Cartmel Priory, Development and Curiosities -Ewen Cameron February 2024

The first lecture of the 2024 season was given by Ewen who has lived in the village for 20 years, after a long career in the army. He is very involved in Village life and is a guide at the Priory. He had found it difficult to explain the different stages of the development of the Priory as it had spanned 400 years and so had worked with David Coward to create computer models for each stage to illustrate what the building might have looked like. His talk, using the computer images, described each stage of the development and alterations of the building and he also used sketches, drawings and photographs to illustrate some of the points.

The models were based on a little bit of fact and information from other Augustinian Priories that had more surviving  buildings than Cartmel. No plans or records of Cartmel have survived as they were all destroyed at the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1535. A sketch drawn in 1727 looked very much like what the Priory looks like today.  Another sketch dated 1888 by a Victorian artist imagined what it would have looked like originally. Local resident and author John Dickinson, in the 1980s, had produced a plan of the site as he thought it might have been. English Heritage had produced plans based on the layout of other Priory Buildings.

In 1187 William Marshall received the grant of Cartmel, a large royal estate (28,747 acres) in Lancashire.  He married the orphaned daughter of the Earl of Pembroke in 1189. She was a wealthy woman and owned many acres of land and he had been her guardian. To celebrate his marriage and good fortune he gave his land at Cartmel to monks to found a priory and soon after building work started. It was standard custom to start building at the east end, as that was where prayer took place, at the chancel. Then the choirs were built on either side. Parish services were held in the Town Choir. The North-South Transept also was built but work stopped between 20 and 30 years after it had started. Was it because William Marshall died (in 1219) and money was no longer available? Walls to enclose it and give the monks privacy had been built.

David created a computer model of this building showing 5 round topped Romanesque arches but during this period the style changed to the more efficient transitional style. In the north transept the outline of four of the original lancet windows can be seen. The fifth one is still in use in the side wall, but the glass has been replaced. There was no nave at this time. The stonework of this end of the Priory is of a fine quality.

The nave was built possibly 100 to 150 years later but its rubble finish was much rougher and of a poorer quality than the original part. A Victorian picture of 1840, prior to improvements, show that these walls were rendered and whitewashed, thus hiding the poorer finish.

Because of Scottish raids in the area in 1322 and 1326 a Gatehouse or Piel Tower was built in 1330.

In about 1350 the Harringtons enlarged the Town Choir. Their tomb was moved but there is no information about when or why that took place. In 1390 the Priory was described in a Papal Bull as ruinous. Between 1400 and 1440 the cloisters which had been built on the customary south side had to be demolished because they had subsided and were falling down, having been built on marshy land. The new cloisters were relocated, unusually, on the north side where the land was firmer and able to support the weight.

In 1420 the large east window (second largest in UK after York) was installed in place of 6 lancet windows. This replacement window, in Perpendicular style, is very similar to the larger one at York Minster and was not built of locally quarried stone but of York stone, suggesting that York craftsmen built it. A bell tower was added about this time. It is a unique belfry set at 45 degrees, which puts less weight on the arches below. Ewen posed the rhetorical question ‘Was the Piel Tower or Gatehouse renovated and tracery windows from the Priory inserted at this time?’

By 1536 at the Dissolution the building was in phase 6. The monks were evicted, and their living accommodation was demolished but the Town Choir was saved by the locals as they were able to prove it was their Parish Church. The main Priory building was left standing but the roof was stripped off it, only leaving the Town Choir roofed. For 80 years the building remained roofless. In about 1620 it was reroofed by the Preston family of Holker and a fancy ceiling was installed. Box pews with balconies above, were constructed in front of a new triple decker pulpit, an organ was built on top of the choir, a gallery for the choir and a font on a platform were all added. A drawing dated 1838 shows all of this was still in existence then but it was dilapidated. Soon after it was decided to renovate and return the interior back to how it was in Medieval times. The plastering over the rubble walls was removed, the plastered ceiling, the box pews and the triple decker pulpit also. 

Ewen finished his lecture by telling us about some curiosities in the Priory.

Coat of Arms

Over the Cromwell Door is a wooden panel with the Royal Coat of Arms of Charles 11 painted on it. On 8 September 2022 Queen Elizabeth’s death was announced and the following day King Charles 111 was officially proclaimed King. Ewen was at the Priory that morning leading a tour and as the tour ended in front of the dark, barely visible panel the idea to conserve, refurbish and restore the panel came to him. It was agreed and the work was completed by a restorer recommended by the Bowes Museum at Barnard Castle. The artwork and the date 1681 can clearly be seen now that dirt and old varnish has been expertly removed.

