Barton Directories

Barton (High) township contains the village of Pooley-Bridge, with several dispersed dwellings, and the hamlets of Bower-bank, Celleron, and Barton-Church, distant from 3 to 5 miles SSW, of Penrith. The manor of Barton, with a great part of the parish, anciently belonged to the Barony of Kendal, being long possessed by the Lancaster Family, a branch of which resided at Stockbridge for many generations. It passed from the Lancasters to the Multons, of Gilsland, whose heiress carried it in marriage to the Dacres, whose co-heiresses sold it in the reign of Charles II. to the Musgraves, of Edenhall, who sold it to an ancestor of its present lord, E. W. Hasell, Esq. of Dalemain, on the opposite side of the river Eamont, which divides Barton from Cumberland. The Chuch, dedicated to St. Michael, is a low but large edifice in the picturesque vale of Eamont. Part of it was in ruins in 1802, but has since been repaired. In the chancel, over the Communion table, are "five rows of escutcheons, seven in each row, many of which are now defaced ; but amongst them were to be seen in Macel's time, "the arms of Arundel, Percy, Lucy, Dacre, Lowther, Lancaster, Strickland, Threlkeld, Machel, Moresby, Orpheur, and Crackenthorp.

The Vicarge-house, distant about 200 yards from the church is a handsome mansion, erected in 1637 by Dr. Lancelot Dawes, a vicar and native of this parish, whose descendant sold the rectorial tithes of High Barton to the lord of the manor. The church was given by Sir John de Lancastre to Wartre priory in Yorkshire, and after the dissolution was granted by the crown to Thomas, Earl of Rutland, who sold it to Lancelot Lancaster and Michael Hudson, from whom the rectorial tithes of the parish passed to various proprietors, but the Earl of Lonsdale is patron of the vicarage, which is valued in the King's books at £11. 1s. 0½d., and is now enjoyed by the Rev. Thomas Gibson. The impropriators pay a yearly pension of 6s. to the bishop. The vicar receives the interest of £100. left by Mrs. Dudley, of Yanwath.

Barton Free School, was founded in 1649 by Dr. Lancelot Dawes and Dr. Gerard Langbaine, the latter of whom endowed it with £30. and an estate at Calgaith, out of which 10l. a year is "to go to bind out two apprentices". Dr. Dawes gave £25. and a yearly rent charge of 20s. out of the tithes of the estate called Barton Kirk. The money, with a donation given by Dr. William Lancaster and several contributions, was laid out in land at Firbank, near Kirkby-Lonsdale, and at Howgill, near Sedbergh, now let for about £69 per annum. Money was afterwards borrowed by the trustees for the erection of the master's house, so that they at present only allow the master £40 a year and appropriate the surplus revenue for the liquidation of the debt. The house stands near the school on an acre of ground given by the aforesaid Dr. Lancaster. William F Wilson is the present master of this seminary, which is open to all the children of the parish, free of expense. Euesmere Hill, the handsome villa of J.C. Bristow, Esq., and Elderbeck, the seat of William Sisson Esq. are both pleasantly situated in this township, and command delightful views of the lake and the surrounding mountains. There are in the neighbourhood several cairns, in one of whic two Roman Urns were found a few years ago. About 1½ mile SE of Pooley Bridge is a circle of standing stones supposed to have been a Druid's Temple.

Boredale is a pleasan valley in Martindale chapelry and township, 11½ miles SSW. of Penrith.

Deep-Dale is a "grand and romantic" valley in the township and chapelry of Patterdale, 1¼ mile S of the chapel. A great part of it is highly cultivated and decorated with an abundance of wood. It forms a manor held by about ten families of the Hon. Henry Howard, of Greystock Castle.

Eamont-Bridge a village 1 miles S. by E. of Penrith, forming a joint township with Yanwath, except a few houses on the north side of the river, which are in Cumberland. Here is King Arthur's Round Table, and another piece of antiquity called Meyburg. The common was enclosed in 1815, when it was resolved that the plough should not infringe on the "Round Table".

