MORESBY, a parish in ALLERDALE ward above
Darwent, county of CUMBERLAND, containing, with the"
townships of Moresby and Parton, 934 inhabitants,
of which number, 438 are in the township of Moresby,
2 miles (N. by E.) from Whitehaven. The living is a
discharged rectory, in the archdeaconry of Richmond,
and diocese of Chester, rated in the king's books at
£6. 2. 3., endowed with £200 private benefaction, and
£200 royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Earl of
Lonsdale. The church, dedicated to St. Bridget, has
lately received an addition of three hundred and sixtytwo
sittings, of which two hundred and twelve are free
the Incorporated Society for the enlargement of churches .
and chapels having granted £150 toward defraying
the expense. A school was founded and endowed by
Joseph Williamson, Esq., of which the Bishops of
Chester and Carlisle are the governors. There is an
iron-foundry within this parish, which is bounded on
the west by the Irish sea. It is evident that this was the
site of a Roman station, from the numerous foundations
of buildings, caverns, and Roman inscriptions, which
have been discovered. Horsley thinks that it was
Arbeia, where, according to the Notitia, the Numerus
Barcariorum Tigritensium was in garrison.