Caldbeck, Cumberland Family History Guide

Caldbeck is an Ancient Parish in the county of Cumberland.

Other places in the parish include: Caldbeck Haltcliff, Low Caldbeck, High Caldbeck, Mosedale, Caldbeck Halt-cliff, and Caldbeck Fells.

Alternative names:

Parish church: St. Kentigern

Parish registers begin:

Parish registers: 1657
Bishop’s Transcripts: 1663

Nonconformists include: Society of Friends/Quaker and Wesleyan Methodist.

Adjacent Parishes

Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

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; of Haltcliff, £2,602. Pop. of Low C., 675; of High C., 313; of Haltcliff, 521. Houses, in Low C., 159; in High C., 57; in Haltcliff, 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.

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].

A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848

CALDBECK (St. Kentigern), a parish, in the union of Wigton, Allerdale ward below Derwent, W. division of Cumberland; containing 1553 inhabitants, of whom 282 are in High, 646 in Low, and 567 in Haltcliffe, Caldbeck; 8 miles (S. E.) from Wigton. This parish comprises a mountainous tract of 18,000 acres, not more than 6000 of which are inclosed, the remainder being appropriated to pasturing numerous flocks of sheep. The hills contain various mineral productions, principally lead and copper ores, limestone, and coal; and there are several establishments for working the mines: a considerable proportion of silver is occasionally extracted from the lead-ore. The river Caldbeck flows through the village, about half a mile from which, in a romantic glen called the Howk, where is a natural bridge of limestone, the stream dashes impetuously over rocks, and forms two interesting cascades, by the sides of which are singular excavations named the Fairies’ Kirk and Fairies’ Kettle. A manufactory for blankets, flannels, &c., has been long established; and there are a brewery, a small paper-mill, a fulling-mill, a gingham and check manufactory, and a dye-house. Hesket-Newmarket, in the division of Haltcliffe, is a smaller village, but more compact than Caldbeck, from which it is about a mile and a quarter distant to the east; it is situated on the south side of the river Caldew, which divides this parish from that of Castle-Sowerby. The living is a rectory, valued in the king’s books at £45. 13. 6½.; net income, £436; patron, the Bishop of Carlisle. The church bears date 1112, and was founded soon after the establishment of an hospital for travellers, by the prior of Carlisle, with the permission of Ranulph D’Engain, chief forester of Inglewood: it stands in the township of Low Caldbeck, and was new roofed and greatly embellished in 1818. There are three meetinghouses for the Society of Friends, who settled here in the time of George Fox, their founder, who resided for some time at Woodhall; but their number, although formerly considerable, is now reduced to a few families. Robert Sewell, a natural philosopher of considerable repute, was a native of the parish.

Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848