He told us that the panel may have been placed elsewhere originally, maybe on top of the screen so that everyone could see it but when the organ was placed there it would have had to be moved.  There is no record about when it was moved. Other old local churches have Royal Coats of Arms panels; Witherslack has a Queen Ann panel; Cartmel Fell an Hanoverian panel; Field Broughton is looking after a panel removed from Flookburgh Chapel and Helsington has one for William 1V.

Hatchments

Above Lord Frederick Cavendish’s marble monument are funeral hatchments from Holker. A diamond shaped lozenge in a black edged frame showing the coat of arms of the deceased each would have been painted, usually on canvas, when a member of the family had died and it would initially  have been displayed at Holker over the front door until after the funeral when it would have been removed to the Priory. The custom started in the 17^th century.

Carvings and Misericords

The choir stalls erected in about 1450 were intricately carved and escaped with only a little damage during the 80 years after the church roof was removed. The question was posed ‘Were the misericords on the seats protected during the years there was no roof as they show no signs of damage?’  On the screen the Preston Coat of Arms had to be replaced as that had suffered badly during the roofless period. He commented that the bench ends were weathered and that we have no idea why the patterns on the misericords were chosen or who decided on them. He suggested that a unicorn, behind the door, a Scottish symbol, may have been put there by a Scottish carver. The seven deadly sins are represented. Dragons are carved into the arm rests and the legend is that dragons carried Alexander to the edge of the world as he wanted to see it.

The audience had several questions for Ewen before the lecture came to an end.

Pat Rowland

Text and photos.

The Ague: a History of Malaria in Cumbria and the North by Prof By Ian Hodkinson. March 2024

Approximately 60 people attended this very interesting lecture illustrated by many slides. Ian is an entomologist, who became interested in the history of malaria or marsh fever and discovered that there was good historical evidence for it both in the North West and nationally. Ague was the common word for the fever which caused shivering and shakes as the patient was also cold. Ian explained that there were 6 different types of mosquito in Britain which breed in marshy conditions and he showed the lifecycle of the mosquito and how the female transmitted the disease to humans. Ian stated that the ague was indigenous and not brought in from other countries. Dialect words for the ague included shakin/shakkins, aygo/yigga, axes/aixes and gry/graw, depending on the local area.
A map of Cumbria showed the areas where the ague was most common from the 17 th to 19 thcentury, with the south of the county showing most cases. Ian then went on to describe historical evidence of the ague commencing with the poets including Coleridge and Wordsworth who described it in detail in their poems. Areas of Scotland were mentioned with a report of ague by the Duke of York in 1680 and Professor James Ritchie showed that Kelso had 500-600 cases a year in the 18 th century, compiled from parish records. Cumbria was well documented and through slides Ian showed that from Penrith to Barrow there was evidence that the ague had been a problem before the draining of the marshes. In 1855 Harriet Martineau suggested that there was a need to drain Newby Bridge to prevent the ague. In Kendal roads were built away from the river, as it was recognised that the fever came from the wet lands. Petitions to the Quarter Sessions in 1736 showed how serious the ague was as people applied for relief due to their illness and not being able to work. The ague was also transmitted to different areas and in 1766 the Quarter Sessions of Appleby were petitioned to give a horse pass (that is to hire a horse to get home) to a man who had been infected in one area and was feeling ill on his way home to north Cumbria.
Ian explained that although it was understood that the disease was more prevalent in spring there was no understanding how it was transmitted and so various charms appeared to ward off the fever including written charms hung around the neck, spiders (by Dr Muffet), bracelets, herb remedies and water from Humphrey Head. Quinine was discovered by the Jesuit priests in South America and eventually found its way into tinctures being sold and advertised by local newspapers. Ian showed a spreadsheet of the Cumbrian newspapers advertising various tinctures, the dates and at what price.
In the mid-19 th century decline in the ague was due in the main to land drainage, improved nutrition, better public health, use of quinine and a change in agricultural practices which moved animals away from the house and living quarters. Ian then continued to state that it may return as we move to the rewetting (rewilding) of land, climate warming, resistance to antimalarial drugs and the return of intensive farming, that is cattle rearing near human habitation. Ian then answered many questions and was thanked by the chairman.

