Industrial past in Carlisle

Opened in the Summer of 2001 the subway linking the grounds of Carlisle Castle with the Tullie House side of Castle Way in Carlisle is filled with items from an industrial past.

Attached to a 40 meter long and 3m  high steel wall running along one side of the underpass are steel and metal objects that relate to the industry and people of Carlisle and its surrounding areas .

The work, by Russell Coleman, was commissioned by Carlisle City Council in conjunction with the Millennium Commission.

Each of the items has a number nearby. Download a copy of a list of the items and see how many of them you identified.

The underpass also contains a clock and the Cursing Stone.

St. Michael’s Church, Shap

St Michael’s church in Shap, Cumbria, was built in 1140 AD, predating Shap Abbey and the site is known to have had a church since 750 AD.

Complete restoration of the church took place in 1898 and of the 12th Century building, only the interior Norman pillars and lower parts of the walls and windows on the north side remain.

The earlier chancel built in 1765 was replaced and a new tower was built in 1820.

At the same time the Vestry was rebuilt, an Organ Chamber added and the South Aisle extended westward to form the Chapel

The double Aisled church contains some fine late victorian glass and carving and a 13th Century font.

A monument commemorating the deaths of rail workers during the construction of the Shap section of the Lancaster and Carlisle Railways in the 1840’s, is to be found in the church yard to the North of the building near the main gate.

The latest addition of the Millenium window, the work of Huddersfield artist, Adam Goodyear, involved members of the community to produce a piece of artwork that reflects the heritage and local environment.

Dedication of the window took place on 29th September, 2000 by the Revd. Canon Gervase Markham M.B.E., M.A.

St. Michael’s, Shap, is one of a group of five churches on the High Westmorland Parishes Trail, stretching from Ravenstonedale in the upper Lune Valley to Bampton near the Haweswater dam. A distance of around 35 miles.

Ordnance Survey – NY 564154

Charter Stone – Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria

Kirkby Stephen, situated a few miles off the main A66 in the Upper Eden Valley has a long heritage and a number of things to look out for if you visit.

Towards the southern end of Market Street is the Charter Stone.

Situated outside a food store, to the left as you travel south, is a circular stone embedded into the pavement edge from where the start of Luke fair was proclaimed.

A plaque, possibly made from brass, stands alongside and reads.

CHARTER STONE
Luke Fair ( Oct 27) established 1350
Proclaimed from here.

The Kirkby Stephen Town Luke Fair Charter, reaffirmed in 1605 by James l, granted the right to hold a fair on 27 October, ‘the eve and the morrow’ each year and a market each week.

The fair is so named because of it being held  St. Luke’s day.

St Luke’s day is celebrated on the 18th October. It is traditionally a day when girls could have some insight into their future marriage prospects. 

He was one of the four Gospel writer’s and is the patron saint of doctors.

St. Cuthbert’s Church, Lorton

Laying midway between the twin villages of High and Low Lorton in Cumbria, lies an unassuming and modest little church with a history dating back to the 9th Century.

To the inquisitive and knowlegeable eye, it is possible to discern the traces of the original, circular churchyard boundary.

Over the centuries, both the church building and its boundaries has changed to become what we know today. Originally belonging to the Parish of Brigham (with the mother church in Brigham), the church belonged to the Diocese of Chester, later becoming part of the diocese of Carlisle in 1883 with Lorton becoming a parish in its own right.

The layout of the land would suggest that at one time, the chapel or church would have been the centre of one village, but there is evidence that the village was in two distinct parts by the twelfth Century.

Some of the earliest documented records of a church at Lorton are in the PRO Pipe Rolls 1198-1200, giving evidence of church “Clerks” (almost certainly Churchmen or Priests).  In a record of debts to the treasury, Michael, Chaplain at Lorton is noted to have owed two Marks in 1198 and after paying some of his tax, still owed 16s 8d in 1200.  After this he disappears from the records and the next noteable is John De Lorton in 1267, who was killed by Simon de Crostwik during a politically motivated brawl at Keswick.

No more is heard of the church or its churchmen until 1524 when Lorton enjoyed the presence of a Curate, Alan Peyll with the help of three Chaplains; Henry Wyslon, Peter Hudson and Alan Crakplace.

They were almost certainly local men who, like the majority of the parishoners, would also have farmed and worked in the village.  Strength is given to this supposition from writings of a visitation on 1571 where it states; “they have no servyce but as they provide themselves”.

A full list of churchmen/priests from 1198 to present day is displayed in the church.

The earliest known dedication of the church to St. Cuthbert is in 1416 and up until the eighteenth Century, the church as was also used as a school.

In Medieval times, burials were only allowed at the “mother church”, hence the existence of the so called “corpse-roads“, such as that from Loweswater, through Holm Wood and on to St. Bees.  There are noted to be burials at Lorton since 1538, but most of the earliest remaining gravestones in the  churchyard now date from the mid 1700’s. The earliest of all, is that of Edward Thompson, which reads “who died February 16th 164 1/2, (This is the only known record of double dating of old and new calendars in the parish records).  There is no known record of a burial within the church itself.

In 1552 King Edward VI ordered a full inventory of church goods.  Following the dissolution, there had been much unathorised personal plundering of church property and Edward wanted this in the Royal Treasury rather than in private hands.  The resultant inventory recorded silver chalices, brass candlesticks and cross, bells and alterclothes, but it is believed that these records were falsified, as there was evidence much earlier of more superior furniture which was likely hidden away.

