Shap History & Directory

Shap Directories

SHAP Parish is a mountainous district 51/2 miles in length, and 4 in breadth, forming but one township, divided into four constabularies, viz. Hardendale-with-Westdale; Rosgill-with-Wet-Sleddale; Swindale-with-mardale; and Shap-with-Keld, Thornshap, Tailbert, and Rasat. Within its limits are several deep and fertile vales, through which flow a number of rivulets, which form the Lowther and the Leeth rivers, and supply the Lake of Haweswater.

The manor of Birkbeck Fells is included with Orton and Crosby-Ravensworth, and the manor of Fawcett Forest is included with Orton and Kendal, though they are party in this parish, which, in 1821, contained only 969 inhabitants. At Thornshap and Rosgill-beck are excellent quarries of blue slate, of which pencils are manufactured, by Mrs. Jackson, of Kendal; and in Mosdale fine blue roofing slate is wrought, by Messrs. Rawes and Hudson. Shap Wells are not, as the name implies in the parish, but in that of Crosby-Ravensworth, and are described there. The Charities belonging to the parish produce yearly upwards of £40.

Shap is a long town, of detached houses, extending northward from Brackenber about one mile, along the great high-road, between Penrith and Kendal, being 10 1/2 miles S. by E. of the former, and 16 miles N. of the latter, and about 275 miles NNW. Of London. It stands near the source of the Leeth rivulet, and was anciently called Hep, or Heppe, probably from the fruit of the bramble which bears that name, and is pronounced by the vulgar choup. The market, which is held on Monday, is of ancient date, but has long had only a feeble existence. A fair for cattle and merchandise is held on the 4th of May.

In 1687, Lord Wharton obtained a charter for a market, to be held at Shap every Wednesday, and three fairs yearly, viz. On the 23d and 24th of April, 1st and 2d of August, and 17th and 18th of September, but they have long been obsolete. He also erected Moot-hall, now a saddler's shop, near which is a covered Market Cross. The town contains only about 600 inhabitants, but has two good Inns, (the King's Arms and Greyhound) and several public-houses. In the deep vale of the Lowther, about a mile west of the town, are the venerable and beautiful ruins of Shap Abbey, which was founded about the year 1350, by Thomas son of Gospatrick, in lieu of the abbey which he had previously founded at Preston, in Kendal Ward, where the situation of his monastery dod not please him so well as this, which is well adapted for religious seclusion. He dedicated it to God and St. Mary Magdalen, and endowed it for the maintenance of cannons of the order of Premonstratenses, with lands and various privileges, amongst which was that of taking what wood they pleased out o his forest, and grinding at his mill toll free; he also gave them pasturage in and about Swindale for 60 cows, 20 mares, 500 sheep, &c. &c.

All these gifts were confirmed by Robert de Veteripont, whose successors gave them other possessions, so that at the dissolution, they possessed a yearly revenue amounting to £154 17s 7d.

The abbey was surrendered by the abbot and 13 canons and officers, in the 31st of Henry VIII., and was granted to Thomas Lord Wharton, to be held with the manor and demesne of Shap, and its other possessions, of the king by the service of the 20th part of a knight's fee, and paying for the whole into the court of augmentations £41 11s yearly. The abbey-church appears to have been a spacious edifice, but the great tower is the only part now standing. Extensive foundations of out-buildings were discovered in 1825 on the south side of the abbey, near which a pillar of an ancient bridge is still to be seen in the middle of the river. Here is a stupendous monument of antiquity, called KARL LOFTS, composed of two lines of huge obelisks of unhewn granite, commencing half a mile south of the town and extending northward, nearly parallel with the high road, to Shap Grange, enclosing an area upwards of half a mile in length, and from 20 to 30 yards broad, having a the south end a circle of similar stones, 18 feet in diameter, and near the north end a square plot of stones, partly covered with earth, above which, on Skellaw hill, is a small tumulus. The stones in each line are, some of them 3 or 4 yards in diameter, but many of them have been blasted and carried away for the erection of buildings in the parish. Whether this singular piece of antiquity was raised by the Danes, in commemoration of some victory, or was a place of Druidical worship, has not been clearly ascertained.

