WESTMORLAND, a county (inland), bounded on
the north and west by Cumberland, on the southrwest
and south by Lancashire, on the south-east and east
by Yorkshire, and on the north-east by the county of
Durhami. It extends from 54° 11' 30" to 54° 42'30"
(N. Lat.), and from 2° 20' to 3° 12' (W. Lon.); and
includes an area of seven hundred and sixty-three
square miles, or four hundred and eighty-eight thousand
three hundred and twenty statute acres. The population,
in 1821, was 51,359. The ancient British inhabitants
of the territory included within the limits of
this county were of two tribes of the Brigantes, called the
Voluntii and the Sistuntii; the former occupying the
eastern parts of it, the latter the western. Under the
Roman dominion it was included in the division called
Maxima Casariensis; and, at the period of the Saxon
Heptarchy, it formed part of the extensive and powerful
kingdom of Northumbria: from its Saxon con-
querors, it received the name of West-moringa-land,
or land of the western moors, since contracted into
Westmorland. In later ages this county has been very
little distinguished in history, except that it several
times suffered severely from the hostile incursions of
the Scotch. In 1173, King William, of Scotland took
Appleby castle by surprise, and destroyed the town;
for permitting which, Henry II. imposed severe fines
on several of the principal families in the county:
during this inroad the Scottish monarch also sacked
Brought castle. In 1388, Appleby was again reduced to
ashes by these northern invaders. At the commencement
of the civil war of the seventeenth century, Appleby
castle was garrisoned by Anne, Countess of Pembroke,:
for the king, for whom it held out until the 16th
of October, 1648,'when it surrendered to the parliament-
arian forces under Lieut. Gen. Ashton, who captured
in it a great number of officers, and one thousand two
hundred horse, with all their baggage, being the force
which he had compelled to abandon the siege of Cockermouth.
In 1663, after the restoration of Charles II.,
some friends of the Commonwealth, who were very
numerous in that part of the county, met on Kaber-
Rigg, near the village of Kaber, designing to commence
an insurrection, but were dispersed by the militia; some
of them were taken prisoners, and afterwards, tried and
executed at Appleby. In 1?45, a sharp action took
place at Clifton moor between the retreating forces
of the Scotch rebels and those of the Duke of Cumberand;
some of the rebels who entered Kendal were
alsp, attacked by the inhabitants, but with very little effect,
Westmorland is partly in the diocese of Chester,
and partly in that of Carlisle, in the province of York;
the former includes the barony of Kendal, which is
divided between the two deaneries of Kendal and Kirkby-
Lonsdale, both of which extend into the adjoining
parts of Lancashire; the barony of Westmorland, forming-
the remaining portion of the county, is in the diocese
of Carlisle, and constitutes the deanery of Westmorland.
The total number of parishes is thirty-two,
of which fourteen are. rectories, seventeen vicarages,
one a perpetual curacy! Its great civil divisions
are the two baronies of Kendal and Westmorland; the
former containing the wards of Kendal and Lonsdale 5
the latter, which has in later ages been occasionally
styled the "barony of Appleby," and is often called the
"Bottom of Westmorland," comprising the East and
West wards. The county contains the borough and
market-town of Appleby, the small market-town and
sea-port of Milnthorpe, and the market-towns of Ambleside,
Brough, Burton in Kendal, Kendal, Kirkby-
Lonsdale, Kirkby - Stephen, and Orton; two knights
are returned to. parliament for the shire, and two representatives
for the borough of Appleby: the county
members are elected at Appleby. Westmorland is included
in the northern circuit: the assizes and the
Easter and Michaelmas quarter sessions are held at
Appleby, and the Epiphany and Midsummer sessions
at Kendal. .There are thirty-two acting magistrates.
The rates raised in the county, for the year ending
March 25th, 1827, amounted to £31,029- 15., and the
expenditure to £31,514. 12., of which £27,114. 3. was
applied to the relief of the poor.
