Dalston Cumberland Family History Guide

Dalston is an Ancient Parish in the county of Cumberland.

Other places in the parish include: Cumdivock, Hawkesdale, and Buckabank.

Parish church: St. Michael

Parish registers begin:

Parish registers: 1570
Bishop’s Transcripts: 1589

Nonconformists include: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Wesleyan Methodist Association.

Table of Contents

Adjacent Parishes

Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

DALSTON, a township, a parish, and a sub-district, in Carlisle district, Cumberland. The township lies on the river Caldew, adjacent to the Carlisle and Maryport railway, 4½ miles SW by S of Carlisle; and has a station on the railway, and a post office under Carlisle. Real property, £2,835. Pop., 884. Houses, 172. The parish contains also the townships of Buckabank, Ivegill, Hawkesdale, Cumdivock, and Raughton and Gatesgill. Acres, 10,870. Real property, £19,849. Pop., 2,568. Houses, 516. The property is much subdivided. The manor belongs to the Bishop of Carlisle. Rose Castle is the Bishop’s seat, and will be separately noticed. Dalston Hall, now a farm-house, was a castellated seat of the Dalstons.

There are cotton factories and collieries. There are also a Roman camp, a barrow, and remains of a Druidical circle. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Carlisle. Value, £283. Patron, the Bishop of Carlisle. The church has a curious bell-gable, and is tolerable. A sculptured stone cross is near it. Dr. Paley was vicar from 1774 till 1793. The vicarage of Ivegill is a separate benefice. There are a Wesleyan chapel, and charities £56. The sub-district contains also Orton parish, and part of St. Mary. Acres, 17,078. Pop., 3,865. Houses, 762.

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].

A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848

DALSTON (St. Michael), a parish, in the union of Carlisle, ward, and E. division of the county, of Cumberland; comprising the townships of Buckabank, Cumdivock, Dalston, Hawkesdale, and Raughton with Gaitsgill, and the chapelry of Highhead; and containing 2874 inhabitants, of whom 1024 are in the township of Dalston, 4½ miles (S. S. W.) from Carlisle.

This place, from various circumstances, appears to have been visited by the Romans; and from some extensive quarries of freestone here, it is supposed a great part of the stone used for building the Roman wall from Carlisle to Bowness was dug; an opinion confirmed by the discovery, about the middle of the last century, of a Roman inscription on the face of a rock, and by the vestiges of three Roman encampments, that exist in the neighbourhood.

Rose Castle, in the parish, is supposed to have been the principal residence of the bishops of Carlisle from the year 1228: in 1322 it was burnt by Robert Bruce, and, about 1366, was twice attacked and ravaged by the Scots. Before the civil war in the seventeenth century, the building formed a complete quadrangle, had five towers, and was surrounded by a turreted wall.

In 1648, being then held for the king, it was attacked by General Lambert, and taken by storm; shortly afterwards, the Duke of Hamilton’s army was here reinforced by that under Sir Marmaduke Langdale, and the castle, after having been used as a prison for the royalists, was burnt by order of Major Cholmeley. Since the Restoration it has been rebuilt, and improved by successive prelates.

The parish comprises about 10,850 acres; the surface, though hilly, is not mountainous, and the valleys are watered by the river Caldew, which, after receiving the Raugh and the Ive, gives name to a beautiful vale. Stone of excellent quality is found, and at Shalk are some very extensive quarries: the cotton manufacture is carried on to a considerable extent, there being several mills; and an iron and plating forge is conducted on a large scale, for spades and implements of husbandry.

The village is well built, and at the eastern extremity is an ancient cross, raised on a flight of steps, and bearing several coats of arms; a customary market is held on Friday, and the village is a polling-place for the eastern division of the county. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king’s books at £8. 18. 1½.; net income, £201; patron and appropriator, the Bishop. The church was rebuilt about a century ago. At Highhead is a separate incumbency. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans; and a school, rebuilt in 1815, is endowed with £33 per annum. Remains exist of a Druidical circle about thirty yards in circumference. The celebrated Dr. Paley was vicar of Dalston from 1774 to 1793.

Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848