CWAAS Books

In 1980 and 1981, three former burgage plots on Main Street, Cockermouth, opposite the road to the Harris Bridge over the River Derwent, and almost opposite William Wordsworth's birthplace, became available for excavation by the then Cumbria and Lancashire Archaeological Unit. The site may have been occupied from c 1200 continuously to the present day and, after a variety of ownerships, became part of the Lowther estate from 1761. Opportunities for intensive examination of a significant area at the core of an urban centre are rare, and the three plots proved rewarding. In keeping with burgage plots elsewhere, domestic dwellings fronted the street, while to their rear there were ancillary buildings, refuse pits, and a well, and behind those, elements of buildings used for agricultural or industrial purposes. Building materials included timber and then clay, followed by brick and stone, and with some evidence of roofing slate. Careful examination of the excavation evidence revealed successive rebuildings, particularly around 1700, and a variety of forms of stairs, hearths, and windows. The findings have been analysed and written up by Oxford Archaeology North in association with Roger Leech (a former director of the organisation and the site director), and with an historical background by Angus Winchester that puts their development in context. They both enhance our knowledge of the early history of Cockermouth and contribute valuable comparative material about the development of urban settlements in the region.
80 pages + preliminary pages, 24 figures, 15 plates. Paperback with 4 colour cover 210x295x10mm. CARR series vol 3.

Edward I stayed in Carlisle for over three months in 1307, which proved to be the last year in the life of one of medieval England's greatest kings. The rich variety of sources used in this book illuminate his visit from several directions. They show Edward as a ruler, holding his parliament in the castle and directing military operations against Robert Bruce. They shed light on his piety, through his regular distributions of alms and the remarkable collection of relics which accompanied him, and also on his relations with members of his family. They reveal that he was surrounded by all the trappings of great wealth, and suggest that the conclusions which some historians have reached about his financial problems at the end of his reign have been over-stated. And they also demonstrate the impact made on the citizens of Carlisle by the presence of the royal court, and its members' demands f or food and drink, transport and housing.

Heny Summerson's two volume Medieval Carlisle appeared in 1993. His other publications include substantial contributions to histories of Carlisle Castle (1990), Brougham Castle (1998), and Lanercost Priory (2000), and a history of the Aglionby family (2007). He worked for many years on the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, published in 2004.

56 pages, 15 black and white illustrations. Softback cover 210x165mm. CWAAS Tract Series vol 23.

This is the excavation report on two small excavations in Carlisle with evidence of Roman lead processing at Botchergate, together with remains of a cremation cemetery. The Rickergate site produced significant finds of medieval leather deposited in the medieval city ditch. Our knowledge of Carlisle's history has been transformed over the past decade, and these two reports contain accounts of important and recent work not previously published.

Both sites discussed lie just outside and to the east of the medieval city wall, Rickergate revealed evidence of human activity dating to c 4000-2000 BC, as well as traces of Roman timber buildings and a treasure trove of waterlogged remains form the medieval defensive ditches around the city, including shoes in abundance, and a large wood and leather water-carrier of the kind illustrated in the Luttrell Psalter. Botchergate revealed not only Roman burials, including one with a funeral pyre above a grave pit, but also a second-century industrial complex that contained the remains of a large lead-smelting furnace of a kind not previously found in Roman Britain. Together these authoritative and definitive reports demonstrate how much information is still to be found by scrupulously careful archaeological detection, as well as being fascinating and highly readable accounts in their own right.

138 pages, 54 figures, 30 plates, 17 tables. Softback with 4 colour cover 210x295x10mm. CARR series vol 2.

Sir Stephen Glynne (1807-1874) was one of the greatest church enthusiasts of his time, visiting over 5500 churches in England and Wales, and making careful notes and sketches of their architecture, plans and furnishings. His particular interest lay in the Gothic style and in High Church principles, as his notes make clear. This volume contain architectural descriptions of 50 churches in the modern Cumbria (Cumberland, Westmorland, Furness), which were inspected between 1833 and 1872 in 10 or 11 visits, varying from a single night to a fortnight.

