Bridekirk, Cumberland Family History Guide
Bridekirk is an Ancient Parish in the county of Cumberland.
Other places in the parish include: Dovenby, Goat, Great Broughton, Little Broughton, Papcastle, Ribton, and Tallentire.
Parish church: St. Bridget
Parish registers begin: 1584
Nonconformists include: Baptist, Society of Friends/Quaker, and Wesleyan Methodist.
Table of Contents
Adjacent Parishes
Parish History
Bridekirk
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
BRIDEKIRK, a township and a parish in Cockermouth district, Cumberland. The township lies near the river Derwent and the Cockermouth railway, 2 miles NNW of Cockermouth. Acres, 916. Real property, £1,608. Pop., 125. Houses, 26.
The parish contains also the townships of Papcastle, Little Broughton, Great Broughton, Ribton, Dovenby, and Tallentire; and its Post town is Cockermouth. Acres, 9,270. Real property, £19,983. Pop., 2,876. Houses, 608. The property is subdivided.
The manor belonged to Gisburn Abbey; and was given, at the dissolution, to the Tolsons. Bridekirk-Hall is the seat of the Dykes family. Freestone and limestone are quarried.
The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Carlisle. Value, £240. Patron, F. L. B. Dykes, Esq. The church is ancient and good; has a Norman doorway; and contains a curious, carved square font, about 2 feet high, supposed to have been Roman.
Great Broughton chapelry, now a vicarage, was made a separate charge in 1863. Charities, £122. Sir Joseph Williamson, secretary of state to Charles II., and Thomas Tickell, the poet, were natives.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].
A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848
BRIDEKIRK (St. Bridget), a parish, in the union of Cockermouth, Allerdale ward below Derwent, W. division of Cumberland; comprising the townships of Bridekirk, Great and Little Broughton, Dovenby, Papcastle, Ribton, and Tallentire; and containing 2112 inhabitants, of whom 121 are in the township of Bridekirk, 2 miles (N. by W.) from Cockermouth.
This parish, which takes its name from its patron saint, contains some quarries of limestone and white freestone, and extends about five miles along the northern bank of the river Derwent, near which the land is fertile; a wet soil, incumbent on clay or limestone, prevails on its northern side.
The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king’s books at £10. 13. 4., and in the patronage of Mrs. Dykes; net income, £137; impropriators, Mrs. Dykes, the Earl of Lonsdale, William Brown and J. S. Fisher, Esqrs., and Captain Senhouse.
The church is an ancient edifice, principally in the Norman style, but modernised a few years since, by the erection of a new tower, and the enlargement of several windows: it contains a singular font, which, according to Camden, was brought from the Roman station at Papcastle, exhibiting, in rude relief, various designs symbolical of the serpent and the forbidden fruit, the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise, the baptism of Christ, &c., likewise a Runic inscription.
Sir Joseph Williamson, secretary of state in the reign of Charles II.; and Thomas Tickell, the poet and essayist, born in 1686, were natives of this place, each during the incumbency of his father.
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848
Great Broughton
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
BROUGHTON (Great), a township and a chapelry in Bridekirk parish, Cumberland. The township lies on the river Derwent, adjacent to the Cockermouth and Workington railway at Broughton-Cross station, 3 miles W of Cockermouth. It has a post-office under Carlisle. Acres, inclusive of Little Broughton, 2,743. Real property, £5,773; of which £2,322 are in mines. Pop., 836. Houses, 180.
The chapelry is more extensive than the township; includes Little Broughton; and was very recently constituted. Pop., 1,498. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Carlisle. Value, £100. Patron, the Vicar of Bridekirk. The church is new.
There are chapels for Baptists, Quakers, and Wesleyans. A school and alms-houses have £30 from endowment.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].
A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848
BROUGHTON, GREAT, a township, in the parish of Bridekirk, union of Cockermouth, Allerdale ward below Derwent, W. division of Cumberland, 4½ miles (W.) from Cockermouth; containing 562 inhabitants.
The village lies on the southern slope of an eminence rising from the river Derwent. The tithes were commuted for land in 1819. Joseph Ashley built an almshouse for four women, and a schoolroom, which he endowed by will dated July 18th, 1735, the former with £8, and the latter with £20. 10., per annum.
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848
Tallentire
Lewis Topographical Dictionary of England 1845
Tallentire, a township, in the parish of Bridekirk, union of Cockermouth, Allerdale ward below Derwent, W. division of Cumberland, 3 ¾ miles (N. by W.) from Cockermouth; containing 246 inhabitants. Limestone is quarried and burned in the vicinity. The impropriate tithes have been commuted for £104, and the vicarial for £23.
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis Fifth Edition Published London; by S. Lewis and Co., 13, Finsbury Place, South. M. DCCC. XLV.
Parish Records
FamilySearch
Directories
Kelly’s Directory of the Leather Trades 1880
GREAT BROUGHTON
Boot & Shoe Makers
Dawson Joshua
Graham Harrison
Skinner
Lester John
Administration
- County: Cumberland
- Civil Registration District: Cockermouth
- Probate Court: Court of the Bishop of Carlisle (Episcopal Consistory)
- Diocese: Carlisle
- Rural Deanery: Allerdale
- Poor Law Union: Cockermouth
- Hundred: Allerdale below Derwent Ward
- Province: York