Parishes: Lamplugh - Lazonby

Lamplugh

LAMPLUGH, in the ward of Allerdale above Derwent, is eight miles from Whitehaven. The parish is divided into the townships of Kelton-Quarter, Lamplugh, Morton, or Moortown, and Winder, containing collectively in 1811, 100 houses, and 532 inhabitants.

The manor of Lamplugh belonged at a very early period to William de Lancaster, who gave it to Gospatric, son of Orme, in exchange. Thomas, son of Gospatric, gave it in the reign of Henry II. to Sir Robert de Lamplugh, immediate ancestor of the Rev. Thomas Lamplugh, late prebendary of York, the last male heir of that ancient family, a great proportion of whom, in a long line of succession, were of equestrian rank. Colonel John Lamplugh was wounded and taken prisoner in the battle of Marston-moor, in 1644; he was father of Thomas Lamplugh, Esq. of Lamplugh, who died in 1737. The manor of Lamplugh now belongs to John Raper, Esq. of York, and the devisees of the late Edward Copley, Esq. (formerly Wolley.) (fn. n1) Lamplughhall, which is in a dilapidated state, has the remains of a square tower.

The manor of Kelton belonged to the Harringtons, and having passed by marriage to the Bonvilles and Greys, was forfeited to the crown by the attainder of Henry Duke of Suffolk. In the reign of Queen Mary it was granted to Charles Morys and Elizabeth his wife, who was the Queen's laundress. This manor was afterwards successively in the families of Leigh, Salkeld, and Patrickson, and having been purchased of the latter by Sir John Lowther, Bart. is now the property of the Earl of Lonsdale, who possesses also an estate in this parish, called Stockhow, where the Patricksons had a seat (fn. n2). Salter-hall, which had been given to the abbey of St. Mary at York, passed successively from the Patricksons to the families of Robertson and Fryer. The coheiresses of the latter married Mr. John Dickenson and the Rev. John Baxter. Salter-hall, deemed extra-parochial, was built by the Salkelds in 1586, it is now the property of Mr. John Dickenson of Ulverstone, and inhabited by a farmer. Murton, or Moor-town, is parcel of the Lamplugh estate.

In the parish church are some memorials of the families of Lamplugh and Briscoe. (fn. n3)

The patronage of the rectory, which is in the diocese of Chester, archdeaconry of Richmond, and deanery of Copeland, has always been annexed to the manor.

The school at Lamplugh was endowed in 1731 or 1732, by Richard Briscoe, Esq. who married the daughter of Thomas Lamplugh, with a rent charge of 6l. 8s. payable out of an estate called Skeelsmoor, in Lamplugh; the sums of 40s. per annum for the purchase of books for the children, and 3l. 12s. for poor houskeepers, are charged on the same estate.

Lanercost

LANERCOST, in Eskdale ward, is about two miles from Brampton. It is divided into four townships or quarters, each maintaining its own poor, viz. Askerton, Burtholme, Kingwater, and Waterhead, containing collectively in 1811, 231 houses, and 1535 inhabitants.

Robert de Vallibus, Lord of Gilsland, in the year 1169, founded a priory here of the order of St. Austin, which was endowed by himself and subsequent benefactors, with ample revenues. The patronage of the priory was granted by the founder to the convent. The Chronicle of Lanercost informs us that King Edward I. with his Queen Eleanor, came to Lanercost on the 11th of September 1280; that the King offered a cloth of silk, and that he had been hunting in Inglewood forest, where he was said to have taken 200 bucks and does. On the 22d of March following, Ralph Irton, the new Bishop of Carlisle, visited the convent, and obliged the canons to receive a new set of statutes. The King appears to have been at Lanercost again in 1299 or 1300 (fn. n4). On the 1st of October 1306 King Edward, being then aged and infirm, came to Lanercost with his Queen Margaret, and staid there till the 5th. After a short visit to Carlisle they returned to Lanercost on the 8th, and the King's health being then in a very declining state they remained there till the 28th of February following. In consideration of the expences which the monks had been put to by his long residence among them, and the damage which they suffered by an invasion of the Scots, who burnt their convent in 1296, the King granted them some appropriations as an augmentation of their revenues. Robert Bruce, the Scottish King, was at Lanercost with his army for three days in 1311, when he imprisoned several of the monks, but set them at liberty before his departure. (fn. n5)

Thomas de Hextoldesham, who was elected prior in 1357, was obliged by the bishop, besides the oath of canonical obedience, to make a solemn promise that he would not frequent public huntings or keep so large a pack of hounds as he had formerly done. At the time of the suppression of this priory its revenues were estimated at 77l. 7s. 11d. per annum. The site of the priory and the adjacent lands, were granted in 1543 to Thomas Dacre, Esq. afterwards Sir Thomas Dacre, Knt. an illegitimate son of Thomas Lord Dacre of the north, and his heirs male. Upon the death of James Dacre, Esq. of Lanercost, in 1716, without issue male, the priory estate, consisting of the manor of Lanercost, &c. reverted to the crown, under which it is now held on lease by the Earl of Carlisle, who possesses also the manors of Troddermain, or Tryermain, Askerton, and Waltonwood, all in this parish, and parcel of the barony of Gilsland.