In the later, periods of the Saxon dominion, when
the ancient kingdom of Northumbria was divided into
six shires, one of these was called Appleby-scyre; this,
however, does not seem to have included the barony of
Kendal, which, according to various records, appears,
for sortie ages after the Norman Conquest, to have continued
to form part of the hundred of Lonsdale, county
palatine of Lancaster. In Domesday-book many places
in the barony of Kendal are noticed, while Westmorland,
properly, so called, is, with Cumberland, Durham,
Northumberland, and part of Lancashire, wholly omitted,
those counties having been excluded from the survey.
Lands in this county were, for centuries after the Norman
Conquest, held by services similar to those of the
border counties of Cumberland and Northumberland.
The- barony of Westmorland was granted by the Conqueror
to Ranulph de Meschines, from whom, in a few
generations, the possessions attached to it descended,
through the families of Trevers, Engain, and Moryille,
to that of the Yeteriponts, from whom it passed to
the Cliffords, and from the latter, in the seventeenth
century, to the Tuftons, Earls of Thanet, in which
family. it still remains; the present Earl of Thanet
being hereditary sheriff of the county, as owner of that barony.
The county is in general so mountainous, that the
soil of a great portion of it must necessarily for ever
remain undisturbed by the plough. The mountains are
separated by pleasant and fertile vallies, requiring only
a greater number of trees and hedge-rows to complete
the beauty of their appearance. The most extensive
vales are, that of the Eden, reaching from about ten
miles south-east of Kirkby - Stephen, north-westward
by Appleby, towards Penrith 5 and that of Kendal, more
particularly southward and westward of that town.
Loose masses of rock, of various sizes and descriptions,
are scattered over all the lower hills and the champaign
parts of the county; and on the southern side of
Shap, along the road towards Kendal, different streams,
and especially Wasdale-beck, fqr,ce their passage amidst
stupendous blocks of rounded.-granite. Cross-fell, at
the north-eastern extremity of the county, which is
the highest of the chain of mountains extending along
the eastern borders of Westmorland and Cumberland,
rises to the height of two thousand nine hundred and
one feet above the level of the sea. The other greatest
elevations, included wholly or partly within its limits,
are Helvellyn, three thousand and fifty-five feet high;
Bow-fell, two thousand nine hundred and eleven feet
high; Rydal-head, about the same height as the lastmentioned
and the High Street, which is about two
thousand seven hundred and thirty feet high, and
derives its name from an ancient road that runs along
its summit, and on which the people of the neighbourhood
have annual horse-races and other sports, on
July 10th. All these mountains command magnificent
and extensive prospects, and from Rydal-head are seen
the lakes Windermere, Elter-water, Grassmere, and
Rydal-water.
Many beautiful lakes adorn the numerous romantic
and sequestered dales, and, together with those of
"Cumberland, have afforded an abundant theme for description,
and have been the subjects of some of the
finest efforts of landscape painting. The principal of
those in Westmorland are, Ullswater, Windermere,
Grassmere, Haws-water, Elter-water, Broad-water, and
Rydal-water. Ullswater is on the north-western side of
the county; the higher part of it is wholly within the
limits of this county, while its lower part is divided
between it and Cumberland: it is about nine miles long,
its breadth varying from a quarter of a mile to two
"miles: the lower end is called Ousemere: its depth
varies from six to thirty-five fathoms. The shores of
this lake are extremely irregular, and, from its making
different bold sweeps, only parts of it are seen at once:
the lower extremity is bordered by pleasant enclosures,
interspersed with woods and cottages, scattered on the
sides of gently rising hills; but, advancing upwards
to-wards Patterdale, the enclosures are of smaller extent,
and the hills more lofty and rugged, until their
aspect becomes wholly wild and mountainous: in its
highest expanse are a few small rocky islands. Placefell,
