Old Cumbria Gazetteer - St Olaf, Wasdale Head


	St Olaf, Wasdale Head
	St Olaf's Church
	Nether Wasdale Church
	Wasdale Church
locality:-	Wasdale Head
civil parish:-	Nether Wasdale (formerly Cumberland)
county:-	Cumbria
locality type:-	church
coordinates:-	NY18850869
1Km square:-	NY1808
10Km square:-	NY10
references:-	: 2005: Diocese of Carlisle, Directory 2004/5

	CFZ72.jpg (taken 11.5.2006) BMB55.jpg (taken 11.5.2006)

evidence:-	old map:- Saxton 1579 placename:- Wasdale Chapel
source data:-	Map, hand coloured engraving, Westmorlandiae et Cumberlandiae Comitatus ie Westmorland and Cumberland, scale about 5 miles to 1 inch, by Christopher Saxton, London, engraved by Augustinus Ryther, 1576, published 1579-1645. SAX9NY11.jpg "Wasdale chap:" Circle and buildings. item:- private collection : 2 Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-	old map:- Speed 1611 (Cmd) placename:- Wasdale Chapel
source data:-	Map, hand coloured engraving, Cumberland and the Ancient Citie Carlile Described, scale about 4 miles to 1 inch, by John Speed, 1610, published by J Sudbury and George Humble, Popes Head Alley, London, 1611-12. SP11NY10.jpg "Wasdale chap." circle, tower item:- private collection : 16 Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-	old map:- Jansson 1646 placename:- Wasdale Chappell
source data:-	Map, hand coloured engraving, Cumbria and Westmoria, ie Cumberland and Westmorland, scale about 3.5 miles to 1 inch, by John Jansson, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1646. JAN3NY10.jpg "Wasdale Chap" Building and tower with cross. item:- JandMN : 88 Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-	old map:- Morden 1695 (Cmd) placename:- Warsdale Chapel
source data:-	Map, uncoloured engraving, Cumberland, scale about 4 miles to 1 inch, by Robert Morden, 1695, published by Abel Swale, the Unicorn, St Paul's Churchyard, Awnsham, and John Churchill, the Black Swan, Paternoster Row, London, 1695-1715. MD12NY10.jpg "Warsdale Chap" Circle. item:- JandMN : 90 Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-	old map:- Bowen and Kitchin 1760 placename:- Warsdale Chapel
source data:-	Map, hand coloured engraving, A New Map of the Counties of Cumberland and Westmoreland Divided into their Respective Wards, scale about 4 miles to 1 inch, by Emanuel Bowen and Thomas Kitchin et al, published by T Bowles, Robert Sayer, and John Bowles, London, 1760. BO18NY10.jpg "Warsdale Chap." circle, tower item:- Armitt Library : 2008.14.10 Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-	descriptive text:- Otley 1823 (5th edn 1834)
source data:-	Guide book, A Concise Description of the English Lakes, the mountains in their vicinity, and the roads by which they may be visited, with remarks on the mineralogy and geology of the district, by Jonathan Otley, published by the author, Keswick, Cumberland now Cumbria, by J Richardson, London, and by Arthur Foster, Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria, 1823; published 1823-49, latterly as the Descriptive Guide to the English Lakes. goto source Page 30:- "Wasdale Head consists of about half a dozen dwellings sheltered by trees, and a small Chapel, ..." "..." goto source Page 130:- "Wasdale Head ... Here six or seven families have their Chapel, of a size proportionate to the number of inhabitants, and in a style according with the situation; ..."

evidence:-	descriptive text:- Ford 1839 (3rd edn 1843)
source data:-	Guide book, A Description of Scenery in the Lake District, by Rev William Ford, published by Charles Thurnam, Carlisle, by W Edwards, 12 Ave Maria Lane, Charles Tilt, Fleet Street, William Smith, 113 Fleet Street, London, by Currie and Bowman, Newcastle, by Bancks and Co, Manchester, by Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh, and by Sinclair, Dumfries, 1839. goto source Page 171:- "... its small chapel has only eight pews, and is without a burial-ground."