Barbara Copeland

RAF CARK AND SOUTH LAKELAND AIRFIELDS: John Nixon – October 2023

John Nixon gave a fascinating talk on the three local World War 2 airfields, Millom, Walney and Cark, including personal anecdotes from former aircrew, two of whom are still in contact at the ages of 101/103.

John joined HM Prison Service in 1974, and served for some 32 years. During this time, he developed his interest in aircraft restoration and research into local airfields – indeed, Gartree was an old RAF transport pool with prisoners billeted in the old airmans’ building. Two of his books, “Warbirds of Walney” and “The Accidental Screw”, made the Lakeland Book of The Year shortlist.

Millom, Walney and Cark were originally planned as fighter stations to protect Ireland, the Isle of Man and Barrow, but when operational became predominantly training bases. (Barrow’s protection was from anti-aircraft guns – Southern fighters could be scrambled if needed – although a set of “starfish” decoy sites such as the one at Black Combe were unsuccessful. It was less of a target after the 1942 Russian Offensive).

Millom was a training base for bomb aimers and air gunner trainees, practicing on the nearby sand-dunes with their moving target range on a large banked track. It added air observer and navigator training, and along with Anglesey became founders of RAF Mountain Rescue. There were many disasters in the Lake District and Welsh mountains, often unreported for days/weeks, due to close flying from nearby training bases and unreliable altimeters and other equipment. Until 1944, anyone available was scrambled on reports of a downed aircraft. The grisly scenes impacted morale, and after a Wellington bomber crashed and burst into flames on Red Pike, only specialists were used.

Aircraft were semi-obsolete – Hawker Henley, Fairey Battle, Lysander, Boulton Paul Defiant, Avro Anson, Blackburn Botha. The Avro Anson (“Faithful Annie”) was relatively safe and reliable, the first aircraft to shoot down a German plane, and could fly longer between services – but many others were underpowered death-traps, with engines prone to failure.

Millom closed for flying in 1944, and as an Australian repatriation unit in 1945. In 1953 it had a spell as an officer cadet training unit, and in the 1960s was used to simulate the aftermath of nuclear war.

Walney had some 1800 personnel. It focused on air gunnery schools and wire operator training. They used the Short Stirling to trail windsocks for target practice, at huge risk and fatalities. The Boulton Paul Defiant was powered by the same engine as the Spitfire but, being half as heavy again, was hugely underpowered and vulnerable. It was replaced by the Avro Anson, serviced next to the Ulverston Canal.

A plaque (on the shore at Old Park Wood) commemorates the Leven Estuary disaster, when a Miles Martinet lost its propeller and crashed north of Ulverston Railway Viaduct. The plane sank in the sands, and the body was never recovered – the aircraft may have overturned, impeding access to what was normally a flimsy cockpit.  

Walney closed at the end of the war.

Cark airfield’s site at Winder Moor was originally proposed as Vickers’ new airship production facility to replace a Walney factory shelled in 1915. The project was abandoned in 1917, with the steel diverted to tank production.

The RAF acquired the airfield in 1942, becoming Number 1 Staff Pilot Training Unit, the only one of its kind, using Avro Ansons. It was used for gunnery targets, using Wellingtons and redundant Spitfires, and for bombing practice using a target near Jenny Brown’s point. Nearby was also the site of army anti-aircraft operational training.

Cark’s personel were transferred to Walney in 1944, and the site closed in 1945, later becoming a go-kart track before becoming the present-day parachuting school.

Geoff Beeson

RAF CARK AND SOUTH LAKELAND AIRFIELDS: John Nixon October 2023

John Nixon gave a fascinating talk on the three local World War 2 airfields, Millom, Walney and Cark, including personal anecdotes from former aircrew, two of whom are still in contact at the ages of 101/103.

John joined HM Prison Service in 1974, and served for some 32 years. During this time, he developed his interest in aircraft restoration and research into local airfields – indeed, Gartree was an old RAF transport pool with prisoners billeted in the old airmans’ building. Two of his books, “Warbirds of Walney” and “The Accidental Screw”, made the Lakeland Book of The Year shortlist.