on the east, projects its barren and rugged base
into the lake; and on the west rise several rocky hills,
one of which, called Stybarrow Crag, is clothed with
oaks and birches: these and the other surrounding
lills are furrowed with glens and the channels of
torrents, causing remarkable echoes. When the sky is
uniformly overcast, and the air perfectly calm, this
lake, in common with some others, has its surface
overspread by a smooth oily appearance, provincially
called a held, which term is also applied to the places
that are longest in freezing: it contains abundance of fine
trout, perch, skellies, and eels, some char, and a species
of trout, called grey trout, almost peculiar to it, which
frequently attains the weight of thirty pounds. Windermere
is ten miles and a half long, and lies on the
western border of the county, which it separates, for
the greater part of its length, from Lancashire, in which
county its lower extremity is wholly included: its
breadth is from one to two miles, and its area is computed
at two thousand five hundred and seventy-four
acres, including thirteen islands, occupying a space of
about forty acres, the largest of which is now called
Curwen's Island, and contains twenty-seven acres. The
Westmorland margin of this lake is bordered by enclosures
rising gently from the water's edge, adorned
with numerous woody and rocky knolls of various elevations
and sizes j the Lancashire shore is higher and
more abrupt, and is clothed with wood, though not to
the summit 5 and a simple magnificence] is the chief
characteristic of the whole surrounding scenery Its
fisheries, which are rented of the crown, are chiefly for
common and grey trout, pike, perch, skellies, and eels
and more particularly for char, its most remarkable produce,
of which there are two sorts, called, from the difference
of their colour, silver and golden char,the former
of which is considered the most delicious, and is potted
for the London market: great numbers of water fowl
resort to this lake, and to a few of the smaller ones.
Grassmere is a particularly beautiful small lake, situated
at the lower end of a valley bearing its name; in the centre
of it is one small island, and its head is adorned
by the dhurch and village of Grassmere. Haws-water
is situated in a narrow vale, called Mardale, and is
about three miles long, and from a quarter to half a
mile broad: near the centre it is nearly divided into
two by a low enclosed promontory; and the mountains
which environ its head are steep, bold, and craggy,
but are skirted at their feet by enclosures. On its
northern side is Naddle Forest, a steep mountainous
ridge, in the form of a bow, and in the centre of which
rises-Wallow Crag, a mass of upright rocks; the other
portions of its scenery are equally picturesque. The char
and trout of this lake are in great esteem j besides
these, it produces perch, skellies, and eels. Elter-water,
at the bottom of Great Langdale, which is rather larger
than Grassmere, is inferior to none of the smaller
lakes in the variety and beauty of its scenery. Stoan-
water, about a mile above the head of Ullswater, is
environed by high and rugged mountains, and. is
viewed to great advantage from a spot called Hartsophigh-
field. Rydal-water, on the course of the Rothay,
is shallow, and has several picturesque woody islands
it is about a mile in length. The principal of the
smaller lakes, most commonly called tarns, are Aiswater,
about a mile south-west of Hartsop, arid about
a mile northward of which is Angle-tarn) Grisedaletarn,
at the head of Grisedale; Red-tarn 5 under the
eastern side of Helvellyn, and westward of which lies
Kepel-cove-tarn; Red-tarn and Small-water, at the
head of Riggindale, the highest branch of Mardale,
Skeggles-water, in the mountains between Long-Sleddale
and Kentmere, Kentmere, in the valley of the Kent,
Sunbiggin-tarn, in the parish of Orton; and Whinfelltarn,
in the parish of Kendal. Some of the finest views
are obtained from the high land near Askham, the
terrace of Brougham Hall, Farleton Knot, Haverbrack
Castle hill, Helsington chapel, Kirkby-Lonsdale church-
yard, Mell-fell, Orton Scar, Storr's Point, Whinfell,
Whitbarrow Scar, Wildboar-fell, and Wreynose hill.