Interesting in their own right, they also provide an extremely accurate and valuable record of the fabric and fittings before their removal in restoration or in the total demolition of churches. An introduction places Sir Stephen's life and work in the wider context of developing architectural and ritual scholarship. The text is accompanied by 60 contemporary watercolours, drawings and early photographs, the majority from record sources and published for the first time. Usually the artist or photographer shows the exterior of a church in its landscape setting, but there are engravings of interiors for urban churches and five former monasteries. Together they provide a significant contribution to the study of church architecture in Cumbria at a time of rapid change.

Before his retirement Lawrence Butler taught medieval archaeology in the universities of Leeds and York. He sat on two diocesan committees and served as archaeological consultant to four cathedrals. In 2007 he published Sir Stephen Glynne's Yorkshire Church Notes.

Paperback, 143 pages, 60 figures, 175x250x10mm. CWAAS Extra Series, Vol XXXVI.

This is a reprint of the index to Nicolson & Burns' History and Antiquities of the Counties of Westmoreland and Cumberland, published in 1777.  The two-volume History was published without an index and this index, compiled by H. Hornyold-Strickland, was originally published with a very short print-run in 1934. The reprint has been produced in a plain cover and at a size which allows it to be rebound to match copies of the original book.  vi and 167 pages. No illustrations218x293x14mm. CWAAS Extra Series vol XVII.

In the nineteenth century the writers, artists and antiquarians of the Lake District began to study the literature and culture of the Vikings, and to trace many of the region’s distinctive features back to the Norse settlements. This enthusiasm for Lakeland’s Viking origins expressed itself in scholarship and fiction, in painting and sculpture, in saga-translations and travels to Iceland. This regional movement formed part of a wider national interest in the Vikings and their literature, an interest fuelled variously by philology, politics, and historicism. The leading figure in the study of the Vikings in Lakeland was the artist and author William Gershom Collingwood (1854-1932), but other contributors ranged from Thomas De Quincey and Canon Rawnsley to Beatrix Potter and Arthur Ransome. In terms of both scholarly and popular awareness the ‘Norse medievalism’ of Collingwood and his contemporaries still shapes the ways in which we view both the impact of the Vikings in England and the Lake District’s particular history and inheritance.

The Vikings and Victorian Lakeland offers the first-ever detailed examination of the study of the Vikings and their culture in the Lake District, in the period c. 1850- 1930. It does this by concentrating – by no means exclusively, however – on the life and work of W.G. Collingwood, and it is the first book to be written about this important and influential figure.

Matthew Townend is Senior Lecturer in English at the University of York. His previous books include Language and History in Viking Age England (2002).

Hardback: 9 colour plates; 50 black & white images, 352 pp, 180x250x30mm. CWAAS Extra Series XXXV.

 

 

Much of Carlisle's 2,000-year history has been based on its military and political importance, due especially to the colonising power of the Romans and the Normans, and the needs of national defence against the Scots during the later Middle Ages. After the end of hostilities, the city slowly transformed itself from a small-scale manufacturing and market centre into the bustling industrial and railway hub in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

The contributors to this book have used their expertise as archaeologists and historians to provide an up-to-date, attractively illustrated and readily accessible account of the major themes of continuity and change that marked the experiences of Carlisle and its inhabitants. The city's exceptionally rich heritage deserves to be better known and understood, and this book will interest all who wish to learn more about the history of Carlisle and its place as the regional capital of Cumbria.

Paperback. 198pp, 131 illustrations, 170x245x14mm. CWAAS Extra Series XXXV.

 

 

This publication examines in detail the series of excavations undertaken by the Carlisle Archaeological Unit between July 1977-July 1978 of a major site in the Blackfriars Street area of Carlisle which was due for redevelopment.  It comprises major sections on the structural sequence from Roman to post-medieval periods, the small finds (including flint, stone, Roman coins, copper, silver, glass and medieval objects etc), pottery (Roman, Samian Ware, Mortaria, Anglo-Saxon to post-medieval pottery), and the economic, environmental and human remains (soil profile, insect remains, botanical remains, vertebrate remains and mollusc shells, human remains).

Softbound, 387pp, 242 figures, 5 microfiche, 185x245x28mm. CWAAS Research Series vol IV.