Millom, Walney and Cark were originally planned as fighter stations to protect Ireland, the Isle of Man and Barrow, but when operational became predominantly training bases. (Barrow’s protection was from anti-aircraft guns – Southern fighters could be scrambled if needed – although a set of “starfish” decoy sites such as the one at Black Combe were unsuccessful. It was less of a target after the 1942 Russian Offensive).

Millom was a training base for bomb aimers and air gunner trainees, practicing on the nearby sand-dunes with their moving target range on a large banked track. It added air observer and navigator training, and along with Anglesey became founders of RAF Mountain Rescue. There were many disasters in the Lake District and Welsh mountains, often unreported for days/weeks, due to close flying from nearby training bases and unreliable altimeters and other equipment. Until 1944, anyone available was scrambled on reports of a downed aircraft. The grisly scenes impacted morale, and after a Wellington bomber crashed and burst into flames on Red Pike, only specialists were used.

Aircraft were semi-obsolete – Hawker Henley, Fairey Battle, Lysander, Boulton Paul Defiant, Avro Anson, Blackburn Botha. The Avro Anson (“Faithful Annie”) was relatively safe and reliable, the first aircraft to shoot down a German plane, and could fly longer between services – but many others were underpowered death-traps, with engines prone to failure.

Millom closed for flying in 1944, and as an Australian repatriation unit in 1945. In 1953 it had a spell as an officer cadet training unit, and in the 1960s was used to simulate the aftermath of nuclear war.

Walney had some 1800 personnel. It focused on air gunnery schools and wire operator training. They used the Short Stirling to trail windsocks for target practice, at huge risk and fatalities. The Boulton Paul Defiant was powered by the same engine as the Spitfire but, being half as heavy again, was hugely underpowered and vulnerable. It was replaced by the Avro Anson, serviced next to the Ulverston Canal.

A plaque (on the shore at Old Park Wood) commemorates the Leven Estuary disaster, when a Miles Martinet lost its propeller and crashed north of Ulverston Railway Viaduct. The plane sank in the sands, and the body was never recovered – the aircraft may have overturned, impeding access to what was normally a flimsy cockpit.  

Walney closed at the end of the war.

Cark airfield’s site at Winder Moor was originally proposed as Vickers’ new airship production facility to replace a Walney factory shelled in 1915. The project was abandoned in 1917, with the steel diverted to tank production.

The RAF acquired the airfield in 1942, becoming Number 1 Staff Pilot Training Unit, the only one of its kind, using Avro Ansons. It was used for gunnery targets, using Wellingtons and redundant Spitfires, and for bombing practice using a target near Jenny Brown’s point. Nearby was also the site of army anti-aircraft operational training.

Cark’s personel were transferred to Walney in 1944, and the site closed in 1945, later becoming a go-kart track before becoming the present-day parachuting school.

Geoff Beeson

George Hutchins Bellasis and the First Picture of Grange –over-Sands

Lecture by Tony Lonton on 7 September 2023

Tony Lonton is a trustee at the Armitt Museum in Ambleside and a very early painting of Grange by George Hutchins Bellasis was donated to the museum.  Bellasis, 1788 – 1822, was an artist unknown to the art history community in Cumbria.  In August 2021 another Armitt trustee donated a book of paintings of St. Helena, also by GH Bellasis.  Tony then decided to research this artist.

Tony discovered that there were numerous references to the Bellasis family in Bowness. George Bellasis is buried in St. Martins churchyard, Bowness, with his wife.  There is mention of the family in the ‘History of Bowness’ by John Campbell and in St. Martin’s church there is a stained glass window commemorating Daniel Holme Bellasis, his eldest son, who was distinguished in the army.

Tony then related the history of the family. The Bellasis family, originally from Long Martin, were Catholics and faced persecution for their faith.  In the 1700s John Bellasis went to Bombay and joined the East India Company.  Margaret Bellasis, the great, great niece of George Bellasis has written a history of the family in Bombay. Major General John Bellasis was a general under Wellesley (Duke of Wellington). He had 7 children, George was the 2^nd child.  The family returned to England, where George attended Queens College, Oxford.  He returned to India in 1801, aged 22, where he was in the 19 century light dragoons under Wellesley.  Due to ill health he returned to England, via St. Helena, where he stopped off for 8 months and made the sketches of St. Helena. He left St. Helena in 1805, returning to England and marrying Charlotte Maud from the Maud family of Kendal, who were bankers and influential. George’s father remained in Bombay and the rest of George’s family did well in the army.