The mountainous character of this county, and its
proximity to the Western sea, from which the wind is
supposed to blow during eight months of the year,
render its climate remarkably moist, and its streams
uncommonly numerous. The air on the summits of the
hills is pure and healthy, and the winters are generally
severe. Along the chain of mountains extending from
Cross-fell, in a southern direction, to Stainmore near
Brough, a distance of about twenty miles, occurs a singular
phenomenon, called the Helm Wind, which blows
at various times of the year, but most commonly from
October to April. A light-coloured cloud covers the
summit of the mountain, and extends nearly half-way
down; above which the blue sky generally appears, and,
above that, another cloud somewhat darker than the
former; the latter is called, by the country people, the
Burr, or Bar, from a popular notion that it represses
the fury of the storm. During the time the Helm is
forming, a noise is heard something like the distant
roaring of the sea, and when it assumes the appearance
of one continued and unbroken cloud, with a tremulous
motion, the phenomenon is said to be completely formed.
The wind then rushes down the mountain with incredible
fury, extending its influence in a westerly direction for
about three miles, beyond which the air is often quite
calm, and occasionally a wind is even found blowing in
an opposite direction. Over the top, or eastern side, of
the mountain, the cloud extends no farther downwards
than on the western side; and after it has passed
through, the air there also is often quite calm, The
Helm, therefore, is purely a local wind: it is more or
less violent at different times of the year, and is most
severely felt about the villages of Dufton, Murton, and
Hilton, where it occasionally does considerable damage,
tearing up trees by the roots, and unroofing houses,
and, when it unfortunately occurs in harvest time,
destroying the crops within its influence.
The most prevailing soil is a dry gravelly mould.
Sand and hazel-mould appear in various places, but
chiefly towards the eastern and north-eastern confines.
Clay is found on a few farms near the Eden, and bordering
on the eastern mountains, and a heavy moist
soil in others in the northern parts of the county. Peatmoss
occurs in small patches in many of the vallies,
and abounds on the tops of several of the higher
mountains, which, however, are in general covered with
a dry soil upon a hard blue rock, provincially termed
rag. The soil resting on a limestone bottom is every
where esteemed the best. Notwithstanding the numerous
enclosures and improvements that have taken place
since the commencement of the present century, the
cultivated lands hardly amount to one-half of the whole
extent of the county. Upon these the oldest system
of husbandry is, when the pastures have become very
full of moss, to have, first, a crop of oats, then one
of barley manured, and, lastly, oats again, after which
they become grass land as before: the farmer does not
usually sow seeds with his last crop of oats, the land
of itself producing a tolerable herbage, which isgreatly
encouraged by the humidity of the climate; but, in a few
years, it again becomes of little value, on account of the
increase of moss amongst it, when, it is again brought
under a similar course of tillage. This system, however,
is nearly exploded, and the turnip and clover husbandry
now chiefly prevails, particularly in the Bottom
of Westmorland, and in the parishes of Heversham,
Burton, and Kirkby-Lonsdale, where considerable quantities
of wheat are grown. Many potatoes are also
grown and consumed in the county, particularly in the
vicinity of Kendal. Hence it is obvious, that the greater
part, amounting to about three-fourths, of the enclosed
lands, are always under grass, particularly in high
situations; and as the farmers, during the summer
"months, can keep almost any quantity of cattle on the
commons, &c., at a very little expense, their chief object
is to get as much hay as possible from their enclosed
lands against the approach of winter. Many
ilairy cows, fattening cattle, and young stock, are also
pastured in them, particularly in the rough upland
grounds. The artificial irrigation of meadows lying on
the borders of streams is practised in many parts, but
generally on a small scale. Lime is extensively employed
as manure in all parts of the county, limestone
being found in inexhaustible quantities in most parts of
it: rock-marl obtained from Bolton common is also
used, as well as peat ashes. Paring and burning
is much practised on the moorlands and the rough pastures.
