Wetheral, Cumberland

Description from T. Bulmer & Co's History, Topography and Directory of East Cumberland, 1884

History, Topography and Directory of East Cumberland, comprising Its Ancient and Modern History; A General View of its Physical Features; Agricultural Condition, Mines and Minerals; Statistics, &c., &c.
by T.F. Bulmer, T. Bulmer & Co., Manchester, 1884. Transcription by Don Noble © 1997

WETHERAL.

"Stretches along both sides of the Eden, through the most picturesque part of the vale, a distance of about six miles, and has a breadth of from one and a half to three and a half miles. It is bounded on the east by the parishes of Hayton and Cumwhitton, on the west by St. Cuthbert's and St. Mary's, Carlisle, on the north by Warwick, and on the south by Wreay and Hesket. The soil is in general fertile and. well cultivated. In Scotby and Wetheral the soil is a mixture of clay and sand well adapted for cereal crops; in Cotehill a strong loamy soil prevails; Cumwhinton is more sandy, and of a warmer nature, and in Great Corby and Warwick Bridge township, the soil is a mixture of sand and loam, except part of the enclosed common which is cold and wet. The parish is divided into four townships: Great Corby and Warwick Bridge, Cumwhinton and Cotehill, Scotby, and Wetheral."

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The manor of Wetheral was given by Ranulph de Mesehines to the Benedictine Abbey of St. Mary, York, in 1086, about the time of the foundation of the priory of Wetheral, and continued in the possession of that house until the dissolution of monasteries, when it was granted to the Dean and Chapter of Carlisle. When Oliver Cromwell attained supreme power in the country the relationship between church and state was a second time disturbed, and the church robbed of many of its possessions. The manor of Wetheral was sold by his commissioners to one Richard Banks, of Cockermouth; but on the restoration of royalty, the Dean and Chapter recovered their property. "One of the customs of the manor appears to have been, that each of the tenants of Wetheral should carry the abbot's corn one day in autumn, find one reaper, and plough one day for the abbot yearly, carry wood for the fishgarth and mill, repair the weir and the mill, and grinding corn there, pay a thirteenth portion for mulcture." The manorial rights were transferred some years ago from the Dean and Chapter to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, by whom they are now exercised. A little to the south of the village stands a solitary tower, all that now remains of Wetheral Priory. We deplore the removal from the face of the country of so many of the landmarks of our past history, and that too not unfrequently by persons who ought to be interested in the retention of these mementoes of by-gone days. To obtain materials wherewith to build a prebendal house in Carlisle, the Dean and Chapter ruthlessly demolished the walls of the priory, although the late Mr. Howard generously offered a sufficient compensation if they would allow the ruins to remain as they then stood. The priory was founded in 1088, by Ranulph de Mesehines, for eight Benedictine Monks, and was dedicated to the Holy Trinity, St. Mary, and St. Constantine; but being an inferior house, under the Abbey of St. Mary, York, it was probably not possessed of very elaborate ornamentation. Its generous founder also gave to the Monks of St. Mary the manor of Wetheral, the churches of Wetheral and Warwick, the mill, fishery, wood, and two bovates of land in Corby, together with the churches of St. Lawrence and St. Michael in Appleby. This grant with several others was confirmed by Henry I., who gave to it pannage for swine, without paying the usual forest dues for the same. Soon after its foundation, the priory was richly endowed by numerous benefactors; and it further received many privileges and immunities from Richard I.; among others he ordained that all the possessions of this house should be exempt from "pleas and plaints, murder, robbery, scutagegeld, danegeld, hideage, assizes, works of castles, bridges, and. parks, serdwite and hengewite, and flemensfrith, averpeni, bloodwite, flitwite, hundredpeni, tethingpeni, legerwite, toll, passage, pontage, lastage, stallage, gridelbreke, and hamsoken. He also granted to them fridstall, soke and sack and theam, and infanthief and outfangthief."

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"THE CHURCH, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, is a neat Gothic edifice, recently restored at a cost of about £2,000. Attached to the church is the Howard Chapel or Mausoleum, a handsome structure erected in 1791 by Henry Howard, Esq., of Corby, on the foundations of his family place of sepulture. Here are interred the remains of Sir Francis, second son of Lord William Howard, of Naworth, and all his successors down to the late P. H. Howard, Esq. In style the chapel is in perfect architectural harmony with the restored church. It possesses a remarkably fine groined and vaulted roof springing from slender clustered columns, and a four-light window richly emblazoned. There are several beautiful and elaborate monuments to various members of the Howard family, among which we may mention as worthy of special notice, a tribute to the memory of the Hon. Maria, daughter of Andrew, the last Baron Archer, and first wife of Henry Howard, Esq. She is represented bearing in her arms the infant to which she has just given birth, and religion, in angel form, appears supporting the expiring mother. This exquisite group was from the studio of Nollekens, and is said to be "one of the finest pieces of sculpture executed in modern times." Speaking of this monument a writer says "Mrs. Howard died when she became a mother, and the affecting incident is transferred by the magic chisel to the pure marble." There is the exquisite drapery and the mother and the new-born infant on her lap, looking upward from her couch of pain to the benignant figure of religion which is bending over them. "Tis surely the sweetest group that genius ever created." Another monument is to the memory of the Hon. Adeliza Maria (wife of the Hon. Henry Petre and sister to Mr. Howard), who died in 1833. It is a cast by Westmacott, and represents the lady kneeling on a cushion in the attitude of prayer. A beautiful monumental brass, erected in 1856, records the memor of Henry Howard, Esq., the founder of the mausoleum. There is also a Wesleyan chapel in the village, erected in 1873, at a cost of £450, towards which the late John Nicholson contributed £100 and the site. The School, which possesses a small endowment, left in 1760, by Thomas Graham, was re-built a few years ago, and has since been transferred to the School Board, by whom it has been greatly improved."