Mallerstang
Mallerstang | ||
---|---|---|
Shire county | ||
Region | ||
Country | England | |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom | |
Post town | KIRKBY STEPHEN | |
Postcode district | CA17 | |
Dialling code | 01768 | |
Police | Cumbria | |
Fire | Cumbria | |
Ambulance | North West | |
UK Parliament | ||
Mallerstang is a
At the 2011 census data for Wharton was included with Mallerstang, giving a total population of 173.[1]
The head of the Eden
This narrow valley at the head of the River Eden is bounded by Wild Boar Fell and Swarth Fell to the west and Mallerstang Edge to the east.
The highest point of Mallerstang Edge is the summit of High Seat; at 709 metres (2,326 ft) this is a metre or so higher than the more prominent Wild Boar Fell. The other main high points on the eastern side of the dale are the curiously named Gregory Chapel, south of High Seat, and Hugh Seat to the south-east.
The river Eden rises as Red Gill Beck in Black Moss, the peat bogs below Hugh Seat. A little further downstream it becomes Hellgill Beck; and it traditionally takes the name 'Eden' below the waterfall Hell Gill Force, after it has been joined by Aisgill Beck, which flows down from Wild Boar Fell. The Ordnance Survey places the name change further upstream, beyond the diffluence of the Eden Sike which flows into Eden Sike Cave,[3] one of a number of caves in the area.
Mallerstang, like many other
Some notable historical people and events
St Mary's Church in
One of the other notable Lords of the Manor was Sir Hugh de Morville, Lord of Westmorland. He was one of the four knights who murdered St Thomas Beckett in Canterbury cathedral, and legend says that he took refuge here afterwards before being banished to France. (Hugh Seat is named after him, and Wild Boar Fell, as seen from beyond the castle to the north, is said to have haunted him because in certain lights its profile strongly suggests a face and mitre: the recumbent St Thomas.)
On 24 February 1537 ten men from Mallerstang were hanged in the dale for taking part in the Pilgrimage of Grace. The local protesters had gathered at Lammerside Castle, just north of Mallerstang, and joined the 6000 men who marched through Westmorland towards Carlisle. This uprising against King Henry VIII was put down by a military force commanded by Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, aided by Sir Thomas Wharton, 1st Baron Wharton (whose seat, Wharton Hall, lies just to the north of the parish). From the many prisoners taken, 74 were picked out to be executed in their own villages.
The tradition of dissent was still alive in the 17th century when ten or more families in the dale became
Two brothers from Clapham, Yorkshire, moved to the area in the late 18th century. Richard Faraday became a notable businessman in Kirkby Stephen, where a road is named after him. His younger brother, James, set up as a blacksmith in Outhgill (in the house now called Faraday Cottage). As he moved to London a year before their third child was born, the area narrowly missed being able to claim the great scientist Michael Faraday as a Mallerstang man.
The Settle–Carlisle Line
The most conspicuous structure in the dale is the
The people of the Dale
From the time of its Norse settlers until the mid-20th century, farming was the main occupation in the dale. There are also the inconspicuous remains of some small-scale coal and lead mining, but this was never very profitable and did not survive beyond the 19th century. Historically the population varied between about 250 and 350.
During the 20th century, as the small farms merged, and as machinery reduced the need for manpower, the population gradually declined. By mid-century it reached a low point of about 50; but since the late 1970s the remaining farming families have been joined by many "off-comers", attracted by the scenery to make their homes here, and the population doubled again from its lowest point.[citation needed] Even though it is remote from most 21st-century amenities, Mallerstang has survived as a community, with many of its ancient traditions intact.[citation needed]
Mallerstang Parish Meeting
The population, with 101 on the electoral register (March 2011), is too small to entitle Mallerstang to have a
The budget for the coming year and a 'parish precept' (an amount added to the
See also
References
- ^ Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
- ^ A. Wainwright, Wainwright in the Limestone Dales, Guild Publishing, 1991 (pages 16–19)
- ^ OS 1:2000 Sheets SD7796 and SD7896
- ^ Hamilton, John, Mallerstang Dale, Broadcast Books, 1993 (reprinted 1999)
- ^ Mallerstang Parish Meeting: The Travers Institute
- ^ a b "A Virtual Walk through Mallerstang: Part 1". Archived from the original on 7 July 2007. Retrieved 10 July 2007.
- ^ A Virtual Walk through Mallerstang Part 2: North from Pendragon Castle
- ^ Mallerstang Parish Meeting: The Settle-Carlisle Railway
- ^ Mallerstang Parish Meeting: Mallerstang Consolidated Charities
- ^ Mallerstang Parish Meeting: Red Squirrels Protection Group
External links
- Cumbria County History Trust: Mallerstang (nb: provisional research only – see Talk page)
- Mallerstang Dale website
- Mallerstang Parish Meeting webpages
- Kelly's Directory of Westmorland, 1894