The cattle formerly bred in the county were chiefly
of the long-horned breed, and many farmers, particularly
about Kendal and the neighbourhood, are still
partial to them; but, of late, the Durham, or shorthorned,
breed has almost superseded the former, being
generally considered much superior. There are few
counties where, in proportion to their size, more mijch
cows are kept than in this, and where the produce of
the dairy is an object of greater importance: this is
chiefly butter, of which great quantities are annually
sent to the London market, in firkins containing fifty-
six pounds net. Part of the young cattle not adapted
for the dairy are fattened in the county, and the rest
sold to the Yorkshire and Lancashire graziers, with
whom, they are in great request. Not less than ten
thousand Scotch cattle are annually brought to Brough
Hill fair, whence great numbers are driven towards the
rich pastures of the more southern parts of England,
though many are retained and fattened within the limits
of Westmorland. The breeds of sheep kept on the
mountains and commons are either native or have been
intermingled with Scotch sheep; they are horned, and
have dark or grey faces, thick pelts, and coarse, hairy
wool. Silverdale, a small tract in the southern part of
the county, in the neighbourhood of Milnthorpe, gives
name to a peculiar breed found in the surrounding districts;
they are said to be native, and are in every respect
superior to the common sort. In Westmorland it
is not unusual for the proprietor of the land to. be the
owner of the sheep upon it, in which case the farmer is
little more than a shepherd; and any difference in the
value of the flock between the time of his entering
upon the farm and that of his quitting it, must be accounted
for by either party in money. The hogs, though
hot large, are considered of a good kind: farmers,
butchers, and others, who kill swine, often dispose of
the hams to persons who make a trade of curing them,
in which state they are highly prized. They are packed
in hogsheads, with straw, or the husks of oats, and
sent to London, Lancaster, and Liverpool, in such quantities
as to form one of the principal articles of export.
Considerable quantities of geese, ducks, and common
fowls are reared; the two last are generally disposed of
in the market-towns of the county, or at Lancaster;
but great numbers of the geese are annually sold to
drovers from Yorkshire. As only so small a portion of
the county is under tillage, the horses are not numerous;
they are of a small and hardy kind, but are neither
strong nor handsome.
In some parts, considerable tracts are covered with
coppices, consisting chiefly of oak, ash, alder, birch, and
hazel: these underwoods, particularly in the barony
of Kendal, are usually cut every sixteenth year, hardly
any trees being left for timber, and their produce converted
partly into hoops, which are made in the county,
and sent coastwise to Liverpool; and partly into charcoal,
which is in demand for the neighbouring ironworks.
Timber is chiefly found in the plantations,
which are numerous, and, at Whinfield Forest and
around Lowther Hall, extensive: the larch is generally
the most nourishing tree, though indeed most of the
woods spring with a degree of vigoxir hardly to be
expected from the bleak and exposed situations which
many of them occupy. The extensive wastes are partly
subject to common rights, constituting a great part of
the value of many farms, to which they are attached,
and partly in severalties and stinted pastures. A few
of them consist of extensive commons in low situations,
possessing a good soil; but by far the greater number
is composed of large mountainous tracts, called by the
inhabitants felts and moors, which produce little besides
a very coarse grass, heath, and fern, provincially called
ling and brackens: the soil of these is generally a poor
hazel-mould and peat moss. The higher wastes are
principally applied to the pasturage of large flocks of
sheep, which, during the winter, are all brought down
to the enclosures. By the end of April, they are sent
back to the wastes. Numerous herds of black cattle
are likewise seen on the lower commons: a few are of
the breed of the county; the rest are Scotch. The
eastern part of Westmorland is supplied with coal from
Stainmore, part of which lies in Yorkshire; and the
southern from Lancashire, by means of the Lancaster
canal: in some districts the most common fuel is peat.
The mineral productions are various, and some of
them valuable; they consist chiefly of lead, coal, marble,
slate (the finest in England), limestone, freestone,
and gypsum; every part of the county presents an interesting
field of study to the geologist. The principal
lead mines are those at Dunfell, which are considered
to be nearly exhausted; at Dufton, where they are
unusually rich; at Eagle Crags, in Grisdale, a branch
of the vale of Patterdale; and at Greenside near Patterdale.
