Old Cumbria Gazetteer

Bewcastle

civil parish:-

Bewcastle (formerly Cumberland)

county:-

Cumbria

locality type:-

locality

locality type:-

buildings

locality type:-

selected place (secondary)

coordinates:-

NY56547462 (etc)

1Km square:-

NY5674

10Km square:-

NY57

latitude; longitude:-

2d 40.8m W; 55d 3.8m N

Click to enlarge
BWQ44.jpg (taken 1.6.2012)

evidence:-

old map:- Mercator 1595 (edn?)
placename:- Bow Castle

source data:-

Map, hand coloured engraving, Northumbria, Cumberlandia, et Dunelmensis Episcopatus, ie Northumberland, Cumberland and Durham etc, scale about 6.5 miles to 1 inch, by Gerard Mercator, Duisberg, Germany, about 1595.

MER8CumA.jpg
"Bow ca"
circle, building and tower
item:- JandMN : 169
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old map:- Keer 1605
placename:- Bewcast

source data:-

Map, hand coloured engraving, Westmorland and Cumberland, scale about 16 miles to 1 inch, probably by Pieter van den Keere, or Peter Keer, about 1605 edition perhaps 1676.

click to enlarge
KER8.jpg
"Bewcast"
dot, circle and tower; village
item:- Dove Cottage : 2007.38.110
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old map:- Jenner 1643
placename:- Bew Castle

source data:-

Tables of distances with a maps, Westmerland, scale about 16 miles to 1 inch, and Cumberland, scale about 21 miles to 1 inch, published by Thomas Jenner, London, 1643; published 1643-80.

JEN4Sq.jpg
"Bew cast"
circle

evidence:-

old map:- Badeslade 1742
placename:- Beu Castle

source data:-

Map, uncoloured engraving, A Map of Cumberland North from London, scale about 11 miles to 1 inch, with descriptive text, by Thomas Badeslade, London, engraved and published by William Henry Toms, Union Court, Holborn, London, 1742.

click to enlarge
BD10.jpg
"Beu Castle"
circle, italic lowercase text; castle
item:- JandMN : 115
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old text:- Gents Mag
placename:- Beu Castle
item:- Border Wars

source data:-

Magazine, The Gentleman's Magazine or Monthly Intelligencer or Historical Chronicle, published by Edward Cave under the pseudonym Sylvanus Urban, and by other publishers, London, monthly from 1731 to 1922.

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Gentleman's Magazine 1742 p.368 "..."
"THAT Part of Cumberland which lies beyond the Banks of the River Eden, Northwards, having been often exposed to the Waste of War, and the People ruined by almost continual Depredations; the Barenness of it seems rather to proceed from the Neglect of Culture than the natural Poverty of the Soil. Within the Embraces of the Frontier Mountains of this Tract lies Beu-Castle Church, on a Rivulet called Kirk-beck, near an old ruined Castle of the Proprietors of that Part of the Country before the Conquest; and both Church and Castle are built on the Remains of a large Roman Fort. ..."

evidence:-

old text:- Gents Mag
placename:- Beucastle
item:- rebellion, 1745; 1745 Rebellion

source data:-

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Gentleman's Magazine 1746 p.233 "... [1745 Rebellion]"
"On Thursday [7.11.1745] the eastermost column had gained Stangarth side on the English border, and we suspected their intention was to penetrate thro' the wastes of Beu-castle for Brampton, ..."

evidence:-

old text:- Gents Mag
placename:- Beu Castle

source data:-

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Gentleman's Magazine 1754 p.505 "... [journey to Christianbury Crag]"
"I took a guide with me to Beu-Castle, a parish on the northward extremity of Cumberland, in which there is neither town nor village, but a few wretched huts only, which are widely scattered in a desolate country. ..."

evidence:-

old map:- Donald 1774 (Cmd)
placename:- Bewcastle

source data:-

Map, hand coloured engraving, 3x2 sheets, The County of Cumberland, scale about 1 inch to 1 mile, by Thomas Donald, engraved and published by Joseph Hodskinson, 29 Arundel Street, Strand, London, 1774.

D4NY57SE.jpg
"Bewcastle"
blocks, and usually a church, labelled in upright lowercase; a village
item:- Carlisle Library : Map 2
Image © Carlisle Library

evidence:-

old map:- Pennant 1777
placename:- Beaucastle

source data:-

Map, hand coloured engraving, A Map of Scotland, Hebrides and Part of England, drawn for Thomas Pennant, engraved by J Bayly, published by Benjamin White, London, 1777.

click to enlarge
PEN1Cm.jpg
"APIATORIUM / Beaucastle"
circle; buildings, village, etc
item:- private collection : 66
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old text:- Clarke 1787
placename:- Bewcastle Dale
item:- weapons

source data:-

Guide book, A Survey of the Lakes of Cumberland, Westmorland, and Lancashire, written and published by James Clarke, Penrith, Cumberland, and in London etc, 1787; published 1787-93.

