IRTHINGTON, a parish in ESKDALE ward, county of
CUMBERLAND, comprising the townships of Irthington/
Leversdale, Newby, and Newtown, and containing 1020
inhabitants, of which nnmber, 251 are in the township
of Irthington, 3 miles (W. by N.) from Brampton. The
living is a discharged vicarage, in the archdeaconry
and diocese of Carlisle, rated in the king's books at
£6.1. 5., endowed with £200 royal bounty. Mrs.Dacre
was patroness in 1811. The church, dedicated to St.-
Kentigern, is in the Norman style of architecture. Jane
Hetherington, in 1792, left £ 100 for the endowment of
a school, in aid of which Mr. James Boustead contributes
£5 per annum. Near the church is the keep of a castle,
said to have been the chief seat of the barony of Gilsland
before the erection of Naworth castle. Castle-steads,
within this parish, is the site of the Roman fort Petriana,
where numerous inscribed stones have been found. A
little to the southward is a place now called Watch
Cross, where Horsley fixes the Aballaba of the Romans,
but others incline to the opinion that it was only an
exploratory post: Roman inscriptions have been discovered
here also.