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Ravenstonedale
Location of parish on undated map by William Mackenzie, scanned by Sarah Reveley. Area around the parish on undated map by William Mackenzie, scanned by Sarah Reveley. The parish is bounded on the East by the parish of Kirkby Stephen; on the South, by the parishes of Kirkby Stephen and Sedbergh; on the West, by the parish of Orton; and on the North, by the parishes of Crosby Garret and Kirkby Stephen.
Newbiggin-on-Lune later became its own parish.

Description & Travel

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

 "This parish hath its appellation from a brook of the name of the Raven running through it; in like manner as the village of Renwick (Ravenwick) in Cumberland. It was commonly of old time written Ravenstandale: So there was Stanmore in the parish of Brough.

The parish is bounded on the East by the parish of Kirkby Stephen; on the South, by the parishes of Kirkby Stephen and Sedbergh; on the West, by the parish of Orton; and on the North, by the parishes of Crosby Garret and Kirkby Stephen: And contains about 225 families; whereof 59 are dissenters [in 1777].

The church is said to be dedicated to St. Oswald. It is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of Sir James Lowther baronet. ... The church was rebuilt in the year 1744, in an elegant manner. It hath a square tower steeple, with three bells. In the old church there were two rows of seats below the communion table, where (it is said) the steward and jury of the manopr sate formerly, in their court of judicature. And the malefactors were imprisoned in a hollow arched vault, the ruins whereof are still to be seen, on the north side of the church. ... There is also an handsome dissenting meeting house at Ravenstonedale."

[Newbiggin-on-Lune has since become a parish in its own right.]

Archives and Libraries

The FC-Rdale Independent History Archive - assembled by Frank Chalmers.

Cemeteries (and Monumental Inscriptions)

M.I.s for Ravenstonedalewere transcribed in Monumental Inscriptions of Westmorland by E. Bellasis 1888-89 and are available on Westmorland Papers.

An index to gravestones is available on the Ravenstonedale site

Census

No returns survive for the 'census' of 1787.

Census returns are available from the usual sources for 1841-1911.

Transcript for heads of households in 1841 and 1891 has been made available by Janis Garcia.

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.

A transcript for 1881 is available on EdenLinks.

Church History

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NY7204 : St Oswald's Church, Ravenstonedale by Alexander P Kapp
© Alexander P Kapp licensed under Creative Commons		 St Oswald. C18th church with W tower, nave and single bay chancel. Though with older NW and SW porches, the latter with reset doorway of c1200. Georgian furnishings inside including 3-decker pulpit and W gallery.

This and other photographs are on the Geograph site.

There are the ruins of a Gilbertine priory to the North.
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Church Records

The parish records and BTs are held at the Kendal Record Office of Cumbria Archives Service.

  Ravenstonedale Newbiggin-on-Lune
  WPR6 WPR102
Baptism registers 1571-1852 1892-1979
Marriage registers 1577-1973 1893-1966
Banns registers 1814-1913 1893-1973
Burial registers 1571-1980  
Bishops transcripts 1667-1895  

Ravenstonedale parish registers, (1571-1812) by Ravenstonedale. Parish Published in 1893, printed by Wilson (Kendal) available on OpenLibrary

For searching on www.familysearch.org see Jake Prescott's list of IGI batch numbers.

Non-conformist registers:

  • Presbyterian Church 1708-1837 (baptisms) - Kendal Record Office
  • Independent Chapel 1775-1837 (births, baptisms and burials) - Public Record Office, PRO

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Description and Travel

Much useful information is given on the Ravenstonedale website

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Directories

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

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History

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

The history and traditions of Ravenstonedale, Westmorland.
by William Nicholls Published in 1877, J. Heywood, Simpkin, Marshall & Co.; (Manchester, London)  available on OpenLibrary

There is a Ravenstonedale Parish History Group

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Population

1641/2 1017(est)
1671 937(est)
1801 1138

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Taxation

Hearth Tax records for 1674 Ravenstonedale transcribed on Edenlinks.
Hearth Tax records for 1674 Ravenstonedale (2) transcribed on Edenlinks.
Hearth Tax records for 1674 Ravenstonedale (3) transcribed on Edenlinks.
Hearth Tax records for 1674 Ravenstonedale Weasdale transcribed on Edenlinks.

Window Tax records for 1777 Ravenstonedale transcribed on Edenlinks.

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Last updated: November 2012  Dave Huddart