There are considerable ruins of the priory, particularly of the conventual church, the nave of which has been fitted up as the parish church; in the east window are the following lines, removed from the dining room of the mansion:

"Mille et quingentos ad quinquaginta novemque
Adjuc, et hoc anno condidit istud opus
Thomas Daker eques, sedem qui primus in istam
Venerat; extincta religione loci:
Hæc Edwardus ei dederat, devoverat ante
Henricus, longæ præmia militiæ." (fn. n6)

The priory-house continued to be the seat of the Dacres till the death of Mr. Dacre above-mentioned; it is now a farm-house.

The benefice of Lanercost is a perpetual curacy, in the gift of the Earl of Carlisle, who is impropriator of the great tithes, belonging formerly to the priory.

An act of parliament passed in 1802, for inclosing the moors, &c. in the parish of Lanercost, under which allotments of land were made in lieu of tithes, to the impropriator and to the curate.

At Askerton, on the banks of the Cambock, is a small castle, built for the protection of the barony, against the inroads of the borderers. It was the usual residence of an officer, called the Land-Serjeant, whose duty it was to take the command of the inhabitants of the neighbourhood, in repelling the inroads of the borderers. It appears that Thomas Lord Dacre, when Lord Warden, in the reign of Henry VIII. occasionally resided at this castle (fn. n7). It is stated to have been in great decay in the reign of Queen Elizabeth (fn. n8) : it has since been repaired and converted into a farmhouse: there was formerly a park belonging to it (fn. n9). The manor extends into the parishes of Kirk-Cambock and Stapleton.

Tryermain in the reign of Henry I. and II. belonged to Gylandus and his son Gilamoor; it was afterwards the seat of a younger branch of the Vaux family, having been given by Hubert de Vaux to his second son Ranulph, whose descendants continued to possess it till the reign of Edward IV. There was formerly a chapel here, originally built of wood, in the reign of Henry I. A tower of the old mansion of the Vaux family remained in 1688. (fn. n10)

In this parish is the medicinal water called Gilsland Spa, about seven miles from Lanercost, near which are boarding-houses for the accommodation of company who resort thither to drink the waters and to bathe. The spring is situated on the south bank of the river Irthing, in a beautiful wooded valley, surrounded by barren moors. Dr. Short classes the water among those of the sulphureous kind. The place acquired the name of Gilsland Spa about the year 1770, or soon after. The spring was formerly called Holywell, and the place where it rises, Shaws. (fn. n11)

Langwathby

LANGWATHBY, commonly called Langanby, in Leath ward, lies five miles from Penrith. The manor was one of those assigned by King Henry III. to the Kings of Scotland, and resumed on the revolt of John Baliol. It was afterwards granted to the Nevils, from whom it passed to King Richard the III. when Duke of Gloucester. After this it continued in the crown till King William III. granted it to the Earl of Portland, whose descendant, the late Duke of Portland, sold it to the late Duke of Devonshire. It is now the property of the present Duke. It appears that there was a manor of Lambanby in the reign of Edward II. which was purchased by John de Penrith of William Latimer. (fn. n12)

Langwathby is supposed to have been formerly part of the parish of Edenhall, but has been long esteemed a separate parish, although the vicarages which are in the patronage of the dean and chapter of Carlisle, are consolidated. The dean and chapter are appropriators. The church was rebuilt not many years ago.

Lazonby

LAZONBY, in Leath ward, lies seven miles from Penrith. The parish is divided into the townships of Lazonby and Plumpton-wall, containing together, in 1811, 106 houses and 578 inhabitants.

The manor of Lazonby belonged, at an early period, to the Estotevilles, and passed by successive heirs female to the Morvills, Multons, and (fn. n13) Dacres. In 1716 it was purchased of the coheiresses of Thomas Lennard Earl of Sussex, by Sir Christopher Musgrave, ancestor of Sir Philip Musgrave, Bart. the present proprietor. Ch. S. Fetherstonhaugh, Esq. has a small manor within that of Lazonby.

The Duke of Devonshire is lord of the greater part of the parish, as parcel of the forest of Inglewood. The commons of this parish were inclosed under the act of 1803, for inclosing the manor of Penrith and forest of Inglewood.

The church of Lazonby was given by Sir Hugh Morvill to the priory of Lanercost, and in 1272 appropriated to that monastery. The rectory was granted by King Edward VI. to Sir Thomas Dacre, and having been purchased of his descendant by Dr. Barwick, physician in ordinary to King Charles II., was given by him to the chapel and poor of Witherslack, in Westmorland. The Bishop of Carlisle is patron of the vicarage. In this parish is the chapelry of Plumpton. Plumpton Park, or Old-Penrith, was a Roman station, of which mention has been already made. The demesne of Plumpton-Park having before been held on lease by Jack Musgrave, captain of Bewcastle, and by John Murray, Esq. afterwards Earl of Annandale, it was granted in fee to the said Earl in 1625.

James Earl of Annandale, in 1653, sold the manor of Plumpton (fn. n14) to Dame Eleanor Lowther, widow, from whom it has descended to the Earl of Lonsdale, the present proprietor. This manor is partly in Lazonby and partly in Hesket parish. Lord Lonsdale purchased Plumpton-hall and demesne of the Duke of Norfolk in 1808. The chapel at Plumpton-wall was built in 1767, by contribution, at the expence of about 200l. Mr. John Brown gave the sum of 200l. towards the endowment, with which and Queen Anne's bounty, an estate was purchased at Castle-Sowerby, supposed to be now worth about 70l. per annum, for the support of the minister. The Earl of Lonsdale is patron of the chapel.