At Gunnerskeld Bottom, 1 mile NE. of Shap, is a circle of large stones, supposed to be an ancient sepulchre, though some have called it a "Druid's Temple." At the abbey, Camden says, "is a fountain, which, like the Euripus, ebbs and flows several times a day." The Earl of Lonsdale is now the lord of the manor of Shap, his ancestor, Robert Lowther, Esq. Having purchased it of the late Duke of Wharton, together with the other possessions of the abbey. The Parish Church, dedicated to St. Michael, is a large ancient structure, with a square tower and three bells. It was rectorial, till it was appropriated to Shap abbey, since which it has been a vicarage, and previous to its augmentation, was certified only at the clear yearly value of £6, though it had been valued in the 36th of Henry V!!!. at £8 15s 71/2d. It has, at different times , received £1300 from Queen Anne's bounty, of which £900 still remains with the governors, who pay four percent interest; and the remainder, with £200 given by the Countess Dowager Gower, was many years ago laid out in the purchase of two estates, one at Staveley, in Westmorland, and the other in the parish of Crosthwaite, in Cumberland. At the enclosure o the Commons, in 1820, the land owners allotted 31/2 acres of land as a commutation for the vicarial tithes, and 223 acres for the rectorial tithes of the parish, which later have long been annexed to Lowther Rectory. The Earl of Lonsdale is patron, and the Rev. John Rowlandson is the present vicar.

SURROUNDING VILLAGES

Egdale, a hamlet 2 ½miles NE. By N. of Shap, near the river Lowther

Greenhead, a hamlet in Mardale, where there is a good public house, within 1 ½ miles S. of the head of Haweswater Lake.

Hardendale, a hamlet 1 mile E. of Shap, the manor of Hardendale and Wasdale belongs to Byland Abbey, in Yorkshire, but after the dissolution was granted to the Crackenthorp, of Yorkshire.

Keld, or Keilde, an ancient village ¾ mile W. of Shap, on the east bank of the Lowther, near the ruined Abbey.

Mardale chapelry is part of the Earl of Lonsdale's Forest of Thornthwaite, and is partly in the parish of Bampton. The Chapel of Ease stands in this parish, on an eminence 1 mile S. of the head of Haweswater, and 7 miles SW. by W. of Shap, in a beautifully picturesque and fertile situation, surrounded by lofty mountains and fells. The Rev. John Bowstead is the incumbent, but the Rev. John Greenhow officiates. The living has been augmented with £800 of Queen Anne's bounty, and £75 given by several persons. Two small estates at Kentmere and Rosgill were purchased with part of this money, and are now let for £24 a year.

The estate called Chapel-hill is the property and residence of Richard Holme, gentleman, whose family has been seated here for many generations, and whose great ancestor was a native of Stockholm, whence he came toEngland with the Conqueror, who rewarded him with an estate in Northamptonshire, where his descendents remained until the reign of John, when the head of the family fled from his enemies to Mardale where he found concealment in Hugh's Cave, and afterwards purchased this estate.

Mosdale, a mountainous bleak region between Wet Sledale and Swindale, where there is a blue slate quarry, 4 miles SW. of Shap.

Rasat, a hamlet 2 ½miles W. of Shap

Rossgill, a small village on the east bank of the Lowther 2½ miles NW. of Shap. This manor was long held by a family of its own name, from whom it passed to the Salkelds, and now belongs to the Earl of Lonsdale.

