A vision of Britain through time
A vision of Britain from 1801 to now.
Including maps, statistical trends and historical descriptions.
A vision of Britain through time
A vision of Britain from 1801 to now.
Including maps, statistical trends and historical descriptions.
CALDBECK, a village, three townships, a parish, a subdistrict, a range of fells, and a river, in Cumberland. The village stands on the river, at the foot of the fells, 6½ miles S by W of Curthwaite r. station, and 7¾ SSE of Wigton; and has a post office under Wigton. It was founded, along with an hospital, soon after the Norman conquest, by D'Engaine, forester of Inglewood, for the protection of travellers. It has a scattered character, along a rambling vale; yet looks pleasing and even picturesque. A number of its inhabitants are employed in different kinds of manufactures.-The three townships are Low Caldbeck, High Caldbeck, and Caldbeck-Haltcliff; and they meet at the village, and are in the district of Wigton. Real property of Low C., £2,646; of High C., £2,852; ofHaltcliff, £2,602. Pop. of Low C., 675; of High C., 313; ofHaltcliff, 521. Houses, in Low C., 159; in High C., 57; inHaltcliff, 115.—The parish includes also the township of Mosedale, in the district of Penrith. Acres, 24,280. Pop., 1,560. Houses, 342. The property is much subdivided. The manor belonged to the Lucys, the Percys, the Dalstons, and the Whartons; and belongs now to the representatives of the late Earl of Egremont. Caldbeck House was the seat of the Backhouse family; and Woodhall was the seat of George Fox, the founder of Quakerism. About 13,000 acres are on the fells, and available only for sheep pasture. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Carlisle. Value, £600.* Patron, the Bishop of Carlisle. The church dates from 1112, but has been modernized, and is good. There are a Quaker meeting house, a Wesleyan chapel, and a free school.-The subdistrict contains the three Caldbeck townships, and five parishes in Wigton district. Acres, 60,767. Pop., 5,197. Houses, 1,067.-The fells are a north-eastern offshoot of the Skiddaw range. They culminate on High Pike, at an altitude of 2,101 feet above the level of the sea; have a bleak, wild, moorish character; and afford limestone, copper, lead, bismuth, molybdena, and tungsten.-The river rises on the fells, and runs 7 miles north-eastward to the Caldew, ¾ of a mile north of Hesket Newmarket. Both this stream and the Caldew, at places near the village, make great descents, and are overhung by romantic scenery. A deep fall called the Howk, occurs beneath a natural bridge of limestone rock; another fall goes 60 feet over a precipice into a deep rocky hollow, called the Kettle; and a dark, shaggy ravine at one of the falls contains a wild cavern, 18 yards long, called the Fairy Kirk.
(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))
| Linked entities: | |
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| Feature Description: | "a village, three townships, a parish, a subdistrict, a range of fells, and a riv" (ADL Feature Type: "populated places") |
| Administrative units: | Caldbeck AP/CP Caldbeck SubD Cumberland AncC |
| Place: | Caldbeck |
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