Fewsdale or Fusedale, a fertile district in Martindale chapelry, 5 miles SSW. of Barton.

Glenridding a deep, rocky, and pleasantly wooded valley, stretching from Helvellyn to Ullswater, 3 miles NNW. of Patterdale chapel to which it belongs. William Marshall, Esq. is lord of the manor. As the head of the vale is Kepple-Cove and Red Tarn.

Grisedale, in Patterdale, ½ a mile N. of the chapel, extends westward 3 miles to the confines of Cumberland, and is the property of William Marshall, Esq. by whom it was purchased by Mr. John Mounsey. At its head is a large tarn still belonging to the former owner of Griesdale.

Hartop, Upper & Nether, are two adjacent hamlets, forming a manor belonging to the Earl of Lonsdale, and comprised in Patterdale chapelry, being 2 miles S. by E. of the chapel, and near HayesTarn. It formerly abounded with deer. The hall, a very ancient building, has long been occupied by a farmer.

How-Town, a hamlet pleasantly situated at the SW. angle of the lower reach of Ullswater, at the end of the fertile glen called How-grane, being in Martindale chapelry, 4½ miles SSW. of Pooley Bridge.

Martindale township and chapelry includes the romantic glens of Boredale, Fewsdale, and How-grane, with the hamlets of How-town and Sandwick, and many scattered houses lying between the higher reaches of Ullswater and the streams flowing from several tarns. E. W. Hassell, Esq. is lord of the manor, and owner of a great part of the soil. There was formerly a large forest here replenished with red and fallow deer. The Chapel stands in the valley of How-grane, 5 miles SSW of Pooley Bridge. It is a neat building with one bell and a burial ground. John de Whelpdale, Esq. has the tithes of the chapelry, and is patron of the perpetual curacy, of which the Rev. William Poore King is incumbent. The living in 1682 was augmented with £100 left by the Rev. Richard Birket, and has since received five lots, amounting to £1000, from Queen Anne's Bounty, all of which except £115, has been laid out in land and the erection of a new parsonage house built in 1818. The land belonging to the chapel consists of 30 acres in Martindale, and 11 acres at Salkeld, in Cumberland. The free school is endowed with 13l. a year, the rent of an estate left by the relict of the above-mentioned Richard Birket, who was curate here in the 17th Century.

Patterdale township and chapelry, includes Hartsop & Deepdale, Glenridding, Grisedale, and Glencoyne, all at the head of Ullswater, surrounded by Helvellyn, Great Dod, Fairfield, High-Street, Dow-craggs, Place-fell, and other lofty mountains, and distant about 8 miles SW. by S. of Pooley Bridge, and 9 miles N. of Ambleside. The township is commonly called Hartsop or Patterdale. The vale bearing the latter name extends 6 miles southward from Gowbarrow Park, along the highest and most sublime reach of Ullswater to the source of the Gold rill, which flows to the lake from three tarns, called Brother water, Hayswater, and Angle tarn. The other glens of the chapelry branch off to the east and west, and have each their mountain stream, graced with the wildest beauties of nature mellowed at intervals by art, with rising plantations and neat villas. The Chapel, dedicated to St. Patrick, is a small edifice, near the head of the lake, and has in its burial-ground a venerable yew tree, which has weathered many a winter's blast. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the gift of the Earl of Lonsdale, and incumbency of the Rev. John Thompson. It has been three times augmented by Queen Anne's bounty, viz. in 1743, 1779 and 1791. In 1809 it had a share of the parliamentary grant, and in 1812 received a small benefaction : besides which it has 10 acres of ancient glebe, and on-third part of the tithes of Patterdale. Near the chapel is a small school, endowed with £6 a year. Patterdale Hall, the seat of WIlliam Marshall, Esq. stands pleasantly on the shore of the lake, and was anciently called the Palace, owing to the Mounseys, who long inhabited it, being formerly dignifed with the title of Kings of Patterdale said to have been bestowed on them, on account of a galiant exploit performed by one of the family, who, at the head of the peasants of the dale, defeated a band of Scottish marauders, at the mountain pass of Stybarrow Crag. Mr. Mounsey sold the hall a few years ago, and now resides at Goldrill Cottage, 2 miles further up the valley. At the foot of Glenridding is the tasteful summer residence of the Rev. Henry Askew, finely situated for a view of the lake and its vast amphitheatre of mountains. E. W. Hasell, Esq. is lord paramount of Patterdale, and several "mesne manors" within the chapelry are held under him. At Hartsop, Place-fell, and other parts of the chapelry are prolific quarries of fine blue slate, the winning of which give employment to many of the inhabitants of those secluded glens, where there is one homely but comfortable inn, at the head of Ullswater, for the accommodation of tourists, and where a large sheep fair is held in October.

