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Egremont in Cumberland County England History and GeographyEGREMONT, a market town and parish in ALLERDALE ward above Darwent, county of CUMBERLAND, 42½ miles (S.W. by S.) from Carlisle, and 293 (N.W. by N.) from London, containing 1741 inhabitants. This place is of great antiquity, and the neighbourhood is supposed to have been the scene of various conflicts between the Saxons and the Danes. At the time of the Conquest, Ranulph de Meschines, to whom William had granted the whole county of Cumberland, gave the great barony of Copeland (now called the barony of Egremont,) to his brother, William de Meschines, who erected his baronial castle on the site of an ancient Danish fort. The remains of this fortress, to the north-west of the town, though not extensive, exhibit traces of antiquity and strength: they consist chiefly of the gateway-tower and vaulted entrance, of circular arches in the Norman style; portions of the outer wall, enclosing a quadrangular area; the postern, and three narrow gateways, communicating with the outworks, which are of later date. The town is situated within less than three miles of the Irish sea, and consists principally of one spacious street: the houses are in general ancient, but many improvements have been recently effected, and a new bridge has been built over the river. The clothing business appears to have been anciently carried on here: the principal articles of manufacture at present are checks, linen, canvas, sail-cloth, and paper; the tanning and dressing of leather prevails to a limited extent, and in the parish are mines of iron-stone, from which about one hundred tons of ore are raised per day, and shipped at Whitehaven, for the supply of the iron-foundries of South Wales; limestone and red freestone are found in the neighbourhood, and a considerable quantity of lime is burnt. The market is on Saturday, and is well supplied with corn: the fairs are, February 18th for horses, the third Friday in May, and September 18th for horned cattle, sheep &c; on the three days following the last fair, a festival is celebrated, during which the inhabitants are allowed to sell ale without a license: statute fairs for hiring servants are held at Whitsuntide and Martinmas. The town was anciently a borough, and returned members to parliament in the 23rd of Edward I., but was, on its own petition, disfranchised, in the 24th of the same reign; the burgesses possessed many other privileges, of which all records are lost: there are about one hundred and twenty burgage tenements in the borough. A borough serjeant, two bailiffs, four constables, two hedge and corn-viewers, and assessors of damages, are annually appointed at the court leet of the lord of the manor, held in April, at which time a customary court is also held: a court baron is held every third Friday, under the Earl of Egremont, for the recovery of debts under 40s.: these courts are held, by adjournment from the castle, at the King's Arms Inn, the ancient court-house in the castle having gone to decay. The living is a discharged rectory, in the archdeaconry of Richmond, and diocese of Chester, rated in the king's books at £7. 12. 1., and in the patronage of the Earl of Egremont. The church, dedicated to St. Michael, is an ancient structure, of which the east end is in the early style of English architecture, and the remainder chiefly Norman: it has a low tower. There is a place of worship for Wesleyan Methodists. A National school is supported by subscription, to which £4 per annum, arising from a bequest by Mr. John Nicholson, for apprenticing children, and another trifling sum, have been added. Near the ruins of the castle is a cairn of stones, called Woful Bank, which seems to have some reference to a battle fought prior to the Conquest. Egremont gives the title of earl to the family of Wyndham. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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