BEWCASTLE, a parish in ESKDALE ward, county
of CUMBERLAND, comprising the townships of Bailie,
Belbank, Bewcastle, and Nixons, and containing 1213
inhabitants, of which number, 188 are in the township
of Bewcastle, 19 miles (N. E.) from Carlisle. The living
is a rectory, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Carlisle,
rated in the king's books at £2, endowed with £800
parliamentary grant, and in the patronage of the Dean
and Chapter of Carlisle. The church is dedicated to
St. Cuthbert. In the churchyard there is a curious
antique cross, composed of a single stone, bearing inscriptions
which have been variously interpreted, and
some curious devices, which are supposed to be emblematical
of the conversion of the Danes to Christianity,
and commemorative of the death and interment of one
of their kings. There is a place of worship for Presbyterians.
The rivers Leven, or Line, and Irthing, have
their sources in this parish. Limestone, coal, and leadore
are obtained here. In the 7th of Edward I. license
was granted to John Swinburn to hold a market and a
fair. There are two schools in the parish, which are
partly supported by subscription. This was a Roman
station, of which there are some traces, and many coins,
inscribed stones, and other relics of Roman occupation
have been found: the Maiden-way passed through the
parish. Bueth Castle, a fortress built by Bueth, Lord
of Gilsland, soon after the Conquest, was occupied by
a border garrison in the reign of Elizabeth, and, in
1641, was demolished by the parliamentarians: some
vestiges are still visible, and there are various relics of
antiquity in the vicinity, which abounds also with picturesque
scenery. There are two mineral springs, one
with a sulphureous impregnation, the other chalybeate;
and at Low Grange, a quarter of a mile to the east
of the church, is a petrifying spring.