Melmerby | |
---|---|
Old Post Office and Pub, Melmerby | |
OS grid reference | NY615375 |
Civil parish |
|
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | PENRITH |
Postcode district | CA10 |
Dialling code | 01768 |
Police | Cumbria |
Fire | Cumbria |
Ambulance | North West |
UK Parliament | |
Melmerby is a village and civil parish in the Eden district, in the county of Cumbria, England. It is a small village with a population of around 200. The village is 9 miles to the east of Penrith, which is a thriving community with immediate access to Junction 40 of the M6 motorway and a main-line railway station serving London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Surrounded by verdant countryside, Melmerby sits between the North Pennines with its highest point Cross Fell to the east, and the World Heritage Lake District National Park 10 miles to the west. The River Eden is bridged about 4 miles (6.4 km) away at Langwathby, and Long Meg and Her Daughters, the 3,500-year-old stone circle – the second largest in the country – is nearby at Little Salkeld. In 1931 the parish had a population of 175. [1]
On 1 April 1934 the parish was merged into Ousby, [2] on 1 April 2019 Melmerby became a separate parish again. [3]
Melmerby is supposed to have taken its name from the residence of Máel Muire, a presumed Norse-Gael who lived nearby in the 9th century. The most significant historic buildings surviving in the village today are the 13th-century church of St John the Baptist and the Grade II Listed Melmerby Hall, begun as a defensive structure in the early 14th century. A petition received by Edward II between 1320 and 1326 reads:
The hall, built from the local red sandstone, was extended in the 17th century and again in the 18th century in a Georgian style. The 20-acre (81,000 m2) grounds include an archery lawn, walled vegetable gardens, a Victorian castle folly and wooded areas. Features inside include a priest hole and a large inglenook fireplace.
Melmerby has one Egon Ronay Guide-listed eatery: the Village Bakery, [5] known for its breads and cakes made with organic, stoneground flour. Village residents formed a consumer co-operative and opened a village shop in 2005, that featured on the BBC's Working Lunch . [6] The shop closed in 2008; however, it is now (Jan 2016) open and providing a great service to the village community as a shop, cafe and accommodation..
The area is popular with ramblers. Melmerby Fell is very close and Cross Fell, the highest part of the Pennines, is only three or four miles (6 km) away.
The A686 road passes through the village, and was described in AA Magazine by travel journalist Phil Llewellin:
Melmerby Fell is a prominent feature of the area.
Cumberland is a historic county in North West England. The historic county is bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish counties of Dumfriesshire and Roxburghshire to the north. The area includes the city of Carlisle, part of the Lake District and North Pennines, and the Solway Firth coastline.
Alston is a town in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England, within the civil parish of Alston Moor. It is located at about 1,000 feet (300 m) above sea level in the North Pennines, the River South Tyne, and shares the title of 'highest market town in England', with Buxton, Derbyshire. Despite its relative isolation, the town has road connections to the Tyne Gap to the north, Weardale and Teesdale to the south-east, and Penrith to the south-west.
Eden was a local government district in Cumbria, England, based at Penrith Town Hall in Penrith. It was named after the River Eden, which flowed north through the district toward Carlisle. Its population of 49,777 at the 2001 census, increased to 52,564 at the 2011 Census. A 2019 estimate was 53,253. In July 2021 it was announced that, in April 2023, Cumbria would be divided into two unitary authorities. On 1 April 2023, Eden District Council was abolished and its functions transferred to the new authority Westmorland and Furness, which also covers the former districts of Barrow-in-Furness and South Lakeland.
Penrith is a market town and civil parish in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. It is less than 3 miles (5 km) outside the Lake District National Park and about 17 miles (27 km) south of Carlisle. It is between the Rivers Petteril and Eamont and just north of the River Lowther. The town had a population of 15,181 at the 2011 census. It is part of historic Cumberland.