Pooley Bridge is a pleasant village at the foot of Ullswater, in the township of High Barton, 5 miles SW. by S. of Penrith, where a handsome bridge of three arches crosses the river Eamont, which flows from the lake opposite the conical hill of Dunmallet, or Dunmallerd, anciently crowned with a Roman fort, vestiges of which are still visible, though encircled by a luxuriant grove. Burn says here was formerly a small market for fish and "there is yet a fair stone cross" which was repaired by the Earl of Sussex, in 1679, as appears by an inscription on the weathercock. A sheep and cattle fair is held here on the 3d Monday in September.

Sandwick, a hamlet near the head of Boredale, in the chapelry of Martindale, 1½ miles SW. of the chapel.

Sockbridge a small village on the south bank of the Eamont, 3 miles SSW. of Penrith, where there is plenty of limestone. The manor and township includes the hamlets of Tirril and Thorp ; and the Earl of Lonsdale is its lord, but the tenants were enfranchised many years ago. The hall, now occupied by a farmer, is an old quadrangular building, with a small tower, and was partly taken down some years ago.

Thorp, a hamlet ½ a mile east of Sockbridge.

Tirril, a good village near the above, and 1 mile NE of barton church. Here is a Friends Meeting-house and a subscription school for young children ; also a celebrated mathematical academy, which was established by the late eminent John Slee, and is now conducted by his son. Here is likewise a respectable boarding academy, kept by the Rev. Thomas Gibson, vicar of Barton.

Winder (High and Low) two hamlets distant half a mile from each other, and 1¼ miles E. of Pooley Bridge, in the manors of Sockbridge and Barton. In High Winder are three farms called Selleron, belonging to the family of Sisson.

Yanwath, a hamlet forming a joint township with Eamont Bridge, 1¼S of Penrith. This manor appears to be the only part of the parish that was held under the Cliffords, Lords of the Barony of Wesmorland. It was purchased, in 1654, by Sir John Lowther, and now belongs to the Earl of Lonsdale. The ancient hall is a quadrangular building, now occupied by a farmer, and having the appearance of a small castle. About a mile from the hall, at the end of Yanwath wood, is a circular intrenchment called Castle Steads.

Barton High

Hartsop & Patterdale

Martindale

Sockbridge

Yanwath

Barton (High) Directory - marked 1 reside at Barton Church. 2 Bowerbank. 3 Selleron. The rest without place names at Pooley Bridge.

Hartsop and Patterdale Directory - marked 1 reside at Deepdale. 2 Glenridding. 3 Grisdale. 4 Nether Hartsop. 5 Upper Hartsop.The rest without place names at Patterdale.

Martindale Directory - marked 1 reside at Boredale. 2 Fusedale. 3 Howgrave. 4 Sandwick.

Sockbridge Directory - marked 1 reside at Thorpe. 2 Tirril.

Yanwath & Eamont Bridge Directory - marked 1 reside at Eamont Bridge. The rest at Yanwath