Tony believes that George learned to draw in the army where, prior to photography, the army needed to draw the landscapes.  The family first lived at Waterside in Bowness and as the family grew they built their own house, Holly Hill, which still remains behind the Coop in Bowness, next to the World of Beatrix Potter Attraction.  George knew and mixed with celebrities in the local area. William Green of Ambleside, a local artist, was a subscriber to George’s book, as were the Maud family and other local artists. George knew John and Jessy Harden of Brathay Hall, John was an amateur painter. George knew the Bishop of Llandaff, Richard Watson, who lived at Calgarth Park and John Wilson of Elleray (his nom de plume was Christopher North).  George painted the above buildings which Tony showed to the audience. George also painted Bowness, which are historical documents of the early village of Bowness. In one sketch George traced out the village with the names of the people who lived in each house. Tony is still attempting to find other paintings by George Bellasis and hopes there may be more in the Maud family archive and in the British Museum.

Tony believes that George visited Grange because his brother-in-law, Colonel Thomas Holme Maud, a banker, owned Blawith cottage in Grange.  Tony showed the audience the painting of a very early Grange, many years before the arrival of the railway, and asked audience members if they recognised any of the buildings or sites in the painting.  An enthusiastic discussion followed and one of the CPLHS members has labelled the various sites using the enclosure map and her own knowledge of the history of Grange. This was not available at the meeting but will be forwarded to Tony and made available to members in the future.  

Barbara Copeland

The Al Tounyans and Coniston – Karen Babyan – May 2023

The Society welcomed Karen Babyan to Cartmel on 12^th May 2023.  Karen is an artist, writer and curator of Anglo-Armenian heritage who has researched the background to the writing of Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons books in relation to the Anglo-Armenian Altounyan family who lived in the Lake District when he wrote the first book in the series. 

Her research has included talking to the Altounyan family and accessing the Arthur Ransome Archive and Arthur Ransome Literary Trust records, having been awarded Arts Council funding.  Her book ‘Swallows and Armenians’ is comprised of 5 fictionalised short stories exploring the Altounyans’ lives in Coniston and Aleppo, bringing to life their cultural history, traditions and their relationship with the Ransomes.  In addition to publishing the book she has also had an exhibition of paintings, text works, sculptures, artists’ books and hosted an Armenian circle dance event.

Ernest & Dora Altounyan lived Aleppo in Syria with their 5 children (Taqui, Susan, Mavis (known to her family as Titty), Roger and Brigit) and visited the Lake District where Dora was raised and her father (W G Collingwood) lived.   Ernest (of Irish & Armenian heritage) was a doctor and his wife Dora a talented painter.  They lived close to Arthur Ransome and his Russia second wife Evgenia in the Lake District and the children called them Uncle and Aunt.

The children sailed 2 dingies on Coniston Water called Swallow and Mavis and when the first Swallows and Amazons book was published by Arthur Ransome in 1930 the dedication read “To the six for whom it was written in exchange for a pair of slippers”, referring to a pair of Turkish slippers the Altounyans had given Ransome as a parting gift.  Later editions had an amended dedication which may reflect the cooling of the friendship between the families whilst Ransome was writing Peter Duck on a 1932 visit to Aleppo. 

The children were initially home-schooled but later attended boarding school in England.  There is an indication that Arthur & Evgenia Ransome wanted to adopt Mavis (Titty) and although they maintained contact until Dora’s death in the 1960s the relationship between the families was unsettled.   Titty’s children have stated that due to this conflict they didn’t read the books or go out in boats.

Lyn Prescott

Magistrates and malefactors: crime in seventeenth century Cartmel and Furness – Dr Alan Crosby April 2023

Alan Crosby focussed his entertaining and informative talk on the 1620s and 1630s where very good records are still available, but began in the Middle Ages.

He pointed out that society then was much more lawless and dangerous than it is now. In 1290 King’s Justices came from London to Lancashire and heard about 1100 cases.  They were concerned about “vigilante” justice including executions, and wanted to establish definitive expert judgments. A more coherent system was formulated in the 1400s when JPs were created.  By the 1600s magistrates were key.  They were all men, taken from the upper and middle classes who were landowners with time to serve.  Men “in trade” were not included which was unfortunate as most moneyed men in Lancashire were in trade. They had to be Protestant as well in order to enforce the penal laws against Catholics, which was another problem as many Lancashire gentry were Catholic.  This meant that the few remaining eligible members of the gentry were very hard working.

