George Head Head the said piece of land called New House Field in Patterdale, bounded on the north-east and south-east by land of the said Dobsons, on the north-west by land belonging to William Marshall, esquire, together with the use of the private road or footway of 4 feet wide, leading from the south-west of such land to the road from Grisdale Bridge which communicates with the public high road. The Meeting House thereon to be used as a Meeting House by the Quakers or Friends and alternately by the Wesleyan Methodists, or if desired as a school on weekdays and when not required for religious services on Sundays. Close Roll 12854, pt. 1, n. 8.

1870

The Wesleyan Chapel at Tirril was built to seat 150 people.