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Clifton

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"CLIFTON, a parish in WEST ward, county of WESTMORLAND, 2 miles (S. E. by S.) from Penrith, containing 283 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Carlisle, rated in the king's books at £8. 3. 4., and in the patronage of the Bishop of Carlisle. The church, dedicated to St. Cuthbert, is a small and indifferently built structure. The parish is bounded on the north and west by the river Lowther, in the vale of which the village is situated, deriving its name from the rock or cliff on which it stands. At Clifton moor, which was enclosed in 1812, a slight skirmish took place in 1745, between the Duke of Cumberland and a party of the Pretender's army, on its retreat to Scotland. There is a medicinal spring, the water of which is efficacious in the cure of scorbutic complaints. Mary Scott, in 1764, made a small bequest towards the support of a schoolmaster."
[From Samuel Lewis A Topographical Dictionary of England (1831) - copyright Mel Lockie 2016]

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Cemeteries

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

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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 1841-1911.

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.

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Church History

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St Cuthbert
Norman nave. Later additions C16th, C17th and C19th. Some C15th glass.
Screen instead of chancel arch.
Photograph(s) and description on VisitCumbria.
Access and contact details on Church of England site
More details and maps in Genuki Westmorland Church Database
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Church Records

Parish Registers and Bishop's Transcripts are held by Cumbria Archives :
originals at Kendal RO and microfilm copies at Carlisle RO.

Baptism registers1675-1899
Marriage registers1675-1964
Banns registers1754-1975
Burial registers1675-1953
Bishops transcripts1644-1870

See the CASCAT online calogue for WPR45 for information on these and other parish records..

For searching on LDS familysearch.org see IGI batch numbers (compiled by Jake Prescott)
or use the batch number search site (by Hugh Wallis)

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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."

You can see pictures of Clifton which are provided by:

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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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Gazetteers

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History

The Later Records relating to North Westmorland by John F. Curwen (1932) on British History Online

Cumbria County History Trust has published a "Jubilee Digest" for the township of Clifton.

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."

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

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Maps

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference NY543265 (Lat/Lon: 54.631228, -2.708934), Clifton which are provided by:

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Population

641/2190(est)
1671209(est)
1787196
1801219
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Probate Records

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