West Ward - A description

Is the most central Division of the County, being bounded on the east and south-east by the East Ward, on the south and south-west by Kendal Ward, and on the north and north-west by Cumberland. It averages about 16 miles in length, and 12 in breadth, and is nearly all comprised in the Barony of Appleby or Westmorland; small, annual rents, called cornage and serjeant oats, being paid by the lords or tenants of the manors to the Earl of Thanet. Ecclesiastically it forms part of the Deanery of Appleby, and is the last division of the diocese of Carlisle which we have to describe. It is a fertile and picturesque region, intersected by the river Lowther, to the west of which it has the lakes of Ullswater and Hawswater, with several tarns, and a fine range of lofty mountains and deep dales; but its eastern portion wears a smoother aspect; the beautiful vales of the Lowther, Eden, Eamont, and several smaller streams,* forming its most interesting features. Its principal mineral productions are limestone, free-stone, and slate, but lead ore has been got in Patterdale, and a variety of spars, and other variegated stones, are found on Barton and Shap Fells. It contains only one decayed market town, (Shap) and 23 townships, containing a large number of villages and hamlets, and divided into ten parishes, of which the following is an enumeration, with the returns of the number of inhabitants in 1801, 1811, and 1821; and the annual value of the lands and buildings, according to the assessment for the property tax in 1815:-

*COUNTY BRIDGES SUPPORTED BY THE WEST WARD.

Marked thus * are partly supported by Cumberland, but this Ward contributes to four others, mentioned at page 515.