This modern edition of 2001 is a reprint of the classic CWAAS publication of 1892 edited by R S Ferguson, with a new introduction by C B Phillips. It publishes the most significant portions of the 'Boke of Recorde' of the Corporation of Kendal, a large manuscript volume held by the Cumbria Archive Centre in Kendal. The volume contains copies of the three royal charters of 1575, 1637 and 1684 which established the Corporation and its mayor, alderman and burgesses. It also listed some 1500 householders in Kendal in 1576, together with their contributions to obtaining the charter of 1575. Lists of the officials of the Corporation are also given into the mid 17th century (and in the case of Mayors of Kendal up to 1710). It also lists several hundred freemen and apprentices of the companies or gilds of Kendal, enrolled before the burgesses between 1571 and 1645, and orders made by the Corporation pertaining to them. These comprised, among others reflecting the importance of the wool trade to Kendal at this time, the Chapmen, Merchants, Salters, Shearmen, Fullers, Dyers, Websters, Mercers and Drapers (linen and woollen), Tailors, Embroiderers, Tanners, Girdlers, Curriers, Armorers, Hardwaremen, Butchers, Smiths, Clothmakers, Innkeepers, Scriveners. There are also details of benefactors and gifts to the Corporation for poor relief and to the Kendal Grammar School. The publication has a full combined name and place index.

The book will be particularly relevant for those interested in the history of Kendal, early modern social and administrative history and those with an interest in genealogy.

Hardbound, xi + 438pp, 150x230x30mm. CWAAS Extra Series vol VII.

 

Brougham Castle, near Penrith in Cumbria, is a very striking ruin on a very old site. Begun by Robert de Vieuxpoint, a favourite of King John in the early thirteenth century, it was to serve from the first a double function: to protect and dominate its founder's lordship in Westmorland and to strengthen the defences of England's border with Scotland. Although it played its part in national affairs and was twice the scene of hospitality for Kings (Edward I in 1300 and James I in 1617), it was never a royal fortress. But it did hold an important place in the second line fo the defences of northern England. The castle was also a point for the exercise and protection of aristocratic influence and a symbol of the power and permanence of its lords. Above all the castle would be associated with the Cliffords. In their hands it was a centre of one of the most important baronies in the north of England and more locally it was the hub of a valuable estate. Perhaps most famously Brougham would become one of the five castle restored in the mid seventeenth century by Lady Anne Clifford, dowager countess of Pembroke, Dorset, and Montgomery (1590–1676).

In 1984 English Heritage commissioned Lancaster University Archaelogical Unit  to record the fabric of the Castle, which had been in state guardianship since 1928 but had received little previous research. This survey was to be supported by related studies of the Castle's history, environment and records. The results of all these works were combined to produce this monograph. The book includes chapters on the history of the Castle, its earthworks, geology, standing fabric with appendices on documentary evidence and pictorial sources, 19th and 20th century repair works and also includes a list of manuscript sources, a bibliography and index.

Soft cover, 173pp, 67 figures and black and white plates, 210x295x8mm. CWAAS Research Series vol VIII.

This book is expands the original Horsley Lecture given by C E Stevens on Hadrian's Wall in 1947.  It includes chapters on 'How the wall was built', 'Dislocation and its causes', 'the Vallum Decision', 'Legionary Gangs', 'Trouble in the Province', 'The building of Curtains', 'The Central Sector', 'The Closing Stages' and 'The Turf Wall'. It also includes appendices of a check list of 'Centurial Stones', Legionary Inscriptions, Census of Chort Stones etc 

Paperback, 141pp, 140x215x10mm. CWAAS Extra Series vol XX. 

This relatively short monograph provides a synthesis of a fruitful and fascinating investigation of an area in the city centre of Carlisle demolished for redevelopment.  This was 32-40 Castle Street, excavated by the Carlisle Archaeological Unit between June 1981-April 1982.  This monograph conveys a summary of the main findings, taking account of specialist contributions and including some illustrated finds as well as placing the site within its wider context within Carlisle. The microfiche appendices included with the volume contain the complete evidence also originally published in four fascicules.  These give a full catalogue of the structural sequence, environmental remains and finds which included a rich collection of metalwork, glass and stone objects, wooden, leather and bone object and Roman pottery.

Softbound, 81pp, 42 figures, 27 plates. 6 microfiches, . 210x295x7mm. CWAAS Research Series vol V.

