CHURCH CONISTON
Coningeston, 1160.
Tillesburc, 1160; Tildesburgthwait, 1196.
In area Church Coniston, formerly Coniston
Fleming, is the largest township in the parish, containing 7,423 acres; its population in 1901 was
917. (fn. 1) It occupies the northern end of the parish,
being bounded on the east by Coniston Water and
Yewdale Beck, and on the north by the Brathay.
Except for a tract of comparatively level ground
beside the lake, the whole surface is occupied by
the great Fells, culminating in Coniston Old Man,
2,633 ft. above the sea, which is the highest point in
the county. This was formerly a beacon station.
The view from the summit commands the great
Cumberland mountains to the north, Ingleborough
to the east, Snowdon to the south, and the Isle of
Man to the south-west. About a mile north in a
depression in the hills is Levers Water; the hills
again rise till at Wetherlam 2,502 ft. is attained, and
then descend to the Brathay valley. This northern
part is called Tilberthwaite. From Levers Water
and Reddell two streams descend south-east, uniting
to form the Church Beck, which discharges into the
north end of the lake.
The scattered village of Coniston is placed on
the banks of this beck, at the north-west corner of
the lower ground referred to, so that it looks over
the upper end of the lake towards Monk Coniston
Moor (922 ft.) on the east, and is dominated by the
gloomy mass of the Old Man about 2 miles to the
west. To the north are the steep sides of Yewdale
Crag, 1,345 ft. To the south are Cat Bank and
Haws Bank; near the latter by the lake-side stands
the old hall. The hamlet of Tilberthwaite is
situated nearly 3 miles north of Coniston below a
rocky gill extending from Yewdale up the Fells
towards Wetherlam. The scenery of this part is very
picturesque; there is a road over the hills to the
Brathay valley and Little Langdale Tarn on the north.
The principal road is that leading north from
Ulverston through Torver to Coniston, and then by
Yewdale to Skelwith, or round the head of the
lake to Hawkshead on the east. The single-line
railway of the Furness Company from Broughton to
Coniston runs beside the road; its terminus stands
just above the village. The line was opened in
1860.
There are some ancient inclosures and a Bronzeage fenced interment place (fn. 2) on the hill-sides.
A cattle fair is held in September.
There was a smelting forge at work at Coniston for
about a century, 1675 to 1750. (fn. 2a) The slate quarries
are extensively worked, the green slate being a special
product. The copper mines, which have long been
known, (fn. 3) have not been worked for the last few years.
The land is chiefly in pasture; the soil is gravel,
overlying slate and stone.
At the north side of the town is the institute built
in 1878 and rebuilt in 1897, to which the Ruskin
Museum (1901) has been added; this contains relics
of the great writer, also local antiquities, &c.
In 1894 the township was augmented by the
addition of Monk Coniston from Hawkshead, and the
whole is now known as Coniston simply (fn. 4) ; it is
governed by a parish council of seven members.
Manor
On the partition of Furness Fells
about 1160 Coniston was included in
the Lancaster moiety, (fn. 5) and so became a
member of the barony of Ulverston; but on the
later division of this barony it appears to have been
included in the Lindsay or Coucy share, afterwards
held by Furness Abbey. The manor of CONISTON
was granted by Gilbert Fitz Reinfred about 1200 to
Gilbert son of Bernulf. (fn. 6) It descended to Adam de
Urswick, whose daughter married Richard le Fleming, (fn. 7)
apparently of the Wath family, the senior branch of
which obtained a moiety of Croston in Leyland.
As they were concerned chiefly with Cumberland and
Westmorland (fn. 8) there is but little to record of them
in Lancashire. (fn. 9) John Fleming died in 1352 holding the manor of Coniston by the fortieth part of a
knight's fee; his son Richard was thirty years of age. (fn. 10)
Richard Fleming of Furness in 1373 gave the manor
of Beckermet to his son Thomas and Margaret his
wife. (fn. 11) In 1409 it was stated
that Sir Thomas Fleming then
held Coniston of the Abbot
of Furness by knight's service
and a rent of 2½d. (fn. 12) John
son of John Fleming was in
1522 found to hold the
manor of Coniston with messuages, water mill, land and
wood, but the tenure was not
recorded. (fn. 13) Hugh Fleming
died in 1557 holding the
manor of the queen in socage
as of the late abbey of Furness; William his grandson and heir was twenty-six
years old in 1561. (fn. 14)
Fleming of Coniston, baronet. Gules a fret argent.