A small quantity of this metal is also annually
procured in the hills above Staveley, and large
loose masses of ore have been found in different other
situations; a very rich and productive vein at Hartley
ceased to be worked about the commencement of the
last century. Copper has been wrought to a limited
extent at Limbrig, Asby, and Rayne, and is found in
small quantities in many other parts. Coal is neither
abundant, nor of good quality: it is wrought only in
the south-eastern extremity of the county, chiefly on
Stainmore heath, and in the neighbourhood of Snap:
in the vale of Mallerstang a kind of small coal, chiefly
used for burning limestone, is procured. Bordering
upon the river Kent, about three miles below Kendal, a
bed of beautiful white marble, veined with red and other
tints, was discovered in 1793, and quarries were immediately
opened. Near Ambleside, and between that town
and Penrith, is found a marble of a dusky green colour,
veined with white; a black sort is also found near
Kirkby-Lonsdale, and another species at Kendal Fell.
The western mountains produce vast quantities of slate,
all the various kinds of which are used in the surrounding
districts for covering the roofs of buildings, while
the best of them are conveyed by sea to Liverpool, London,
Lynn, Hull, &c., and by land into Cumberland,
Northumberland, Durham, and Lancashire. The most
general colour is blue, of many different shades, sometimes
having a greenish cast; one kind is purple  and
another, used to make writing slates, is nearly black;
the best kinds are obtained at the greatest depth. The
prevailing strata in the southern and eastern parts of the
county are limestone and freestone, together with a soft
laminous schistus, horizontally stratified. The western
and north-western mountains, besides the slate before
mentioned, consist of masses of the trap genera, chiefly
basalt, commonly called whinstone. Around the head
of Windermere, and for some distance eastward of
it, lies a stratum of dark grey limestone, which is
occasionally burned into lime, or polished for tombstones
and chimney-pieces. Wasdale Crag is a mass
of coarse flesh-coloured granite; higher up the dale, a
greenish-coloured granite, of a finer and harder texture
is found: a very coarse species of granite also appears
in many other parts of the county. A vein of red porphyry
crosses the road between Kendal and Shap; and
at Acorn-bank, near Kirkby, there is one of gypsum,
which is used for laying floors. In many parts are
also detached round pieces of blue rag-stone, of granite,
and of a very hard composite stone, called
by the masons callierde. In Knipe Scar are found
talky fibrous bodies, opaque and of an ash-colour;
which burn for a considerable time without any sensible
diminution. Fossil remains exist only in the strata of
the southern and eastern parts of the county: coralloid
bodies are very common, some of them being
beautifully variegated.
The manufactures are but of minor importance, and
consist chiefly of coarse woollen cloths, called Kendal
cottons (supposed to be corrupted from coatings), linseys,
knit-stockings, waistcoat-pieces, flannels, and leather.
Nor is the commerce extensive: the principal exports
are, the coarse cloths manufactured at Kendal,
stockings, slates, tanned hides, gunpowder, hoops, charcoal,
hams, bacon, wool, sheep, and cattle: the imports
are, grain, and Scotch cattle and sheep. Much fish from
the rivers and lakes is annually sent to Lancaster and
Liverpool, and some even to London.
The principal rivers are the Eden, Eamont, Lowther,
Lune, and Kent. The Eden, issuing from one of
the hills at the top of Mallerstang, near the southeastern
border of the county, flows north-westward, by
the towns of Kirkby-Stephen and Appleby, to the parish
of Brougham, at the northernmost extremity of which,
after having formed the boundary of the county for a
short distance, it enters Cumberland, having received
numerous smaller streams from the mountains which
environ its course: this river abounds with fine salmon,
trout, and a few other kinds of fish. The Eamont
issues, in a rapid and remarkably transparent stream,
from the lake of Ullswater, at its lower extremity, and
pursues a bending east-north-easterly course, by Penrith,
to the Eden, at the point where it quits the county.
