Bewcastle is an Ancient Parish in the county of Cumberland.
Other places in the parish include: Bailie, Nixons, and Bailey.
Alternative names:
Parish church: St. Cuthbert
Parish registers begin:
- Parish registers: 1737
- Bishop’s Transcripts: 1665
Nonconformists include: Church of Scotland/Scottish Presbyterian and Presbyterian Church in England.
Table of Contents
Adjacent Parishes
- Lanercost with Kirkcambeck
- Stapleton
- Falstone, Northumberland
- Greystead, Northumberland
- Nicholforest
Parish History
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
BEWCASTLE, a township and a parish in Longtown district, Cumberland. The township lies in an upland tract, between the rivers Line, Kirkbeck, and Irthing, 6½ miles NNW of Rosehill r. station, and 10 NE of Brampton. Real property, £1,918. Pop., 152. Houses, 27.
Here was a Roman station, garrisoned by part of the second Roman legion, to protect the workmen employed in building the Roman wall. Here also was a Norman castle, repaired by Bueth, a Norman baron, lord of the manor, immediately after the Conquest, and called from him Bewcastle.
The structure was square, each front about 87 feet long; was occupied by a border garrison in the time of Elizabeth, and demolished by parliamentary forces in 1641; and the ruin of it, in one part about 40 feet high, is still standing. Many Roman coins and inscriptions have been found. The right of fair and market was acquired in the time of Edward I.; but has long been in disuse.
The parish includes also the townships of Nixons, Bailey, and Bellbank; and its Post Town is either Gilsland or Brampton under Carlisle. Acres, 30,000. Rated property, £8,693. Pop., 1,091. Houses, 205. The property is much subdivided. The manor was given, in the time of Charles I., to Sir Richard Graham; and it remains now with his descendant Sir F. U. Graham of Netherby. Large portion of the surface is wild and waste. Coal, limestone, and lead are found.
The living is a rectory in the diocese of Carlisle. Value, £120. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Carlisle. The church is small and good, on a rising-ground within the fosse which surrounds the station. An ancient obelisk, a single block, 14 feet high, with sculptures and inscriptions which were but lately deciphered, stands in the churchyard. There is an English Presbyterian chapel.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].
A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848
BEWCASTLE (St. Cuthbert), a parish, in the union of Longtown, Eskdale ward, E. division of Cumberland, 10 miles (N. N. E.) from Brampton; comprising the townships of Bailie, Bellbank, Bewcastle, and Nixons; and containing 1274 inhabitants, of whom 181 are in the township of Bewcastle.
This place, which was a Roman station on the Maiden-way, derived its name from a fortress erected here soon after the Conquest by Bueth, lord of Gilsland, and in which, in the reign of Elizabeth, and also in 1639, a border garrison was placed; during the civil war the castle was demolished by the parliamentarians, and only some slight vestiges of it now remain.
The parish comprises about 41,221 acres, of which 21,221 are rateable, and about 20,000 undivided common; it abounds with richly varied and picturesque scenery, and within its limits the Leven or Line and the Irthing have their sources.
The substrata are chiefly limestone and coal, and lead-ore is found in abundance. In the 7th of Edward I., license was granted to John Swinburn, to hold a weekly market and an annual fair. The living is a rectory, rated in the king’s books at £2, and in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Carlisle, with a net income of £120. The rectorial tithes for the township of Bewcastle have been commuted for £60; and there are 40 acres of glebe.
In the churchyard is a curious antique cross composed of a single stone, bearing Runic inscriptions which have been variously interpreted, and some curious devices supposed to be emblematical of the conversion of the Danes to Christianity, and commemorative of the death and interment of one of their kings.
Here is a place of worship for Presbyterians. Many coins, inscribed stones, and other relics of Roman occupation have been found, and there are various relics of antiquity in the vicinity. The parish contains two mineral springs, one sulphureous, the other chalybeate; and at Low Grange, a quarter of a mile to the east of the church, is a petrifying spring.
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848
Parish Records
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FreeReg
| Place | Churches | Registers | Search |
| Bewcastle | Nether Knowe Scotch Presbyterian Chapel | Parish Register | Search FreeReg |
Maps
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| National Library of Scotland | OS maps | |||
| Old OS maps | OS maps | |||
| Old-maps.co.uk | OS plans | |||
| Where’s the Path? | Map | |||
| SABRE Maps | Map | OS maps | ||
Administration
- County: Cumberland
- Civil Registration District: Longtown
- Probate Court: Court of the Bishop of Carlisle (Episcopal Consistory)
- Diocese: Carlisle
- Rural Deanery: Carlisle
- Poor Law Union: Longtown
- Hundred: Eskdale Ward
- Province: York