The family conformed to the established religion
in the time of Elizabeth and James I, for William
Fleming was a justice of the peace in 1600, (fn. 15) in
which year he died, (fn. 16) and his sod John was high
sheriff in 1610–11 (fn. 17) ; John, however, was afterwards
reconciled to the Roman Church and paid large sums
as a recusant. (fn. 18) He made a settlement of his estate
about 1640 for the benefit of his son William, a
minor, (fn. 19) and appears to have died at the beginning
of the Civil War, his estate being sequestered as that
of 'a Papist and delinquent.' Though William
Fleming was a minor and died before attaining his
majority his manors and lands were sequestered in
1643 for his 'popery and delinquency.' The heir
was a cousin William Fleming of Skirwith, who in
1647 compounded for his delinquency in being in
arms against the Parliament. He and his descendants
were Protestants, and his grandson Sir George
Fleming, second baronet, was Bishop of Carlisle
1735–47. The manor descended in the male line (fn. 20)
to the bishop's grand-nephew Sir Michael le Fleming,
who died in 1806, leaving an only daughter Anne
Frederica Elizabeth, who married her cousin Sir
Daniel Fleming, the heir male. He died without
issue in 1821, but his widow lived till 1861, and by
her dispositions the estates went to cousins. Of
these Andrew Fleming Hudleston died soon after
her, unmarried, and then Major-General George
Cumberland Hughes succeeded. He assumed the
surname Le Fleming in 1862 and at his death in
1877 was succeeded by his son, Mr. Stanley Hughes
Le Fleming of Rydal, the present lord of the manor. (fn. 21)
The baronetcy has descended to the heir male, Sir
Andrew Fleming Hudleston Le Fleming, eighth
baronet.
Coniston Hall: The North Front
Courts are held every year, usually in June, at
Coniston Hall, by the steward, who has in his custody
court rolls going back to 1806. There are two parts
of the manor, Above Beck and Below Beck. A fine
of £2 called 'income' is paid by each tenant on his
first entry. The usual fines are twenty times the
rent on change of tenant, and on the death of the
lord seventeen times the rent is paid in Below Beck
and fifteen times in Above Beck. Officers called
Common-lookers and Pinfold-lookers are appointed. (fn. 22)
In the registers (at 1645) is an account of the
tenements from which the constable was chosen in
a seventeen-years' cycle: Uppermorewdale (High
Yewdale), Smartfield, Dixonground, Huthwaite or
Howthwaite, Nether Udall, Bowmanstead, Silverbank, Howhousebank (Hawsbank), Far-end, Outrack,
Cragamidden (unknown), Overmore Little Aray
(Arrow), Brow, Nethermore Little Aray, Holywath,
Cotebank or Catbank, Parkyeat.
CONISTON HALL (fn. 23) stands near the edge of the
lake about three-quarters of a mile south-east of the
village, and is an interesting building, the plan of
which is an adaptation suited to the site of the
central hailed house with east and west wings. The
building, however, was never H-shaped, the east wing
being very short, and on the north side only
attached to the main building at its north-east
corner, while the hall, owing no doubt to the low and
damp nature of the site, was on the first floor. The
house is probably that built by William Fleming in
the reign of Elizabeth, no satisfactory evidence of
earlier work being forthcoming. The walls are constructed of the hard Silurian stone of the district
with a thin covering of rough-cast, and no wrought
stone remains except in the fireplaces, the old windows
being all of oak. The house seems to have been
deserted about the second decade of the 18th
century, (fn. 24) and fifty years later it is described as an
ivy-covered ruin. About 1815 it was patched up
into a farm-house, and has since been so used.
The ruined north-east wing was left untouched,
and an inclined way 13 ft. wide was built on the
north side to the level of the hall floor, the
main part of the house, including the hall, being
turned into a barn. At a later date the old oak was
carried off, and more recently the west wing and
chimneys have been newly cemented. The roofs are
covered with modern slates, and many of the windows
are modern insertions, but the large cylindrical
chimneys, the ivy-covered walls and its position
adjoining the lake give it a picturesqueness not
shared by many buildings of far greater architectural
pretensions. (fn. 25)
The house faces north and south with the lake on
its east side, the entrance having been on the north
through a lean-to building, which may have been an
addition, in the angle between the main and the
west wings. The hall was probably entered only
from the screens at the west end, to which access
must have been obtained by a staircase from the
ground floor now destroyed, the only stairs now
remaining being those to the kitchen, which was on
the ground floor at the south end of the west wing.
The hall probably occupied only the western half of
the present barn, which would originally include at
its east end the parlour or withdrawing room, with
another room above within the roof. The present
entrance from the causeway is a modern squareheaded opening, 9 ft. wide by 11 ft. high, broken
through the wall, its east jamb probably about marking
the extent of the hall proper, which would be divided
from the chamber beyond by a wooden partition now
destroyed. The hall would be about 26 ft. by 23 ft.,
with the dais at the east and the screens at the west
end. Portions of the screen in panelled oak still
remain, between two later blocked-up doors, and
the west wall beyond, which retains its original
timber framing, is open to the roof like the rest of
the main block, the height of the walls of which to
the wall-plate is 12 ft. The fireplace, which is on
the south side and of red sandstone, is 10 ft. wide
by 8 ft. high, but is now blocked up, and opposite
to it is a large window, also blocked up, the opening
measuring 7 ft. by 6 ft.
6 in., and there was also a
window at each end of
the dais, north and south.