The mud buildings of the English Solway Plain known locally as 'dabbins' or 'daubins' are little known outside the immediate area, but they continued to be built until the early years of the twentieth century. Nina Jennings has traced their history forwards from their possible origins in the Viking era. The builders of these houses were faced with a shortage of timber and an almost complete absence of workable stone. Using mud, straw, rushes, peat, turf and cobbles with the minimum of timber, they constructed durable and comfortable dwellings. Tree-ring dating has now shown that some of the standing buildings are more than 500 years old.

The author has studied in detail most of the 150 or more farmhouses, cottages and farm buildings which remain and has attempted to trace their development both in form and in constructional methods. The book also contains accounts of life on the Solway Plain during the inter-war agricultural depression - a way of life which has changed in recent years.

Paperback, 197pp, 98 figures and 35 black and white plates, 185x245x13mm. CWAAS Extra Series vol XXX.

 

This volume contains the material collected by Francis Gastrell (Bishop of Chester 1714-1725) about the Cumbrian parishes within his diocese. His 'Notitia' or notebook of the diocese is a mine of information about parishes, townships, schools and charities, and the sections relating to Cumberland and Westmorland were previously unpublished. The volume gives a vivid picture of the parishes in the four deaneries of Copeland, Furness, Kendal and Lonsdale during the reign of George I. A full list of clergy 1714-1725 is included for each parish. The 'Notitia' was also used by Bishop Porteus to make notes preliminary to his Primary Visitation in 1778. His additions and the contents of a copy intended for the Registrar of Richmond are given in an appendix, which also draws upon the surviving records from the Visitation of 1778. The introduction includes a review of the circumstances surrounding production of the 'Notitia', an examination of the careers of Bishop Gastrell and Dr Stratford, his Archdeacon of Richmond.

Before his retirement Lawrence Butler taught medieval archaeology in the universities of Leeds and York. He sat on two diocesan committees and served as archaeological consultant to four cathedrals. He published the volumes of Church Notes of Sir Stephen Glynne for Yorkshire and for Cumbria in 2007 and 2011.

Hardback, 259pp , 6 illustrations, 195x255x25mm. CWAAS Record Series, Vol XII.

This is a modern reprint of volume one of a classic trilogy of publications about the Barony of Kendal, published by the CWAAS in the 1920s.  Each volume is divided into chapters on the parishes and townships which made up the Barony, with illustrative extracts of documents relating to each community from the twelth century to the late seventeenth century. The documents include items from privately held estate archives such as those at Levens Hall and Sizergh Castle, those calendared in monastic cartularies, manorial rentals, state documents such as Patent Rolls, Close Rolls, Inquisitions Post Mortem, Feet of Fines and lists of those paying the Hearth Tax in 1669.

Volume one covers the following areas: Kendal, Helsington, Sizergh, Natland, Scalthwaiterigg, Hay, Hutton in the Hay, New Hutton, Old Hutton, Docker, Lambrigg, Dillicar, Grayrigg, Whinfell, Bannisdale, Fawcet Forest, Selside and Whitwell, Skelmsmergh and Patton, Strickland Roger, Strickland Ketel, Longsleddale, Kentmere, Staveley, Crook and Winster, Underbarrow, Bradley Field and Cunswick.  There is a full combined name and place index.

The volume will appeal to all those with an interest in local or family history for these areas in medieval and early modern times.  

Hardbound, 476pp, 150x230x30mm. CWAAS Record Series vol IV.

 

This is a modern reprint of volume two of a classic trilogy of publications about the Barony of Kendal, published by the CWAAS in the 1920s and compiled by the historian Dr William Farrer and edited after his death in 1924 by the architect and antiquarian John F Curwen.  Each volume is divided into chapters on the parishes and townships which made up the Barony, with illustrative extracts of documents relating to each community from the twelth century to the late seventeenth century. The documents include items from privately held estate archives such as those at Levens Hall and Sizergh Castle, those calendared in monastic cartularies, manorial rentals, state documents such as Patent Rolls, Close Rolls, Inquisitions Post Mortem, Feet of Fines and lists of those paying the Hearth Tax in 1669.