evidence:-	old map:- Garnett 1850s-60s H
source data:-	Map of the English Lakes, in Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire, scale about 3.5 miles to 1 inch, published by John Garnett, Windermere, Westmorland, 1850s-60s. GAR2NY10.jpg cross, a church item:- JandMN : 82.1 Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-	old text:- Martineau 1855
source data:-	Guide book, A Complete Guide to the English Lakes, by Harriet Martineau, published by John Garnett, Windermere, Westmorland, and by Whittaker and Co, London, 1855; published 1855-76. goto source Page 120:- "... There is a chapel,- the humblest of chapels,- with eight pews, and three windows in three sides, and a skylight over the pulpit. There is now a school:- a chapel and a school and no public house! ..."

evidence:-	old photograph:- Bell 1880s-1940s item:- pew; box pew; lamp; oil lamp
source data:-	Photograph, black and white, St Olaf's Church, interior, Wasdale Head, Nether Wasdale, Cumberland, by Herbert Bell, photographer, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1890s. click to enlarge HB0775.jpg internegative at lower left:- "H. Bell" stamped at reverse:- "HERBERT BELL / Photographer / AMBLESIDE" item:- Armitt Library : ALPS438 Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-	old photograph:- Bell 1880s-1940s
source data:-	Photograph, black and white, St Olaf's Church, Wasdale Head, Nether Wasdale, Cumberland, by Herbert Bell, photographer, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1890s. click to enlarge HB0776.jpg internegative at lower left:- "H. Bell" stamped at reverse:- "HERBERT BELL / Photographer / AMBLESIDE" item:- Armitt Library : ALPS439 Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-	old print:- Heaton Cooper 1905 (edn 1908) placename:- Wastdalehead Church
source data:-	Print, colour halftone, Wastdalehead Church, St Olaf's Church, Wasdale Head, Nether Wasdale, Cumberland, from a watercolour painting by Alfred Heaton Cooper, published by Adam and Charles Black, London, 2nd edn 1908. click to enlarge HC0134.jpg Opposite p.90 of The English Lakes, painted by Alfred Heaton Cooper, described by William T Palmer. printed at tissue opposite the print:- "WASTDALEHEAD CHURCH" item:- JandMN : 468.34 Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-	old map:- Nurse 1918
source data:-	Map, The Diocese of Carlisle, Cumberland, Westmorland, and Lancashire North of the Sands, scale about 4 miles to 1 inch, by Rev Euston J Nurse, published by Charles Thurnam and Sons, 11 English Street, Carlisle, Cumberland, 2nd edn 1939. NUR1NY10.jpg "WASTDALE" United benefice with Netherwastdale, but separate parish. In the errata:- "For Wastdale (above lake) read Wastdale Head, ..." item:- JandMN : 27 Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-	database:- Listed Buildings 2010 placename:- Church of St Olaf
source data:-	courtesy of English Heritage "CHURCH OF ST OLAF / / / WASDALE / COPELAND / CUMBRIA / II / 76282 / NY1885208693"
source data:-	courtesy of English Heritage "Parish Church. Earliest reference to a church on this is c1550; records start 1620. Later additions and alterations. Pebble-dashed rubble walls (c3 ft thick) on plinth. Graduated slate roofs with overhanging eaves; stone copings with bellcote to west end. Single cell. Side walls c5 ft high. C20 plank door on north side; C19 multi-light stone-mullioned windows under hoodmoulds. Interior: 4 original roof trusses (one over altar has cut tie-beam). Ornate C19 cast-iron lamp brackets to side walls. Monolithic stone holy-water stoup (original font?) in recess in west wall c2 1/2 ft high, square in plan, with stop- chamfered corners."

	CFZ74.jpg (taken 28.4.2017)

	gravestones

	stained glass

	CFZ77.jpg Roof timbers. (taken 11.5.2006) CFZ76.jpg Felted cushion. (taken 11.5.2006) BMB53.jpg (taken 11.5.2006)

notes:-	The church probably dates from before the Reformation. The parish is mentioned in a record of 1550. The building was restored in 1892; the vestry was added 1935; re-roofed in 1936. The church was dedicated to St Olaf in 1977.
	Bailey, Bill: 1991: Wasdale Head and its Church

hearsay:-	The church was not licensed for burial until 1901. Before then coffins were taken on the corpse road over Burnmoor.

	dedication
person:-	: St Olaf
place:-	Nether Wasdale / Carlisle Diocese

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