Old Cumbria Gazetteer |
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| plague stone, Penrith | ||
| Plague Stone | ||
| locality:- | Penrith | |
| civil parish:- | Penrith (formerly Cumberland) | |
| county:- | Cumbria | |
| locality type:- | plague stone | |
| locality type:- | stone | |
| locality type:- | cross (base) | |
| coordinates:- | NY51962956 | |
| 1Km square:- | NY5129 | |
| 10Km square:- | NY52 | |
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 BQF15.jpg (taken 6.3.2009) |
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| evidence:- | old map:- OS County Series (Cmd 58 8) placename:- Plague Stone |
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| source data:- | Maps, County Series maps of Great Britain, scales 6 and 25
inches to 1 mile, published by the Ordnance Survey, Southampton,
Hampshire, from about 1863 to 1948. |
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| evidence:- | old text:- Clarke 1787 item:- cross |
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| 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. goto sourcePage 14:- "..." "Nearly half way between Emont Bridge and Penrith stands an house, called from its situation Halfway-House, ..." "During the dreadful plague which visited this country in the year 1598, and almost depopulated Penrith, (no less than 2260 in the town falling victims to this merciless disease,) the Millers and Villagers refused to bring their commodities into the town to market for fear of the infection. The inhabitants, therefore were under the necessity of meeting them here [Halfway House], and performing a kind of quarantine before they were allowed to buy any thing; and for this purpose they erected a cross, which remains to this day. For greater conveniences, they likewise built another cross at the town's-head, and erected shambles, &c.; the place still retains the name of Cross-Green: they built a third cross near the Carlisle road a little above the second, where black cattle, sheep, hogs and goats were sold; and it retains yet the name of the Nolt-Fair, and continues to be the market for cattle. QUOTE3 ..." |
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| evidence:- | notes:- Calverley 1899 item:- cross; plague stone |
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| source data:- | Book, Notes on the Early Sculptured Crosses, Shrines and Monuments in the Present
Diocese of Carlisle, by Rev William Slater Calverley, edited by W G Collingwood, published
for the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, by Titus
Wilson, Kendal, Westmorland, 1899. A cross base, not a plague stone? "The Plague-stone at Penrith is a block weighing about a ton, of stone, so Mr. George Watson says, from the Lazonby district; roughly squared, and with a large hollow in the upper surface. In times of plague the hole was filled with vinegar, into which people from infected houses put their money, and retired to a distance, while the tradesfolk came and laid their goods beside the stone, taking the money out of the vinegar, which was thought to clear it of infection. But the hole was not made for this purpose, and the stone seems to have been the base of a cross." |
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| evidence:- | old text:- Harper 1907 placename:- Plague Stone |
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| source data:- | Guidebook, The Manchester and Glasgow Road, by Charles G Harper,
published by Chapman and Hall Ltd, London, 1907. HP01p135.txt Page 135:- "Penrith has suffered much in its time from wars and tumults, but it was afflicted in a dreadful manner by a great plague which almost depopulated the neighbourhood between September, 1597, and January, 1599, as an inscription in the church relates. In Penrith itself 2,260 people died, and in Kendal, 2,500." "The "Plague Stone" still remains, half a mile from the town, in the midst of a field. It has a deep hole, into which the townsfolk, coming out of the town to receive provisions which the timid farmers had deposited there, placed the money for payment, the hole being filled with vinegar as a disinfectant." |
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| evidence:- | database:- Listed Buildings 2010 |
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| source data:- | courtesy of English Heritage "PLAGUE STONE IN GROUNDS OF GREENGARTH OLD PEOPLE'S HOME / / BRIDGE LANE / PENRITH / EDEN / CUMBRIA / II[star] / 72789 / NY5196329563" |
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| source data:- | courtesy of English Heritage "Possibly an old cross base, placed near Eamont Bridge near the entry to the town in 1598 and used for transfer of coin between town and country people. Now used as a sculptural feature. A whinstone block 2 ft 6 ins x 2 ft O ins x 1 ft 6 ins with stopped chamfer at angles and square recess in top." |
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