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Church History information for Farlam and places above it in the hierarchy

Farlam

  • "The Church, dedicated to St. Thomas a Becket, is a plain stone building, in the Early English style, erected in 1860, at a cost of about £2,000. It consists of nave, chancel, and one aisle, and occupies a site near the old one adjoining the hamlet of Kirkhouse. Farlam boasted its church as early as the year 1169, when it was included in the munificent grant of Robert de Vallibus to the Prior of Lanercost, which he had founded. This Robert was a stout warrior and bravely defended Carlisle Castle against the Scots, under Roger de Mowbray and Adam de Porz. The present dedication is more modern than the original edifice. St. Thomas Becket, the doughty champion of the Church's liberty against royal assumption, was murdered in his cathedral church of Canterbury, the year following the grant to Lanercost Priory, and his canonization did not take place for nearly a century after that event. At The Dissolution this church, along with the other possessions of the priory, was granted to Sir Thomas Dacre, and is now in the patronage and impropriation of the Earl of Carlisle. The present building has accommodation for 400 worshippers. The Hon. Charles Howard, of Naworth Castle, presented the ground for the site, and also contributed £500 towards its erection; Mrs. Maria Thompson gave £200, a new organ, and also erected the pictorial east window as a memorial of her late husband, James Thompson, Esq. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners granted £200, and the parishioners also contributed handsomely towards the cost of erection. The living, now worth £175, is held by the Rev. John Lowthian, who is assisted by the Rev. Thomas Henry Irving, M.A., curate. The parish is free from tithes and also from School Board rates. The Wesleyan Methodists have a chapel at Hallbank Gate, erected in 1856. It has recently been enlarged, and will now accommodate about 400 persons. The interior is neatly fitted up, and contains a marble tablet to the memory of Mrs. Pears, wife of Mr. Henry Pears, who contributed largely to the original cost of the building."
    (Extract from Bulmer's 1884 History & Directory, cited above)

Cumberland

County Churches: Cumberland and Westmorland by J. Charles Cox
Published in 1913, G. Allen & company, ltd. (London) is available on archive.org

Cumbrian Parishes 1714 - 1725 from Bishop Gastrell's Notitia. Dr Lawrence A.S. Butler

For brief descriptions see under the parish concerned, but for detailed descriptions see:

  • Salter M. The Old Parish Churches of Cumbria. Folly Publications. 1998. ISBN 1871371356
  • Pevsner N. The Buildings of Cumberland and Westmorland. 1967.

A comprehensive coverage of Westmorland churches and chapels is available on the GENUKI church database.

Many church photographs are available via the parish pages on this site.
There is also the discontinued Steve Bulman's Images of Cumbria and churches sites (not just Westmorland)
and selected ones included in Visit Cumbria's Churches of Cumbria

ICBS Church plans (mostly C19th) from Lambeth Palace Library Collections (Incorporated Church Building Society) are available online.

UK and Ireland