Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for CROSTHWAITE

CROSTHWAITE, a parish in Cockermouth district, Cumberland; in the basin of the Derwent river, and on the Cockermouth and Penrith railway, round Keswick. It measures about 10 miles by 10; and contains the townships of Keswick, Underskiddaw, Borrowdale, Braithwaite, Thornthwaite, Coledale or Portingscale, and St. John-Castlerigg and Wythburn, and the chapelry of Newlands. Post town, Keswick, under Windermere. Acres, inclusive of Greta-Mills and Briery-Cottages, 58, 330. Real property, £25, 977; of which £870 are in mines, and £97 in quarries. Pop., 5, 070. Houses, 1, 072. The property is much subdivided. The surface includes Derwent-water, Thirlmere, and part of Bassenthwaite-water, with the richly picturesque vales and mountains around them; and forms a prominent part, in at once size, variety, and richness, of the Lake country. Copper and read ores, with plumbago, are found. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Carlisle. Value, £430.* Patron, the Bishop of Carlisle. The old church stands ¾ of a mile N of Keswick; is an ancient edifice, with centre and side aisles; and has a hexagonal figured font, a brass of Sir John Ratcliffe, the ancestor of the Earls of Derwent-water, and a monument and white marble statue of the poet Southey. The new church, built a few years ago, at a cost of about £4, 000, is a Gothic structure, with tower and spire. The chapelries of Keswick, Grange, Borrowdale, St. Johns-in-the-Vale, Wythburn, Thornthwaite, and Newlands are separate benefices. A grammar school has £99 from endowment; and other charities £356. See Keswick.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a parish"   (ADL Feature Type: "countries, 4th order divisions")
Administrative units: Crosthwaite CP/AP       Cockermouth RegD/PLU       Cumberland AncC
Place: Crosthwaite

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