The Lowther has its source in the moors above Wetsleddale,
and passes northward, by Shap, in a narrow
and rocky channel, to the Eamont, a little below Penrith,
being joined in its course by the water from
the Haws-water lake, and by numerous other mountain
streams. The Lune rises at the foot of a hill, called the
Green Bell, in the parish of Ravenstonedale, and thence
runs southward, between craggy banks and in a rugged
channel, until it enters Lancashire, a mile below Kirkby-
Lonsdale; for the distance of about seven miles, directly
eastward of Kendal, it forms the boundary between this
county and that of York: this river is much resorted
to by salmon during the spawning season, and gives
name to the vale through which it has its course. The
Kent rises on the south side of the hill called the High
Street, and thence flows through Kentmere-tarn, and by
the town of Kendal, into the spacious bay of Morecambe,
approaching which it spreads into a broad, shallow,
and sandy astuary: amongst the other streams by
which it is joined are, the Sprit, from Long Sleddale;
the Mint, from Fawcet Forest; the Underbarrow; the
Blyth, or Betha, which descends from above Betham,
and forms the port of Milnthorpe; and the Winster,
which rises on Cleabarrow heath, and at Blackbeck
becomes the boundary between this county and the
northern portion of Lancashire, which it thenceforward
continues to be, falling into the aestuary of the
Kent opposite to Arnside Fell. The beds of the Kent,
Betha, and Winster, are too rocky, and their waters too
rapid, to admit of their being navigated beyond the
respective points to which the tide flows up them. The
principal of the mountain streams that pour their
waters into Windermere, at its head, are the Brathay
and the Rothay, which meet about three quarters of
a mile below Ambleside; the Troutbeck falls into that
lake from Westmorland, near Calgarth: very large trout
yearly make their passage up the river Rothay, and
great quantities of case, a species of char, up the Brathay.
Westmorland derives considerable benefit from
the Lancaster canal, which, commencing at Kendal, proceeds
for some distance parallel with the course of the
Kent, and afterwards across that of. the Betha, to the
vicinity of Burton, where it enters Lancashire, in the
southern part of which county it communicates with
the Leeds and Liverpool canal, &c. The roads are in
excellent order, durable materials being readily obtained
and the carriage upon them not being heavy. The road
from London to Carlisle through Lancashire, enters the
county at Burton, and thence proceeds by Milnthorpe,
or by Barras Green, to Kendal, Shap, and across the
Eamont to Penrith in Cumberland. A road from London
to Kendal, through Bedford, Nottingham, and Skipton
in Craven, passes through Kirkby-Lonsdale. That
from London to Glasgow and Edinburgh, by Carlisle,
enters from Yorkshire to the south-east of Brough, and
passes through that town and Appleby to Penrith.
A singular collection of huge stones, called Penhurrock,
now nearly destroyed, and a Druidical circle of
stones near Oddendale, both in the parish of Crosby-
Ravensworth, are supposed to have been British; as
also are the rude circle of stones at the head of the
stream called the Ellerbeck; that on the waste of Moorduvock,
called the Druids' Cross; that of Mayborough,
on a gentle eminence on the western side of Eamont
bridge; and that about a mile north-eastward of Shap,
called the Druids' Temple. Various other relics of this
people have been discovered, including several cairns
and encampments. Westmorland was traversed by a
variety of Roman roads of minor importance, and contained
the stations of Vertera, which has been fixed at
Brough; Brovacum, at Brougham castle; Galacum, at
the head of Windermere; and another at Natland, the
name of which is uncertain. A branch of the great
Roman road, called the Watling-street, passed through
it from Stainmore to Brougham castk, and several parts
of it between Brough and Kirkby Thore arc still tolerably
perfect: it is six or seven yards wide, and, on the
level plain, is formed of three layers of stones, a yard
in thickness, but in other places it is made of gravel
or flints, where those materials are the most easily procured.