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Page 180 (numbered 182):- "'Also it is agreed, that proclamation shall be made, that all inhabitants within Tindale and Riddisdale in Northumberland, Bewcastle-dale, Willgavy, the north part of Gilsland, Eskdale, Ewsdale, and Annerdale in Scotland, (saving noblemen and gentlemen unsuspected of felony and theft, and not being of broken clans) and their household servants, dwelling within those several places before recited, shall put away all armour and weapons, as well offensive as defensive, as jacks, spears, lances, swords, daggers, steelcaps, hagbuts, pistols, plate-sleeves, and such like; and shall not keep any horse, gelding, or mare, above the price of fifty shillings Sterling, or thirty pounds Scots, upon like pain of imprisonment."
"'Item, That proclamation be made, that none of what calling soever, within the countries lately called the Borders, of either of the kingdoms, shall wear, carry, or bear any pistols, hagbuts, or guns of any sort, but in his Majesty's service.' &c."

evidence:-

old text:- Capper 1808
placename:- Bewcastle
item:- population

source data:-

Gazetteer, A Topographical Dictionary of the United Kingdom, compiled by Benjamin Pitts Capper, published by Richard Phillips, Bridge Street, Blackfriars, London, 1808; published 1808-29.

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"..."
"BEWCASTLE, a parish in Eskdale ward, Cumberland, 13 miles from Carlisle, and 318 from London; containing 36 houses and 173 inhabitants. It stands upon the river Line, above Sollom Moss. The church is in ruins; in the church-yard is an ancient cross, on the sides of which are several sculptures, supposed to have been to the memory of some British or Scottish priest. It is a rectory, value 2l. in the patronage of the dean and chapter of Carlisle."
"..."

evidence:-

old map:- Cooper 1808
placename:- Bewcastle

source data:-

Map, uncoloured engraving, Cumberland, scale about 10.5 miles to 1 inch, drawn and engraved by Cooper, published by R Phillips, Bridge Street, Blackfriars, London, 1808.

click to enlarge
COP3.jpg
"Bewcastle"
circle; village or hamlet
item:- JandMN : 86
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old map:- Ford 1839 map
placename:- Bewcastle

source data:-

Map, uncoloured engraving, Map of the Lake District of Cumberland, Westmoreland and Lancashire, scale about 3.5 miles to 1 inch, published by Charles Thurnam, Carlisle, and by R Groombridge, 5 Paternoster Row, London, 3rd edn 1843.

FD02NY57.jpg
"Bewcastle"
item:- JandMN : 100.1
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old text:- Gents Mag
item:- Border Wars

source data:-

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Gentleman's Magazine 1852 part 1 p.482 "..."
"BEWCASTLE MEN. - Traditional stories often outlive the manners they depict. The following anecdote is still told in the north country. A stranger visiting Bewcastle noticed that the tombstones in the churchyard commemorated the decease of females only, and expressing his astonishment to a woman who accompanied him as his guide, received the response, most feelingly uttered, "Oh, Sir! they're a' buried at that weary Caerl (Carlisle)!" The fit of grief being over, the vistor elicited from her the startling information that every "mother's son" of the district was sooner or later hanged at the border city. At the union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland the hardy warriors of the "debateable land" could not at once betake themselves to the occupations of quiet industry; and, as the best substitute for the practices of war, addicted themselves to sheep and horse stealing, crimes at that time punishable with death. The little intercourse which we had with the rustics whom we met upon the road convinced us that a vast moral change had been effected upon the district since the days of border warfare. To every question which we put we received a distinct and satisfactory answer, expressed in language which even a southern might understand. Still we felt curious to know what the testimony of the churchyard was as to the character of past generations. It was most satisfactory, and proved that the anecdote in question, if not altogether calumny, refers to a very remote period. Many of the tombstones commemorate the departure (no doubt in a natural way, for when you say of a man that he died you do not mean that he was hanged) of persons whose youth was spent in the latter part of the seventeenth century. For example there is one to George Nixon, who died 1732-3, aged 83 years; another to Thomas Nixon, who died in 1719, aged 26; one to Francis Forester, who died in 1760 at the age of 72; one to Thomas Armstrong, who died in 1728, aged 77; and another to Adam Routledge, who in 1728 died at the age of 54 years. Let no one henceforward say that the men of Bewcastle do not some to an honest death. Besides observing that the names of these parties are regular border designations, the reader will perhaps note the age to which most"

evidence:-

old text:- Gents Mag 1852

source data:-

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Gentleman's Magazine 1852 part 1 p.483 "of them attained. Notwithstanding the severity of the climate the Waste of Bewcastle is not inimical to health. The incumbent, the Rev. John Maughan, told us that he had occasion three or four years ago to send to the Registrar General of Health a return of the deaths in his parish during the preceding ten years, when it appeared that three-fourths of the people contained in the roll had attained the age of upwards of sixty years."

evidence:-

market notes:-
item:- market

source data:-

www.history.ac.uk/cmh/gaz/gazweb2.htm

evidence:-

old map:- Post Office 1850s-1900s
placename:- Bewcastle

source data:-

Post road maps, General Post Office Circulation Map for England and Wales, for the General Post Office, London, 1850s-1900s.