Volume two covers the following areas: Grasmere, Rydal and Loughrigg, Langdale and Baisbrowne, Ambleside and Troutbeck, Undermilbeck, Applethwaite and Winster, Crosthwaite and Lyth, Levens, Heversham and Milnthorpe, Hincaster, Sedgwick, Stainton, Preston Richard, Beetham, Haverbrack and Arnside, Witherslack, Meathop and Ulpha, Farleton, Burton, Holme, Preston Patrick, Kirkby Lonsdale, Casterton, Hutton Roof, Lupton, Barbon, Mansergh, Middleton, Killington and Firbank.

There is a full combined name and place index.The volume will appeal to all those with an interest in local or family history for these areas in medieval and early modern times.Hardbound, 514pp, 150x230x30mm. CWAAS Record Series vol V.

Sir Daniel Fleming (1633-1701) was a major figure in the public life of late 17th century Westmorland. He had succeeded his father in the Rydal Hall Estate (which included the Manors of Coniston, Skirwith and Beckermet) in 1653 at the age of 19. After a brief education at Oxford and the Inns of Court in London, he married Barbara Fletcher in 1655, the sister of Sir George Fletcher of Hutton Hall, Penrith, and had a large family of 11 children. He filled many public offices in his life, including High Sheriff of Cumberland, MP for Cockermouth, and Justice of the Peace for Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire, and was knighted in 1681.

A man of great intelligence and learning, immense curiosity and boundless energy, he was also an enthusiastic antiquarian and recorded virtually everything he did and saw. His manuscripts are a treasure trove of material for the history of Westmorland. None more so than his estate and household account books. This volume presents a complete edition of the text of the second account book covering the last period of Sir Daniel's life from June 1688 up to just before his death on 25 March 1701 (extracts from the period 1656-1688 were published in 1903 and 1913). The volume gives a detailed, important and fascinating insight into the social and economic background of 17th century Cumbria. years. It brief biographies of the principal figures in the accounts, and a full glossary and index.

Hardback with dust jacket, xxvi+401pp, 200x255x35mm. CWAAS Record Series vol XIII.

Up to well into the nineteenth century, Hardknott Roman Fort was remote and inaccessible. Enough remained however, of its defences and central buildings to be visible for it to be chosen for the first large-scale excavation to be undertaken in Cumberland and Westmorland between 1889-1894. This volume presents a history of the site, its digs and finds. There are chapters on the history of research at Hardknott; state guardianship and conservation, 1949-1994; an analytical survey of the fort and its environs; the parade ground; the defences; the buildings in the central range; the Praetentura; the Retentura and other excavations of 1968-9; the fort baths; Hardknott Fort after the Romans; the coins; the Samian ware; the coarse wares; building materials; the glass; the other finds. There are also a concordance of finds, a glossary, bibliography and index.

Paperback, 134pp, 210x296x12mm. CWAAS Research Series vol IX. 

Isaac Fletcher (1714-1781), a Quaker yeoman, lawyer and merchant, kept a daily record of his activities for a quarter of a century. His life centred on the seasonal rhythm of farming at Underwood, near Cockermouth, but he was also heavily involved in trade and industry, as a partner in a stocking factory in Cockermouth, a prospector for lead locally and in Galloway; and an importer of plumbago from America. The diary also records his legal work and chronicles the life of the local Quaker community during the inward-looking, Quietist period in the history of the Society of Friends.

Fletcher's diary is a remarkable document of social history, shedding fresh light on many aspects of rural life in the eighteenth century. This edition of the complete text, with an introduction and substantial supporting material, makes available an important new primary source for students of English social and agrarian history.

Hardback with dust jacket, xlii+518pp, 205x255x45mm. CWAAS Extra Series vol XXVII.

This is a complete illustrated and annotated list of the extant grave-covers, bearing a cross not an effigy, in Cumbria. Widely distributed, often misunderstood, frequently neglected, and sometimes wilfully destroyed, such grave-covers are an important class among medieval memorials. Canon R. Bower recognised their importance nearly a century ago, when he published a list of ‘Grave-Slabs in the Diocese of Carlisle’ in the Transactions of this Society for 1907, 1909 and 1912. Since then, some slabs have been lost, others discovered, and their study has advanced greatly, not least by the present author’s work. Peter Ryder is an expert in this field. He has already published similar studies for Durham, East Yorkshire and Cumberland.

