Kirkby-Ireleth

"KIRKBY-IRELETH, a parish in the hundred of Lonsdale North of the Sands, county Lancaster, 5 miles W. of Ulverston, its post town, and 27 N.W. of Lancaster. It is situated on the river Duddon, and is a station on the Furness line of railway. It contains the townships of Broughton and Dunderdale-with-Leathwaite, and is divided into four districts, called Heathwaite, Woodlands, Low Quarter, and Middle Quarter. The parish is chiefly moorland, but some parts are enclosed and well cultivated. There are extensive slate quarries in the Middle Quarter, employing between 300 and 400 hands. Copper and iron abound. Many of the inhabitants are employed in the cockle fishing, for which the Duddon is famous. An extensive tract of land has been reclaimed from the sea, near the mouth of the Duddon. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Carlisle, value £125, in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of York. The church, situated at Beckside, is an ancient stone structure with a tower containing five bells. It is dedicated to St. Cuthbert, and has a stained-glass window and some ancient monuments. There is also a district church at Broughton-in-Furness, the living of which is a perpetual curacy, value 108. At Middle Quarter is a Baptist chapel and a parochial school, and there is a church school at Beckside. Kirkby Hall, formerly the seat of the Kirkby family, is now a farmhouse. The Earl of Burlington is lord of the manor."