CLIFTON, a parish in WEST ward, county of WESTMORLAND,
2 miles (S. E. by S.) from Penrith, containing
283 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, in the
archdeaconry and diocese of Carlisle, rated in the king's
books at £8. 3. 4., and in the patronage of the Bishop
of Carlisle. The church, dedicated to St. Cuthbert, is a
small and indifferently built structure. The parish is
bounded on the north and west by the river Lowther,
in the vale of which the village is situated, deriving its
name from the rock or cliff on which it stands. At
Clifton moor, which was enclosed in 1812, a slight skirmish
took place in 1745, between the Duke of Cumberland
and a party of the Pretender's army, on its retreat
to Scotland. There is a medicinal spring, the water of
which is efficacious in the cure of scorbutic complaints.
Mary Scott, in 1764, made a small bequest towards the
support of a schoolmaster.