Description & Travel

Nicolson and Burn: The history and antiquities of the counties of Westmorland and Cumberland. 1777. Transcribed by Anne Nichols.

"Clifton is said to have been so called from two very remarkable cliffs above which it stands, on the east side of the river Lowther; one, of hard stone like marble, about half a mile south-west from the church; the other of a fine free stone, about half a mile west from the church, and is called Cat-scar, from a number of wild cats frequenting that place formerly. The parish is bounded on the north and east by the parish of Brougham, on the south by the parish of Lowther, and on the west by Yanwath in the parish of Barton (from which it is separated by the river Lowther); and contains about 42 families, 5 whereof are dissenters. [in 1777] The church is dedicated to St. Cuthbert; or as some say, to St. Nicholas. The parish and manor are commensurate (for it contains but one manor). It is a rectory. The village of Clifton contains about 25 families; besides which there are about 7 straggling houses at Clifton Dikes. Clifton moor is memorable in history, on account of a skirmish between William duke of Cumberland and the rebels in the year 1745; wherein about 15 were killed on both sides. "

Cemeteries

Monumental inscriptions were transcribed in Monumental Inscriptions of Westmorland by E. Bellasis 1888-89 and are available on Westmorland Papers.

Census

Returns survive for the 'census' of 1787 and are held at the Kendal Record Office of Cumbria Archives Service. The Record Office reference is WQ/SP/C. They are transcribed in Vital Statistics published by Curwen Archives Trust 1992. ISBN 1897590008. There is a transcription on EdenLinks

Census returns are available from the usual sources for 1841-1901.

A transcript of the 1841 census of Clifton [HO107/1162] is provided by Virginia Gretton. It includes the following names:

ABBOT, ALLISON, ATKINSON, BAILEY, BARR, BARTON, BATTIE, BATMAN, BELL, BIRD, BLACKLOCK, BROWN, CAMBELL, CANNON, CLARK, COLLIN, COPLEY, COULSTON, DAND, DICKINSON, DOUTHWAITE, ELLIOT/ELLIOTT, FALLOWFIELD, FELL, GILL, GILSON, GOOD, GOULDING, GRAHAM, HANSON, HARVEY, HERRING, HOGARTH, HOLMES, HOWS, IRVING, JACK, JACKSON, JAMES, KERSHAW, KILNER, KIRKPATRICK, KITCHEN, LANCASTER, LANTHIN, LOWTHIAN, LEGGIT, McKIE, MOSES, MOUNSEY, NICHOLSON, NOBLE, OSTLEY, PARKINSON, RICHARDSON, RIGG, ROBINSON, SANDERSON, SARGINSON, SCOT, SHAW, SIMPSON, SMITH, STAMPER, STEPHENSON, STEWARDSON, STOUT, SWAINSON, THOMPSON/TOMPSON, TINKLER/TINKLOR, WAITING, WALKER, WATSON, WESLOP, WILKINSON, WILLS, WILSON, WINTER, WORKMAN, YARKER.

Transcript and index for 1851 has been published by the Cumbria Family History Society and also in 'North Westmorland - An Index to the 1851 Census' compiled by David Lowis and Barbara Slack.

Church History

St Cuthbert. Norman nave. Later additions C16th, C17th and C19th. Some C15th glass. Screen instead of chancel arch.

Church Records

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Directories

The details for the parish from the Parson & White's Directory for 1829 are transcribed on Edenlinks site.

History

Magna Britannica et Hibernia.Volume 6: Westmorland by Thomas Cox 1731. Transcription by Sarah Reveley,  Joan Fisher and Lisl Schoenwald. (Rootsweb Westmorland Listmembers)  (c)  2003

Clifton, the Lordship of Roger Lord Clifford 4th, who died possessed of it, as of other Manors above; otherwise of Note only for the Birth of Christopher Airay, educated in Queens College, Oxford, where having taken his Degree of Master of Arts, and entering into Holy Orders, he became Bachelor of Divinity and Vicar of Milford in Hampshire in or about the Year 1642. It is said in his Epitaph, that in the Time of the Troubles he kept in the right Path, but we have no Account of his Demeanor then. He wrote some Books, but we find not what, except his Fasciculus Preceptorum Logienlium, (etc?) printed at London, 1660. He died on St. Luke's Day in 1670, and lies buried in the Chancel of his Church of Milford.

British History Online provides historical notes for Clifton  from The Later Records relating to North Westmorland by John F. Curwen (1932)

Clifton is famous as the site of the last battle on English soil, and is described in Clifton Moor - The Battle of on EdenLinks.

Maps

A present-day web map is available from Multimap.

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Population

Probate Records

Clifton is in the diocese of Carlisle and wills will be in Carlisle Record Office.

Taxation

Hearth Tax records for 1674 Clifton transcribed on Edenlinks.
Window Tax records for 1777 Clifton transcribed on Edenlinks.

Last updated:  Jan 2012 Dave Huddart