Grave-covers without effigies come from all centuries from the eleventh to the sixteenth, but they were most popular in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Dating them is a challenge to the historian and the archaeologist, because they rarely have inscriptions and commonly appear out of their original context. What is needed is primarily a sensitive assessment of style. Besides the crosses themselves, many slabs carry emblems.What do they mean? Do they indicate sex, or occupation? These questions are discussed. There is a drawing of each monument. The accompanying text can be followed easily by those with a general interest in the past, as well as by specialists. There are maps and grid references to show where the monuments are, and an index.

Cumbrian parish churches preserve the outline of the past, but nineteenth-century and earlier restorers drastically altered most of them, inside and out. It requires a considerable effort of the imagination, and not a little study, to understand what a medieval church looked like and what went on in it. This book is an invaluable clue in the puzzle to understand what it was like to go to church in the Middle Ages.

Case bound with jacket. 190x255x20mm. 224pp, 560 line drawings, four black and white photographs. CWAAS Extra Series vol XXXII. 

This attractive and informative short publication presents and discusses depictions and descriptions of Hadrian's Wall before Camden in the late sixteenth century. It begins with three early medieval historians, Gildas (c540), Bede (731) and Nennius (c796) before moving to the accounts of the post-conquest chroniclers such as Geoffrey of Monmouth, Henry of Huntingdon and William of Malmesbury, all writing in the early twelfth century. Later medieval chroniclers such as Ranulph Higden in the fourteenth century and John Hardyng in the fifteenth are covered, before a major section on the fifteenth and sixteenth century humanists, such as Hector Boece and Polydore Vergil, rediscovering classical literature on Hadrian's Wall. The publication also includes fifteen colour illustrations of early maps showing the Wall with accompanying descriptions.

Softback with full colour cover, 64pp, 145x210x5mm. CWAAS Tract Series vol XXII

This is the publication of a lecture delivered to the CWAAS by Professor Richard Sharpe in 2005 at Carlisle. It uses the charters of William II and Henry I to investigate the extent of royal administration in Cumberland in comparison with Northumberland. Professor Sharpe argues that immediately after William II's conquest of Carlisle in 1092 it is impossible to be sure what structures were put in place, though there is a possibility that Ivo Taillebois (d.1094) was for a short time in charge. By 1101 Ranulf Meschin had charge of both Carlisle and Appleby with wide but undefined powers under the king. He surrendered his role in 1121-2, and from then until 1133 Cumberland and Westmorland were run by minor local officials answerable to the Exchequer (as can be seen in the pipe roll of 1129-30). It is further argued that the creation of a bishopric for this area in 1133 went along with establishing for the first time normal shire institutions in Cumberland, including a sheriff, who remained in office under Scottish rule after 1136.

Thanks to Richard Sharpe's insights we now have a much clearer understanding of the nature of, and the shifts in, authority and power in the Anglo-Scottish Borders during a crucial stage in their history. Extensive notes and references are included.

Soft cover. 80pp. 145x210x6mm. CWAAS Tract Series vol XXI.

Clare Fell proved to be an inspirational figure for a generation of archaeologists in Cumbria and North West England. This volume of essays in her memory gives a view of current thinking from the Late Mesolithic to the Romano-British period. Contributions include:

• A review of Clare Fell's career and impact by Kate Sharpe
• An overview of the Late Mesolithic occupation of Eskmeals by Clive Bonsall
• Further thoughts on Cumbria stones circles by Aubrey Burl
• A review of the Neolithic pottery evidence from Ehenside Tarn and across North West England by Terry Manby
• Recent research on implement petrology relating to Carrock Fell by Vin and Amy Davis
• The phenomenology of the Langdale axe factories by Tom Clare
• Recent work on burial cairns at Sizergh by Mark Edmonds and Helen Evans
• Yorkshire flint in prehistoric Cumbria by Peter and Jim Cherry
• A retrospective on research in the Solway plain by Bob Bewley
• Recent survey work on Lake District axe factories by Jamie Quartermaine and Vin Davis
• Evidence for sustained agricultural practices in Bronze Age Cumbria by Andrew Hoaen and Helen Loney
• A report on the important Bronze Age site at Pilling by Ben Edwards
• A review of Roman activity in South Cumbria by David Shotter
• A long-lost report by the late Wilfrid Jackson on finds from Attermire Cave, North Yorkshire introduced by Alan King
  

Hardback, 288pp, 88 black and white illustrations and photographs, 185x255x25mm. CWAAS Extra Series vol XXXIII.

