Lazonby, Cumberland Family History Guide

Lazonby is an Ancient Parish in the county of Cumberland.

Other places in the parish include: Old Penrith, Castle Rigg, and Baron-wood.

Alternative names: St. Nicholas

Parish church:

Parish registers begin:

Parish registers: 1538
Bishop’s Transcripts: 1662

Nonconformists include: Primitive Methodist and Wesleyan Methodist.

Table of Contents

Adjacent Parishes

Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

LAZONBY, a village, a township, and a parish in Penrith district, Cumberland.

The village stands on the river Eden, 1½ mile SW of Kirkoswald, and 5 NE by E of Plumpton r. station; and has a post office under Penrith.

The township comprises 8, 154 acres. Real property, £4, 875; of which £141 are in quarries. Pop., 570. Houses, 117.

The parish includes also the township of Plumpton-Wall; is traversed by Watling Street; and contains, within Plumpton Wall township, vestiges of a Roman.station, supposed to be Bremetenracnm, or Old Penrith. Acres, 11, 175. Real property, £8, 416. Pop., 896. Houses, 174. The property is much subdivided.

The manor belongs to Sir George Musgrave, Bart. Lazonby House is the seat of the Macleans. Much of the land is moor. Traces of a ruined moated castle are at Castle-Rigg. A very high rock, with an artificial cave, called the Giant’s chamber or Sampson’s cave, is in Baron wood. There are several cairns.

The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Carlisle. Value, £551. Patron, the Bishop of Carlisle. The church has a bell turret, and is good.

The p. curacy of Plumpton-Wall is a separate benefice.

There are a Wesleyan chapel and two slightly endowed schools.

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

A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848

LAZONBY (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the union of Penrith, Leath ward, E. division of Cumberland; containing, with the chapelry of Plumpton-Wall, 891 inhabitants, of whom 570 are in the township of Lazonby, 7 miles (N. N. E.) from Penrith.

The township comprises 7980a. 1r. 17p., of which 3888a. 2r. 20p. are arable, 1140a. 2r. 35p. wood and plantations, 62a. 2r. 7p. meadow and pasture, and 2888a. 1r. 35p. waste.

The village is situated on the west bank of the river Eden, and the surrounding country is pleasing. There are good quarries of freestone, and a quarry producing stone for millstones.

The living is a vicarage, endowed with a portion of the rectorial tithes, and valued in the king’s books at £13. 1. 3.; net income, £551; patron, the Bishop of Carlisle: the remainder of the rectorial tithes belong to the poor of the chapelry of Witherslack, Westmorland.

At Plumpton-Wall is a separate incumbency.

In Baron Wood is a lofty rock, containing an artificial cave called Giant’s Chamber, or Samson’s Cave. The great Roman road passes from north to south, and another intersects the parish in a direction towards Salkeld Gate. At Castle Rigg are the ruins of a moated building; and upon the fell, urns containing bones and ashes were discovered some years since. There are also several cairns.

Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848