Magistrates met at Quarter Sessions, Epiphany, Easter, Midsummer and Michaelmas (January, April, June and September).  They held sessions in different parts of the county because of its size and difficulties of accessibility, including Lancaster, Preston, Ormskirk, Wigan and Manchester.  Records were kept by the Clerk of the Peace (a hereditary office) who had the unenviable task of transcribing strong dialects into King’s English.

Every township had a local Constable chosen by the Ratepayers, who was responsible for law and order and collecting rates. Several man testified about the Constable searching their houses late at night in case they were playing cards.  Neighbours were expected to eavesdrop and informing was standard practice.

When a violent crime was committed and the suspect had fled, he was outlawed and his chattels removed.

Many disputes were between neighbours over matters such as boundaries and were often unprovable so the cases were dismissed as it was one person’s word against another.  Women were not considered to be good witnesses and their evidence was treated with scepticism, as was exemplified when eight women testified to a man’s crime and he was let off.  Others involved charges of poaching and rustling, which again were often dismissed through lack of witnesses. 

The cases also throw an interesting light on how society functioned and village life in general.

Catherine Bottomley

Victoria County History (VCH) Project – an update: Prof Fiona Edmunds Feb 2023

Our lecture on 2 February 2023 was given by Professor Fiona Edmunds who is the Director of the VCH Cumbria Project. With Dr Sarah Rose from the Regional Heritage Centre located in the History Department at Lancaster University they are supervising volunteers who are producing town and village histories for the VCH.

The VCH was founded in 1899, dedicated to Queen Victoria, and aimed to produce a history of every county, town, and village in England to a nationwide template based on primary evidence and it was to be fully referenced. The work is managed by the Institute of Historic Research at the University of London and is done on a county-by-county basis. Each county’s information, as it was completed, was presented in a series of Red Books. Work was halted by the First World War and between 1923 and 1932 a handful of volumes were published. From 1932 the Institute of Historical Research has run the project.

In May 2010 Cumbria County History Trust (CCHT) was launched to coordinate and gather resources for the VCH Project in collaboration with Lancaster University. The VCH project aims to update existing histories and research and write histories for those places that were not published to the same high standards that were adopted originally.

Cumbria was formed in 1974 and incorporated the former counties of Cumberland, Westmorland, a bit of Yorkshire and Lancashire, North of the Sands. Farrer and Brownbill carried out research on Lancashire, and it was published between 1910 -1914. Cartmel Peninsula area can be found in volume 8. Work was started on Cumberland and two volumes were published. Nothing was published for Westmorland.

The published work for Furness and Cartmel had not been updated since 1910. The following link is for the Parish of Cartmel

https://www.history.ac.uk/research/digital-history/british-history-online

When the project started in 2010 Cumbria was the first county to recruit volunteers to research and write the histories in collaboration with university academics. Cumbria County History Trust is the online resource for the project and updated history of Cumbria and the website has considerable resources and information.

https://www.cumbriacountyhistory.org.uk/

In 2019, to celebrate the 120^th anniversary of VCH, each county filled a special VCH Red Box, referencing the iconic, published VCH series of Red Books, with objects telling the history of the place. Cumbria’s Red Box contained a lump of lead ore, a lump of iron ore, letter from Cumbrian Artist Percy Kelly to the poet Norman Nicolson dated 18 Oct 1971, Coniston Manor Court admittance, ‘Herdy’ sheep mouse mat, A-Z Visitors’ Map of the Lake District, sample of Herdwick wool carpet, a map of the liberty of Furness by William Brasier, 1745, copied by T. Richardson, 1772, postcard showing ‘The Giant’s Thumb, Penrith’ by W G Collingwood (1920), Squirrel Nutkin badge, Furness Multi Cultural Community Forum message bug.

The contents can be viewed via this link.

https://www.history.ac.uk/research/centre-history-people-place-and-community/chppc-red-boxes-gallery

A free app is available to navigate more than 13,000 English places by the first edition of the Ordnance Survey map, linked to the VCH content.

