Ambleside is an Ecclesiastical Parish and a market town in the county of Westmorland, created in 1746 from a chapelry in Grasmere Ancient Parish and Windermere Ancient Parish.
Other places in the parish include: Ambleside Below Stock.
Alternative names: Ambleside-Above-Stock
Parish church:
Parish registers begin:
- Parish registers: 1642
- Bishop’s Transcripts: 1795
Nonconformists include: Wesleyan Methodist
Adjacent Parishes
Parish History
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
AMBLESIDE, a small town, a township, a chapelry, and a subdistrict, in Westmoreland. The town stands on a central spot of the Lake country, at the mouths of Stockgill glen and Rothay vale, under Wansfell and Fairfield mountain, 1 mile above the head of Windermere lake, and 4½ NNW of Windermere r. station. It is a great resort of tourists for visiting the Lakes; and it commands a very noble circle of views and drives. It presents an irregular appearance; but it has, of late years, been much extended and improved; and it contains three large hotels, some comfortable lodging-houses, and many good shops. It has a post-office under Windermere, a banking office, a library, a national school, and a free grammar school; and is a polling-place, and a seat of petty sessions. Coaches run from it daily to Windermere, Grasmere, Keswick, and Cockermouth. A market is held on Wednesday; and fairs on Whit-Wednesday, and on 13 and 29 Oct. An ancient cross stood in the market-place. A church, built in 1812, stands within the town, continues to be in use; and a new church, built in 1854, in the mediæval style, with a memorial window to Wordsworth, and a disproportionately large steeple, stands in the vale to the west. There are a chapel for Methodists, a town hall built in 1858, and a mechanics’ institute. A bobbin mill, of picturesque appearance, is in the mouth of Stockgill glen. The Roman station Dictis w as in the neighbourhood, near the head of Windermere, and can still be faintly traced. Many Roman coins and other Roman relics have been found there; and some of them are preserved at Oxford. Ambleside dates from remote times; and was called first Amelsate, and afterwards Hamelside. A peculiar ceremony, which originated in the time of Pope Gregory IV., and includes a procession of school children bearing flower-garlands to the church, is observed annually on the eve of the last Sunday in July. Hence the lines of Wordsworth,
Forth by rustic music led,
The village children, while the sky is red
With evening light, advance in long array
Through the still churchyard, each with garland gay,
That, carried sceptre-like, o’ertops the head
Of the proud wearer.
The township of Ambleside is partly in the parish of Windermere, partly in that of Grasmere. Acres, 3,244, of which 454 are water. Real property, £7,482. Pop., 1,603. Houses, 306. The property is much subdivided. Many parts are adorned with fine residences, and with gardens, lawns, or woods. One part in the west contains a large slate quarry; and the mountains contain lead and copper ore. The chapelry is co-extensive with the township; and is a vicarage in the diocese of Carlisle. Value, £80. Patron, General Le Fleming. Charities, £144.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].
Historical Data
Parish Records
FamilySearch Catalog
Memorial inscriptions of St. Anne’s and St. Mary’s, Ambleside and Grasmere
Census returns for Ambleside, 1841-1891
Bishop’s transcripts for Ambleside, 1795-1876
Ambleside town and chapel : some contributions towards their history Author: Armitt, Mary L.
Westmorland Archives & Family History Groups
Cumbria County History Trust | a collaborative community project
Cumbria Industrial History Society | Industrial History of Cumbria
The Cumbria Amenity Trust Mining History Society – CATMHS
GENUKI: Westmorland, Westmorland
Local History Societies
Alston Moor Historical Society
Asby History Group on the Asby Parish
Appleby-in-Westmorland Society
Bampton and District Local History Society
Cumbria Local History Federation (CLHF)
History Group on the Long Marton
Orton and Tebay Local History Society
Ravenstonedale Parish History Group
Westmorland
Principal Inhabitants of Cumberland and Westmorland 1829 PDF
Westmorland, England – Wills Abstracts
Cumbrian Manorial Records – Homepage
Forums
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
Maps
Old maps of Britain and Europe from A Vision of Britain Through Time
Ordnance Survey One-Inch Sheet 12 Keswick & Ambleside, Published 1925.jpg
Ordnance Survey One-Inch Tourist Map of the Lake District Published 1925.jpg
Ordnance Survey Sheet NY 30 Ambleside, Published 1959.jpg
Administration
- County: Westmorland
- Civil Registration District: Kendal
- Probate Court: Court of the Bishop (Consistory) of the Commissary of the Archdeaconry of Richmond Western Deaneries – Kendal
- Diocese: Chester
- Rural Deanery: Kendal
- Poor Law Union: Kendal
- Hundred: East Ward
- Province: York