Records in 1690 – 1711 state that the church was “modestly but decently furnished with a stone font and cover, communion table with rails before it and a fair linen cloth, a reading desk and a pulpit with a cushion and covering fit thereto”.  For administration of sacraments, there was a “flaggon of pewter and a decent Bason”.

The assembled congregation would have been everybody except the bedridden sick, “hearing lessons and prayers from King James verson of the Bible and a “common prayer book of the largest volume”.  Churchgoers would have stood or knealt in groups (there were no pews until much later). Roughly made benches, arranged around the walls, would have been used by the sick or frail, hence that saying “the weak go to wall”.  The coarse woollen cloaks and shawls would have offered little benefit in the unheated, stone walled and stone flagged building.

The church fell into disrepair in the late 1700’s with the Curate writing to the Bishop saying “the villagers take their life in their hands by entering the building” and in 1806 the question was to rebuild or substantially repair!

It would appear from markings that later appeared on the walls and from the layout of the gravestones, that major repair rather than replacement took place.  The church was now fitted with pews.  The present Chancel was added around 1880 and in 1903 the west window, made by Mayer of Munich, was inserted as a bequest of Steele-Dixon of Lorton Hall.

1911 saw improvements to the Chancel; the Altar was replaced as a gift by Mrs Burrows of Broomlands and was carved by Hawtle of Southport.  The panelling was the work of James Mirehouse living at Fernwood and in 1912 was enhanced by four panels carved by George Pallister, Vicar.

The current building has fine accoustics had has played host to top ranking instrumental performers.  These concerts have become almost an annual event of note in the district.  In 1992, the new, state of the art, electronic organ was inaugurated at a concert given by the Carlisle Cathedral Organist, Ian Hare.

The crowning glory of this little church came in 1994 when a dedicated group of valley ladies, designed and worked the beautiful kneelers, spanning the full length of the pews, each individual in its design but totalling some 4,600 hours of detailed needlework.  A notebook relating to their story is kept in the church for the benefit of visitors.

To call the population to church “two bells hung in an open bell-case”.  These bells weighed around 10 stone and would continue to be used until 1870 when the church underwent major reconstruction.  These were replaced by the single , second hand bell from Bridekirk which is still used to this day.

The graveyard can lay claim to artistic fame, as a gravestone raised to the family of Edward Nelson of Gatesgarth, is an early (and probably unknown) work of the now internationally renowned sculptress, Josefina de Vasconcellos, who was a friend of the family.  Edward was a shepherd and at the top of the headstone is carved a ewe with two lambs.

Thanks must go to the benevolence and hard work of the local villagers past and present, who’s dedication has preserved this local piece of history.

The details are taken from the Church booklet written by Ron George of High Lorton in 1995.

Parish records are now held at the Carlisle Records Office (CRO).

A Gem of a Village

Just five miles South of the City of Carlisle, lies the small village or Wreay (pronounced Ree-a).

 It is thought that the name refers to its position on the river Petteril and originates from the old Norse Vra, meaning secluded nook or corner of land.

Varied spellings over the years have included Wrea, Wrey, Wray and of course Wreay, as it is known today.

The roads in, lead directly to a neat village green displaying a well presented notice board detailing the many interesting features of the village.

St, Mary’s Church flanking one side of the green may at first appear to be just another parish church, but a venture inside reveals breathtaking, architecture, carving and stone masonry.

 

 

The church was rebuilt in 1840-1842 by Sarah Losh as a memorial to her sister Catherine and her parents, reflecting her love of Italian and French architecture combined with an exuberant imagination.

 

A water pump opposite the church reveals a history dating back to Roman times.

During excavations at the church a tiled watercourse was discovered, the waters of which flowed all the way to Carlisle Cathedral.

St. Ninian, when traveling through Carlisle had remarked on the wonder of the fountain and the source of the water at Wreay.  

The aquafer below Wreay dictated the position of the crossroads around which the village has grown.

The villagers collected their water from this pump until the early 1930’s when the houses were connected to a mains water supply.

In 1988 the villagers replaced the pump with the one seen today, but sadly the water no longer meets health standards and the pump is chained.

 

Of the many trees around the village, the majority would appear to be oak and small signs around the village warn us to be careful as this is one of the rare habitats for the red squirrel.

A footpath from Wreay leads to Wreay Woods Nature Reserve,  following the course of a red sandstone gorge of the River Petterill.

The reserve is owned by Carlisle City Council and is managed by the Cumbria Wildlife Trust.

It is a semi-natural ancient woodland of mainly native broadleaved trees.

The river bank is mostly alder and in spring is covered with a bright carpet of wild flowers. A variety of bird species inhabit the reserve, including blackcap and long-tailed tit, dipper, grey wagtail and kingfishers.

Red squirrel and roe deer may also be sighted. A riverside footpath runs through the woods and continues up to Carlisle.

Around half a mile North East of the village stand the remains of a Roman fort on the banks of the river Petteril.

 

A public footpath through the village offers some picturesque views over the valley and leads over the railway, possibly the West Coast main line.

 

An interesting, detailed entry from Bulmer’s History & Directory Of Cumberland, 1901 can be found at the following website.