This link tells you about the app and how to access it.

https://www.history.ac.uk/research/victoria-county-history/a-history-english-places-vch-smartphone-app

A subscription version is available that enables access to detailed entries from the 175 volumes of histories produced by VCH project and published in British History Online. British History Online is a digital library focusing on the period 1300 to 1800, a depository of the research that had already been carried out.

This is the link.

https://www.history.ac.uk/research/digital-history/british-history-online

Short digests for the whole county of Cumbria were produced for the Jubilee Digest 2012. A book containing all of the digests can be purchased or they can be accessed for free online via the interactive map of Cumbria.

This is the link to the interactive map.

https://www.cumbriacountyhistory.org.uk/about-place

About the County section contains information on cross-cutting themes and county wide histories. On this page can be accessed 100 interesting facts about Cumbria and Fiona told us that they have not yet reached 100 facts and asked us to view it and submit any suggestions for facts they have not included.

https://www.cumbriacountyhistory.org.uk/100-interesting-facts

In 2019 the project was able to publish its first full parish history for Cumberland, Kirkoswald and Renwick. Fiona finished her lecture with an in depth look at the draft that has been completed for Lonsdale Ward, Westmorland and it is hoped to publish it next year.

The project is looking for volunteers and Morecambe Bay Partnership will be running training classes in Autumn 2023 for anyone who is interested.

Pat Rowland

Feb 2023

Roadside Garages and Cafes in Westmorland 1900-1970 by Dr Jean Turnbull: Oct 2022

Jean Turnbull has been researching this topic for a number of years and also published a book titled ‘The Impact of Motor Transport on Westmorland 1900-1939’.  Following the development and increasing popularity of motorised vehicles in the early part of the 20^th Century garages and then roadside cafes became a common sight along local roads.  Whilst in 1897 there were only 5 motor vehicle businesses in Westmorland,  by 1914 this has increased to 21.  Businesses often developed into garages from other engineering aspects including cycling, agricultural machinery and gun making.  Early garages included Atkinson & Griffin, H J Croft and Braithwaite Bros in Kendal and Hewertstons in Windermere.

The Department of Transport was established in 1919 and the road tax levied was used to improve the roads.  The amount spent in Westmorland roads between 1919 and 1939 only totalled £2.5 million and roads were only tarmacked after WW II.

Roadside garages & petrol stations became more common and totalled 78 in Westmorland by 1939. The standard design was a building with a hipped roof and they were one of the first businesses to have telephones – so stranded drivers could contact them for fuel or maintenance.

After 1945 the numbers of garages and car showrooms continued to increase including Towers Garage at Holme Mills, Jack Radcliffe at Grayrigge, Knowles Bros in Appleby, Woolleys in Windermere, Douthwaites at Milnthorpe, Morris’s at Kirkby Lonsdale, Hale Garage near Beetham and Wilsons at Skelsmergh. 

Roadside cafes became established from the 1920s and included Bela Café in Milnthorpe, Bear Café at Witherslack and the Jungle Café at Selside.  Around 30% of the cafes were established and operated by women.  Transport cafes with large car parks were established on all the major routes including the A66 and there was a café bus on the A6 at the top of Shap.   

Some garages and roadside cafes remain today, though many have closed due to lack of passing traffic, particularly on the A6 following the building of the M6.

Roadside Garages and Cafes in Westmorland 1900-1970 by Dr Jean Turnbull

Jean Turnbull has been researching this topic for a number of years and also published a book titled ‘The Impact of Motor Transport on Westmorland 1900-1939’.  Following the development and increasing popularity of motorised vehicles in the early part of the 20^th Century garages and then roadside cafes became a common sight along local roads.  Whilst in 1897 there were only 5 motor vehicle businesses in Westmorland,  by 1914 this has increased to 21.  Businesses often developed into garages from other engineering aspects including cycling, agricultural machinery and gun making.  Early garages included Atkinson & Griffin, H J Croft and Braithwaite Bros in Kendal and Hewertstons in Windermere.

The Department of Transport was established in 1919 and the road tax levied was used to improve the roads.  The amount spent in Westmorland roads between 1919 and 1939 only totalled £2.5 million and roads were only tarmacked after WW II.

Roadside garages & petrol stations became more common and totalled 78 in Westmorland by 1939. The standard design was a building with a hipped roof and they were one of the first businesses to have telephones – so stranded drivers could contact them for fuel or maintenance.