At the south end of the
screens is a narrow window
splaying outwards in a
rather curious manner in
the thickness of the hall
chimney and the outer
wall of the west wing, and
above the screen a window
overlooking the hall from
one of the upper rooms.
The room at the east end
of the main block was
23 ft. by 21 ft. 6 in., with
a large fireplace in the east
wall, which still remains,
and a window on each
side, both of which are
now blocked. The room
above in the roof was
lighted by one small east
window, and together with
the withdrawing room was
approached from the
ground floor by a circular
oak staircase in the thickness of the wall in the
north-east corner of the
main block. The groundfloor rooms below the hall
and withdrawing room are
low, but contain fireplaces,
and were therefore evidently living rooms. The
west wing is divided from
the main block by a thick
wall to the height of the
ground floor, upon which
the screens and passage rest,
the main wall above being
of timber. The rooms on
the first floor of the west
wing were probably bedrooms, and are separated
by the old pugged partitions, but those on the
north side have been
divided up again with
modern walls.
Plan of Coniston Hall
The north-east wing
measured externally about
28 ft. by 24 ft., and consisted probably of one room
on each floor, but only the east wall, which is 4 ft.
thick, and the short south wall which connects it
with the main building remain. At its south end,
where it still stands its full height, is a garderobe,
but beyond for a distance of about 15 ft. it is only
7 ft. 6 in. high. The fireplace at the south end of
the principal room still remains on the outside, facing
north, with the chimney above, but this end of the
building, as well as nearly the whole of the south
front, is now thickly overgrown with ivy.
The hall is said formerly to have contained wood
carvings with the initials of William Fleming, and
foundations of buildings have been found in a field
immediately to the north of the west wing.
Another manor in Coniston was TILBERTHWAITE, anciently belonging to the Pennington
family, (fn. 27) but in 1730 in the possession of Abraham
Rawlinson and others. (fn. 28)
Church
There may have been a chapel of
ease in this remote corner of the parish
before the Reformation, but nothing
definite is known till 1586, when it is said to have
been 'consecrated' (fn. 29) or licensed for service. How
it was then served is unknown. In 1650 it had
'no maintenance but what the inhabitants raised of
themselves for the salary of Sir Richard Roule their
reader.' (fn. 30) In 1717 the contributions of the people
amounted to £1 19s. 10d., and £2 or a little more
came from a capital stock, in the hands of six sidesmen. The chapel was then' served by a careful and
diligent minister,' who taught children in the chapel. (fn. 31)
The net value is now £220. (fn. 32) In 1707 the chapel
was decently furnished, having a communion cup of
silver. (fn. 33) The present church, now called St. Andrew's,
was built in 1819 and has been enlarged; it consists
of a chancel, nave and west tower. The interior
was improved in 1867, and there was a restoration
in 1891. The churchyard is first mentioned as a
burying ground in 1594. Until 1841 it was very
small; it was then enlarged, and again in 1845, 1865
and 1878. It is notable as the burial-place of John
Ruskin, 1900. There is a brass from the old building to Alice Fleming of Coniston Hall (d. 1680),
with a long inscription. An old oak chest is also
preserved. The patronage was formerly in the hands
of the Braddylls of Conishead, but about 1860 was
acquired by the Rev. A. Peache, and is now exercised
by his trustees.
The registers begin in 1599. They have been
published down to 1700 by the Lancashire Parish
Register Society. (fn. 34)
The following have been curates and vicars (fn. 35) :—
|
| oc. 1606 | Robert Dowson (fn. 36) |
| 1645–83 | Richard Rawling (fn. 37) |
| 1683 | John Birkett (fn. 38) |
| 1719 | John Stoup (fn. 39) |
| 1761–96 | John Strickland |
| oc. 1805 | William Tyson |
| oc. 1809 | John Hodgson |
| c. 1809 | Jonas Lindow |
| 1826 | William Travis Sandys, M.A. (fn. 40) (Pemb. Coll., Camb.) |
| 1835 | H. Siree |
| 1837 | John William Harden, M.A. (fn. 41) (St. John's Coll., Camb.) |
| 1839 | Thomas Tolming, M.A. (fn. 42) (Brasenose Coll., Oxf.) |
| 1870 | Charles Chapman, M.A. (Corpus Christi Coll., Camb.) |
| 1906 | Frederick T. Wilcox, M.A. (Dur.) |
Quakers and Anabaptists are mentioned in the
chapelwarden's presentments at the visitations in the
first part of the 18th century, but it does not appear
that they had any meeting-places within the township.
The Primitive Methodists had a chapel from 1859
till recently, when it was made into a Masonic Hall.
The Wesleyan Methodists have had a church since
1875.
The Particular or Calvinistic Baptists built a
chapel at Bowmanstead in 1837. The congregation was dissolved about 1894, and the building
was then used by the Plymouth Brethren. (fn. 43)
These in 1903 opened a chapel of their own,
and Baptists have since reoccupied their old place
of worship.
The Roman Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart
was opened in 1872, the mission having been begun
in 1866. (fn. 44)