Swindale Chapelry, is a deep and narrow valley, 4 ½ miles SW. of Shap, and forming part of Thornthwaite forest. The small Chapel of Ease stands in the center of this dale, and has received several lots of Queen Anne's bounty, with part of which, land, now let for £30 a year was purchased in 1822, and the rest, £800 is still at intereest in the bounty office. The vicar of Shap is the patron, and the Rev. Robert Walker, the incumbent curate, for whom the Rev. Stephen Walker officiates. The chapel was built bt the inhabitants in 1749, and near it is a School, which was founded in 1703 by Mr. Baxter, who endowed it with land, which has een conveyed to the Earl of Lonsdale, subject to a yearly rent charge of £25 to be paid to the master, which is now filled by the officiating curate.

Tailbert, a hamlet 2 ½miles W. by S.of Shap.

Thornshap, a hamlet ¾ of a mile W. of Shap, near which a large thorn tree is said to have been "planted on the top of a hill for the direction of travelers," and was long known by the name of "Shap Thorn".

Wasdale, or Wastedale, lies 4 miles S. bt W of Shap, and forms a manor with Hardendale. Near the foot of Wasdal, are Shap Wells.

Wet-Sleddale, is a narrow dale margined by lofty fells and moorlands, and extending from 2 to 4 miles SSW. of Shap. It has not its distinctive appellation without reason, for it is said, "if any rain is stirring, the air scoops it into the hollow of the dale."

 Directories of Shap and its out-townships

Post Master, Mr John Garnett, Kings Arms. All letters, except those for Kendal, are dispatched to Penrith, at 3 o'clock morning, and arrive at 10 o'clock night - when Kendal letters are dispatched.

· Shap

· Hardendale

· Mardale

· Ros(e)gill

· Swindale

· Wet-Sleddale


Shap Directory - marked 1 reside at Keld. 2 at Rasat. 3 Tailbert. The rest without place names in the town of Shap.

 Ainsley, John, excise officer

 Noble, John, grocer & druggist

 Hawksworth, Edward

 Banks, Richard, tailor

Parker, Michael, gent.

 Hindson, William

 Breaks, Wm. corn miller

 Pollard, Thos. vict. Crown

 Jackson, William

 Brown, John, tailor

 1 Relph, John, wheelwright & joiner

 Johnston, William

 Burton, Mrs. Mary

 Richardson, Mary, vict. Greyhound Inn, and posting house, Brackenber

4 Kirkpatrick, William

 Cartley, Richard, joiner & wheelwright

 Robinson, Thomas, cooper

1 Lancaster, Joseph

 Castley, Wm., vict. Bull's Head, and joiner & wheelwright

 Rowlandson, Rev. John, vicar of Shap Vicarage

* Lancaster, Thomas, Brackenbar

 Coater, Edward, blacksmith

 Sarginson, John, auctioneer

1 Lancaster, Matthew

 Copley, Michael, saddler

 Sarginson, Mrs. Isabella

1* Lowis, John

 Farrer, Joseph, vict. New Inn

 Smith, Thomas, grocer, draper, & druggist

Lowis, John, Rigg hall

 Furnes, Mrs. Sarah

 1 Stephson, Edw. grocer

*Martin, John

 Garnett, John, vict. King's Arms Inn, & posting house

 Stewardson, John, shoemaker

*Parker, John, Kemp how

 Garnett, Wm. Butcher

 Walker, Thos. vict. Queen's Head

*Parker, Walter

 Garnett, Mrs. Margret

 William, Mrs. Agnes

Pearson, John, Greenhouse

 Hamilton, Thos. Barr Bute, surgeon

 Wilson, Thos. schoolmaster

Rawes, Thomas

 Henderson, Mrs. Sarah

 Wilson, Robert, shoemaker

Robinson, Isabella, (and boarding house)

 Horn, John, flour dealer

Farmers - * are yeomen

*Robinson, John

 Hutchinson, John, shoemaker

 Abbot, John

*Ruddick, James

  Ion, Joseph, grocer & butter dealer

 1 Airey, Christopher

Surginson, John, steps hall

 