After 1945 the numbers of garages and car showrooms continued to increase including Towers Garage at Holme Mills, Jack Radcliffe at Grayrigge, Knowles Bros in Appleby, Woolleys in Windermere, Douthwaites at Milnthorpe, Morris’s at Kirkby Lonsdale, Hale Garage near Beetham and Wilsons at Skelsmergh. 

Roadside cafes became established from the 1920s and included Bela Café in Milnthorpe, Bear Café at Witherslack and the Jungle Café at Selside.  Around 30% of the cafes were established and operated by women.  Transport cafes with large car parks were established on all the major routes including the A66 and there was a café bus on the A6 at the top of Shap.   

Some garages and roadside cafes remain today, though many have closed due to lack of passing traffic, particularly on the A6 following the building of the M6.

Lyn Prescott

The Mystery of the Chimney at Jenny Brown’s Point Simon Williams Sept 2022

Simon Williams of the Mourholme Local History Society visited CPLHS  for our September 2022 meeting which was relocated from our usual venue of  Cartmel Village Hall to the Priory. For those unfamiliar with the whereabouts of Jenny Brown Point and its chimney, Simon located the site which today is on a peninsula at the northern end of Morecambe Bay which drains Leighton Moss at Silverdale. So how did the place get its name? In the 1630’s it was noted in the will of the occupant of Dyke House Farm that this farmer had a daughter called Jenny Whalley. Other than keeping pigs and running a boarding house, Jenny seemed to have no other claim to fame. So further investigations were necessary to establish why it had been built.

Over the years, a number of explanations have been put forward to explain the existence of this chimney which sits on a piece of  fairly inaccessible coastline. These explanations included a disused mine, a lime kiln, a shipping beacon, a site for lead processing and a copper smelter. All of these uses were carefully discounted leaving only the copper smelter as being the one that could be supported by both archaeological evidence and primary historical documents.

The key to solving the mystery lay in a couple of sources. One being a legal case between the Townley estate and Robert Gibson which was dated 1788. Robert Gibson was Lord of the Manor which had taken in Yealand during the Inclosure awards of 1778. As Lord of the Manor, he had mineral rights to common land but Robert Gibson seems to have taken advantage of the Townleys of Leighton Hall who were  absentee landlords and built the chimney on Townley land.

Further documentation, showed that Robert Gibson had leased land from Jenkison, a school master and Atkinson, a Lancaster surgeon and Parkinson.

This discrepancy of entitlement led to a dispute between Gibson and the Townleys and in 1788, the Kings Bench found in favour of the Townleys. In 1790, Robert Gibson died intestate.

Historical documentation alone was insufficient and needed archaeological evidence to firmly establish that copper had actually been smelted. With funding from Morecambe Bay Partnership and a group of volunteers, archaeological digs and geophysical surveys took place and supported the existence of a smelter, quayside, stone jetty but as with all coastlines, the pebbles and stone have been moved over time and other than the chimney little remains of what was a quayside to transport the copper. But it is clear that boats came and went for a short period of time.

More specifically, clinker was found in an ash pit which formed  part of the calcining process used to smelt copper. From the air,  ash pits and ventilation channels were identified which all further confirmed that  the Jenny Brown Chimney was an industrial folly. Sadly the uneconomic scale of production and competition from copper from Swansea along with the High Court case that went against Robert Gibson lead to its demise and nature has taken over and left only the chimney for visitors today.

However, the research done has been recorded in a plaque now in position at Jenny Brown Point  and with an accessible footpath through Brown Houses, the chimney is no longer a mystery for those who choose to explore it close up.

The Lucks of Cumbria by Andrew Musgrave March 2022

We opened our 2022 season at Cartmel Village Hall recently when 30 members who attended the March lecture were welcomed back after two years without f2f meetings. We heard about the Lucks of Cumbria, an entertaining talk, given by local author Andrew Musgrave. We learned that he had investigated eleven Lucks, a project started during lockdown that resulted in the publication of his book recently. He described the precious talisman heirlooms that were presented to the owners of county houses that were supposed to ensure the protection of the house or the continuation of the family line by a male heir. He told the stories he had discovered about how and when the lucks had arrived at each house or been given to the family. He also commented on how many connections he had found between the Lucks across Cumbria and the Musgrave family who had received the first known Luck in the county at their then home at Edenhall. He ended by investigating if the Lucks had been successful. 

Pat Rowland March 2022