 

This complete transcription and edition of the Burton parish registers has been prepared by Peter Gaskins, local historian and resident of the town, with great care and attention to detail from the original registers now deposited in the safe keeping of the Cumbria Archive Centre, Kendal. All surviving entries of baptisms, marriages and burials from 1653 up to 1837 have been checked against the bishop's transcripts (contemporary annual copies sent to the Bishop of Chester from 1676 and to the Diocesan Registrar from 1813). The volume is fully indexed and also contains the first complete and accurate list of vicars and churchwardens of the parish. The entries cover not only the market town of Burton itself, but also the four townships of Burton, Dalton, Preston Patrick and Holme into which the parish was divided, together with Holmescales (a hamlet in Old Hutton which belonged ecclesiastically to Burton parish). The chapel at Preston Patrick was consecrated and made parochial in 1701, but its baptism, marriage and burial entries were included in the Burton registers from 1703.
This first parish register volume to be published by the Society for over 30 years represents an important opening up of source material of the later 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries for the south of the county (only Crosthwaite and Lyth, Middleton in Lonsdale and part of Kendal having been published previously). This will principally benefit family historians and genealogists, but also enable social and economic conditions and demographic trends to be studied in depth by both local and regional historians. Burton's market, established in 1661, took full advantage of its situation astride the main route north from Lancaster to Kendal (with the establishment of the turnpike in 1753) and became the most extensive corn market in the county in the 18th century, only declining after the opening of the Canal in 1819. The period covered by the parish registers therefore is one of the most significant and expansive in its history.

Paperback, 416pp, 140x210x30mm. CWAAS Record Series vol XVIII. 

This volume reflects the long and patient research of Angus Taylor into the Webster family and their architectural commissions through three generations. His is the first comprehensive study of this regional dynasty, whose origins were as a firm of stonemasons - as is amply evidenced in the outstanding quality of the stonework in their buildings. Noble public buildings, churches, banks, smaller houses and mansions, as well as structures such as bridges, throughout a vast area have survived as witness to their capabilities and inspiration.

Case bound with full colour jacket & page marker, 400pp, 190x250x32mm. CWAAS Record Series vol XVII

The Protestation Oath was promulgated by Parliament on 3 May 1641 in defence of the Protestant religion, the Church of England and the Monarchy. During the following months, the Oath was distributed to the counties and boroughs, to be taken by all adult males. Those who refused to take it were declared unfit to hold any civil or ecclesiastical office. Papists would thus be identified and isolated before a purge. In the case of Westmorland, the parishes of the East and West Wards were complete by March 1641/2. They seem to be relatively complete and comprehensive listings of males in each parish, probably between the ages of 16 and 60, and thus act as an early cenus. In the case of Westmorland, the returns cover the East and West Wards (sometimes called the Barony of Appleby) and comprise around half of the county.

Here are published the returns for the two Wards, the originals of which are in the Parliamentary Archives. The publication includes a historical introduction and index of names.

Paperback, 86pp, 190x250x32mm. CWAAS Tract Series vol XVII

Lanercost Priory is now a parish church with old mostly ruined buildings beside it, sitting in a quiet Cumbrian valley north of Brampton. From around 1159 to 1538 it was the home of a small community of Augustinian canons. Like many monasteries, the canons of Lancercost kept copies of the 'charters' recording grants or surrenders to them in a large book known as a cartulary. After the dissolution of the monasteries in the period 1536-1542, the Lanercost Cartulary was kept at Naworth Castle by the Howard family. It disappeared in 1826 and was assumed lost in a major fire at Naworth in 1844. It later emerged a court official had taken the volume home in 1826! It was rediscovered by the Cumbria County Archivist at Castletown House, near Carlisle, and was purchased by Cumbria County Council and is now kept at the Cumbria Archive Centre in Carlisle.

The Cartulary contains a number of crude but lively drawings rendered by monastic scribes in the fourteenth century. These include local religious and secular buildings, clergy, peasants, animals and trees. The Lanercost drawings are of particular local interest since no other such drawings are known from the north-west of England.

Soft cover. 27pp. 41 black and white photographs. 210x146x4mm. CWAAS Tract Series vol XX.