From this the Maiden-way branched off at
Kirkby-Thore, and passed over the lower extremity of
Cross-fell, by Whitley castle, into Northumberland: this
road may still be clearly traced, being uniformly about
seven yards broad, and formed of large loose stones.
Other vestiges of Roman occupancy are also very numerous,
including altars, urns, coins, bricks, tesselated
pavements, foundations of buildings, &c., which have
been found on the sites of the stations, and in a few
other places. There are also, a Roman camp, about
one hundred yards southward of Borrowbridge, in Borrowdale,
now called Castlehows; others, called Castlesteads
and Coney-beds, near the station at Natland;
and several between Crackenthorpe and Cross-fell;
besides Maiden Castle, upon Stainmore, a very strong
square fort, about five miles from Brough; and several
other remarkable intrenchments. Near Shap is a stupendous
monument of antiquity, called Carl-lofts, supposed
to be Danish, consisting of two long lines of huge
obelisks of unhewn granite, with different other masses
of the same material, arranged in various forms. The
religious houses in this county were only the Premonstratensian
abbey of Shap, and a monastery of White
friars at Appleby, together with an hospital for lepers
near Kirkby in Kendal: there are some remains of the
abbey of Shap. The churches most worthy of notice
are those of Appleby, Asby, Askham, Burton, Brough,
Crosby-Ravensworth, Kendal, Kirkby-Thore, Kirkby-
Lonsdale, and Kirkby-Stephen. The county also contains
several remarkable ancient chapels, and ruins of
others. Remains of more modern fortifications are
numerous and extensive, comprising the ruins of the
castles of Appleby, Beetham, Brough, Brougham, Bewley,
Howgill, Kendal, and Pendragon; Arnside tower, Helsback
tower, and several other ancient castellated buildings.
Of ancient mansions, the most remarkable specimens
are, Sizergh Hall, the seat of Thomas Strickland,
Esq.; and Levens Hall, that of the Hon. Col. Howard;
together with the ruins of Old Calgarth Hall and Preston
Hall. Of the more modern seats of the nobility
and gentry, those most worthy of notice are, Lowther
Castle, the residence of the Earl of Lonsdale, lord
lieutenant of the county; Appleby Castle, that of the
Earl of Thanet, hereditary high sheriff. The small freeholds
are very numerous. The enclosed fields are generally
very small, and are fenced partly by hedges, and
partly by stone walls. The inhabitants, owing to their
secluded situation, have, until recently, been distinguished
for their adherence to several antiquated customs;
haver-bread, from the oat, sometimes called haver,
made into unleavened cakes, is still in common use:
shoes with wooden soles, called clogs, are worn by the
common people of both sexes, especially in the winter
season. There are mineral springs of various qualities
in several places; the principal being that near the village
of Clifton, at which a great number of people annually
assemble, on the first day of May, to drink its
waters; that called Gondsdike, a little to the south of
Rounthwaite, which continually casts up small metallic
soaneles; Shap wells, much resorted to in the summer
season by persons afflicted with scorbutic complaints,
and by lead-miners from Alston and Arkingartdale;
the numerous petrifying springs on the borders of the
river Kent; and a petrifying well in the cave called
Pate-hole. The most remarkable cascades on the numerous
mountain streams are, Leven's Park waterfall,
on the Kent; another on the Betha, below Betham-
the Caladupa of Camden; and Gill-forth spout, in Long
Sleddale, which has an unbroken fall of one hundred
feet. Pate-hole, before mentioned, is a very curious and
extensive cavern in a limestone rock near Great Asby,
from which, in rainy seasons, powerful streams of water
issue. Westmorland gives the title of earl to the family
of Fane. Baron Vipont of Westmorland is one of the
titles borne by the noble family of Clifford.