Dacre is an Ancient Parish in the county of Cumberland.
Other places in the parish include: Great Blencow, Newbiggin, Soulby, and Stainton.
Parish church: St. Andrew
Parish registers begin: 1559
Nonconformists include: Society of Friends/Quaker and Wesleyan Methodist.
Parishes adjacent to Dacre
Historical Descriptions
Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
Dacre, a township and a parish in Penrith district, Cumberland. The township lies on the rivulet Dacre, 4½ miles SW by W of Penrith r. station; has a post-office under Penrith; and gives the title of Baron to the family of Brand. Real property, £2,177. Pop., 151. Houses, 37. The parish contains also the townships of Stainton, Soulby, Newbiggin, and Great Blencow. Acres, 8,205. Real property, £9,124. Pop., 967. Houses, 191. The property is much subdivided. The manor belonged to the Brands of Dacre, and passed to Hassells of Dalemain. Dacre Castle, the seat of the Brands, was converted into a farm-house, and is represented now by four square embattled towers, with connecting walls. The Brands got their title of Dacre, originally, D’Acre, from the exploits of one of them at the siege of Acre in Palestine, under Coeur de Lion; and Sir Walter Scott describes their bill-men as
“With kirtles white and crosses red
Array’d beneath the banner tall
That stream’d o’er Acre’s conquered wall.”
An ancient monastery stood here; and Athelstane, in 930, after achieving a victory in the neighbourhood, received in the monastery the homage of the Cumbrian and the Scottish kings. His victory was sung in a Saxon ode which is still extant. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Carlisle. Value, £150. Patron, the Lord Chancellor. The church is a neat edifice; and contains monuments of the Brands and the Hassells. A curious monumental structure, consisting of four stone bears clasping a rude pillar, is in the churchyard. Two schools have £9 and £191 from endowment; and other charities have £35.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A Fullerton & Co. N.d.c. [1870-72].
A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848
DACRE (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union of Penrith, Leath ward, E. division of Cumberland, 4½ miles (S. W. by W.) from Penrith; containing, with the townships of Great Blencowe, Newbiggin, Soulby, and Stainton, 975 inhabitants, of whom 204 are in the township of Dacre. A monastery existed here in the time of Bede; and at this place Constantine, King of Scotland, and Eugenius, King of Cumberland, placed themselves and their dominions under the authority of Athelstan. Dacre Castle was long the residence of an ancient and noble family of that name: the main body of it, consisting principally of four towers, of excellent workmanship, remains in a very perfect state. The parish comprises by admeasurement 6466 acres, of which about 808 are wood, 300 meadow and pasture, and the rest arable: limestone is obtained. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king’s books at £8, and in the patronage of the Crown, with a net income of £120; impropriator, the Earl of Lonsdale. The small tithes of the townships of Dacre and Soulby were commuted for land, under an inclosure act, in 1806. There is a school endowed with £140 per annum, arising from land; another with £8. 15., a third with £7. 10., and a fourth with £3, per annum. At Southwaite, in the parish, is a mineral spring.
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848
Parish Records
FamilySearch Catalog
Census returns for Dacre, 1841-1891
Computer printout of Dacre, Cumberland, England
Cumberland Archives & Family History Groups
Cumbria Archives – covers Cumberland and Westmorland
Cumbria Family History Society
Cumberland
England, Cumbria Parish Registers, 1538-1990
Cumberland ~ Births ~ Marriages ~ Deaths
Cumberland & Westmorland Newspaper Archives
Keswick At War Keswick War Memorial Cumberland History Ww1 Ww2 Boer
Cumberland Document Transcriptions
Records for England
Births and Baptism Records
England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975
Great Britain, Births and Baptisms, 1571-1977
England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008
United Kingdom, Maritime Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1787-1933
Marriage Records
Great Britain Marriages, 1797-1988
England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005
United Kingdom, Maritime Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1787-1933
Death Records
England Death Records, 1998-2015
England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991
Great Britain Deaths and Burials, 1778-1988
England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007
United Kingdom, Maritime Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1787-1933
England and Wales, National Index of Wills and Administrations, 1858-1957
England and Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1640-1660
Non-Conformist Records
England and Wales Non-Conformist Record Indexes (RG4-8), 1588-1977
Census
England and Wales Census, 1841
England and Wales Census, 1851
England and Wales Census, 1861
England and Wales Census, 1871
England and Wales Census, 1881
England and Wales Census, 1891
England and Wales Census, 1901
England and Wales Census, 1911
Occupations
United Kingdom, Merchant Navy Seamen Records, 1835-1941
War and Conflict
Great Britain, War Office Registers, 1772-1935
United Kingdom, Chelsea Pensioners’ Service Records, 1760-1913
United Kingdom, Royal Hospital Chelsea: Discharge Documents of Pensioners 1760-1887 (WO 122)
United Kingdom, Maritime Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1787-1933
United Kingdom, Militia Service Records, 1806-1915
United Kingdom, World War I Service Records, 1914-1920
United Kingdom, World War I Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps Records, 1917-1920
Newspaper Archives
British Newspaper Archive, Family Notices
British Newspaper Archives, Obituaries
Administration
- County: Cumberland
- Civil Registration District: Penrith
- Probate Court: Court of the Bishop of Carlisle (Episcopal Consistory)
- Diocese: Carlisle
- Rural Deanery: Allerdale
- Poor Law Union: Penrith
- Hundred: Leath Ward
- Province: York