 Arnison, John

1*Sewell, James

 Laidman, Cath. Druggist

 Breaks, Richard

*Thompson, William

 Latton, John, cattle dealer

 * Burn, John

1*Ubank, Thomas

 Meason, Mrs. Elizabeth

 3 Cannon, Thomas, Head

3*Walter, Margaret

 Milne, Oswald, Esq. Hulsmoor

 3 Clark, Matthew, Shap Abbey

4*Walker, Thomas

 Moss, Thomas, blacksmith

 Dobson, Thomas and Joseph, Copy Hill

 3*Whitsmith, John

 Mounsey, John, blacksmith

 2 *Ebdale, Samuel

 2Wilkinson, Thos., Brinms

 Nicholson, Mary, dressmaker

 Harrison, Robert

 2*Wright, John

Coaches

From the King's Arms.

The Mail to Glasgow, &c. at 3 mng. And to Manchester, &c. at 10 evg. (daily)

The Royal Bruce, to Penrith, at 1/2 past 5 evg. And to Kendal at 1/2 past 8 mng.

The News Times to glasgow, &c. at 1/2 past 5 evg. And to kendal at 8 mng.

Carriers

To Carlisle, Glasgow, and Kendal, James Machell, Tue. & Fri., dep. 4 afternoon; arr. Wed. & Sat., 1 noon, and proceeds to Kendal

To Kendal, Joseph Ion, Wed. & Sat. and John Horn, Sat. dep 1 mng. Arr 9 evg.


Hardendale Farmers

 Airy, Henry

Hodgson, Richard, yeoman

 Mackreth, Emanuel

 Furness, Anthony

 Inman, William, Wastdale head

 Rowlandson, John

 Herring, Joseph

 Lewis, John, Watters

 Wilkinson, John

Mardale

 Hayton, Mrs. Jane, Goosemire

 Lamley, Thomas, vict. Dun Bull, Greenhead

 Holme, Richard, yoeman, Chapel hill

 Mawson, Aaron, yeoman, Grave brear

Also see: Bampton


Ros(e)gill

 Abbott, Rev. Joseph

 Brown, George, Barker hill

 Hudson, Issac, Rosgill hall

 Hall, Mrs. Agnes

 *Burton, Francis, Goodcroft

 *Poorley, Robert, Thronmane

 Moffett, Thos. Corn miller

 *Castley, Thomas

 *Teasdale, Matthew

 Simpson, Richard, grocer

 *Cooper, Robert, Egdale

* Tinklar, Joseph, Rosgill head

 Ubank, Joseph, schoolmaster

 *Hall, John, Goodcroft

* Topping, John, Rosgill head

Farmers - * are yeomen

 *Herring, Joseph, Rawhead

 

 Allen, Hugh

 *Hindson, Robert

 

Swindale Directory


 Walker, Rev. Stephen, officiating curate, and schoolmaster

  Latton, Richard, Swindale foot

 *Sewell, Jas., Swindale head

 Farmers - * are yeomen
* Fell, John, Swindale head

Rawes, Jarrett

 Simpson, John, True gap

Wet-Sleddale

 M'Kenzie, Mrs. Ann, Coopergreen

 Farmers - * are yeomen

 *Noble, Thomas, New Tuff

 Rawes & Hudson, slate quarry proprietors, Mardale

 Dent, Christopher, Brekdale

 Noble, William, Howe

 Robinson, Anthony, corn miller, Craig's mill

 Hudson, Joseph, Green

 *Parker, John, Kemp how

 

 Hudson, Thomas, Sleddale head

 *Scaife, Yhomas, Beck side

 

 Lambert, James, High side

 Wilkinson, John, Dale end

 

 *Lancaster, John, Bowfield

 Winter, John, Thorny bank

History taken from History Directory and Gazetteer of Cumberland & Westmorland - Parson & White 1829




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