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Kirkby-Stephen in Westmorland County England History and GeographyKIRKBY-STEPHEN, a parish in EAST ward, county of WESTMORLAND, comprising the market town of Kirkby-Stephen, the chapelries of Mallerstang and Soulby, and the townships of Hartley, Kaber, Nateby, Smardale, Waitby, Wharton, and Winton, and containing 2712 inhabitants, of which number, 1312 are in the town of Kirkby-Stephen, 11 miles (S.E. by S.) from Appleby, and 268 (N.N.W.) from London. This town, which derives the adjunct to its name from the saint to whom its church is dedicated, is pleasantly situated in a fertile plain, on the western bank of the river Eden, opposite the hills which separate this county from Yorkshire on the north and south; it consists of one good street, the houses in which are well built, and the inhabitants abundantly supplied with water; but the town is neither paved nor lighted. Races are held annually, on Hartley Ings, about the middle of April. The inhabitants are partly employed in the woollen manufacture, and in knitting stockings, of which a great quantity was formerly exposed for sale at the market, but the trade in this article is on the decline: a silk manufactory has lately been established on a limited scale, and there is a manufactory for spinning and carding wool. In the parish are mines of lead, copper, and coal, which are all worked, though the coal mines are not very productive; a kind of spotted stone is also found here, which is polished to make watch-seals and other ornaments. The market is on Monday, for corn, flour, oatmeal, and provisions. Fairs are held on the first Monday in Lent, the Monday before March 20th, April 25th, and October 2nd, for horned cattle, horses, woollen cloth, blankets, cotton goods, &c.; on the 29th of September chiefly for horses, and on the 29th of October for cattle and sheep: there are statute fairs for hiring servants on the last Monday in June and the first Monday in July. On the north side of the market-place, which is spacious and convenient, is a market-house, with a piazza, called the cloister: the upper part of the edifice is supported on eight stone pillars, the whole having been erected in 1810, in pursuance of the will of Mr. John Waller, who left a sum of money for the express purpose. The county magistrates formerly held petty sessions here, which, although of late discontinued, it is in contemplation to revive. The living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Carlisle, rated in the king's books at £48. 19. 2., and in the patronage of the Rev. T. P. Williamson. The church, which is dedicated to St. Stephen, is an ancient and spacious building, surmounted by a lofty square tower; the interior is divided into three principal aisles, by two rows of plain round-shafted columns which support the roof: there are sepulchral chapels belonging to Smardale hall, Wharton hall, and Hartley castle; in the second of these is a fine alabaster monument, with the effigies of Thomas, Lord Wharton, and his first and second wives; and in the last a monumental figure of a man in armour, supposed to have been erected to the memory of Sir Andrew Harcla, Earl of Carlisle, and governor of Hartley castle, who was beheaded for treason in the reign of Edward II. Here are places of worship for Independents and Wesleyan Methodists. The free grammar school, which stands eastward from the church, was founded, in the 8th of Elizabeth, by Thomas, Lord Wharton, and endowed with property producing £52. 3. per annum: there are two exhibitions, of £3. 6. 8. each, to either of the Universities, and one especially to St. John's College, Cambridge, for a scholar from this school, or that at Appleby, but these have not been claimed for several years. The school is held in an ancient edifice, formerly the rectory house, and is under the direction of eight governors, who appoint the master: it is open to the boys of Kirkby-Stephen and the vicinity, at a small quarterage. Several poor children are instructed in the Sunday school, which is held at the poor-house, and is supported by voluntary contributions. There are divers small bequests for the poor of this parish. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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