A civil parish in England is the lowest unit of local government. There are 284 civil parishes in the ceremonial county of Cumbria, with most of the county being parished. At the 2001 census, there were 359,692 people living in those 284 parishes, accounting for 73.8 per cent of the county's population.
Nenthead in the county of Cumbria is one of England's highest villages, at around 1,437 feet (438 m). It was not built until the middle of the 18th century and was one of the earliest purpose-built industrial villages in Britain.
Orton is a village and civil parish in Cumbria, England. It lies 15 miles (24 km) south of Penrith, 8 miles (13 km) from Appleby-in-Westmorland and 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the M6 motorway. The village is in the upper Lune Valley, at the foot of Orton Scar in the Orton Fells. The Lake District is nearby. The parish includes a wide area outside the village, and had a population of 594 in 2001, decreasing to 588 at the 2011 Census.
Shap is a village and civil parish located among fells and isolated dales in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England. The village is in the historic county of Westmorland. The parish had a population of 1,221 in 2001, increasing slightly to 1,264 at the 2011 Census.
The Pennine Cycleway is a Sustrans-sponsored route in the Pennines range in northern England, an area often called the "backbone of England". The route passes through the counties of Derbyshire, West Yorkshire, Lancashire, North Yorkshire, Cumbria and Northumberland. It is part of the National Cycle Network (NCN). Sustrans founder John Grimshaw calls it 'the best National Cycle Network route of the lot'.
Garrigill, Cumbria is a small village in the North Pennine region of the UK, situated on the banks and close to the source of the River South Tyne. Historically part of Cumberland, today it is within the Garrigill ward of the civil parish of Alston Moor within the district of Eden. In 1870-72 the chapelry had a population of 1447.
Lazonby is a village and civil parish in the Lower Eden Valley of Cumbria; it is located about 8 miles (13 km) north-north-east of Penrith and 24 miles (38 km) south of the Scottish Borders. Traditionally part of the historic county of Cumberland, it is now within the Westmorland and Furness unitary authority area. The total population of the ward of Lazonby, which also includes the nearby villages of North Dykes, Great Salkeld and Salkeld Dykes, was 1,425 at the time of the 2001 UK Census; this figure included 1,011 people between the ages of 16 and 74, of whom 675 were in employment. At the time of the 2011 Census, the population had decreased to 976.
The A686 is a road in Northern England. It runs from Penrith in Cumbria to Haydon Bridge in Northumberland. AA Magazine named the A686 as one of their "Ten Great Drives" owing to the dramatic scenery of the North Pennines hills encountered along its route. Travel journalist Phil Llewellin said:
England’s great wilderness sprawls across the northern Pennines, where the mountains have fascinating names such as Fiend’s Fell and Wildboar Fell. Penrith merits a visit after leaving the M6, and memories of the motorway fade as the A686 crosses the River Eden valley. The mood changes dramatically in Melmerby, where the road starts its long climb to the cafe at Hartside, 1,900 feet (580 m) above sea level, with stunning views across the Solway Firth and Scotland. The road leads to Alston, which claims to be England’s highest market town, a charming little place with cobbled streets and quaint buildings. The A686 beyond Alston crosses another breathtaking expanse of windswept upland before running down to the River Allen's beautiful wooded gorge.
Little Salkeld is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Hunsonby, in the Eden district of Cumbria, England, a few miles to the north east of Penrith. In 1931 the civil parish had a population of 91.
Carleton is a suburb of the town of Penrith, Cumbria, England, that has seen a huge growth in housing since the 1960s and is, of 2018, still expanding due to the Carleton Meadows, Carleton Manor and Woodberry Heights developments. It was formerly a separate small village or hamlet one mile east of the centre of Penrith.
Great Strickland is a village and civil parish in the Eden Valley between the Cumbrian mountains in the west and the Pennines in the east. It is 5 miles (8.0 km) south east of Penrith, and is in the former county of Westmorland. At the 2011 Census Great Strickland was grouped with Little Strickland, itself enlarged to include Thrimby after 2001, to give a total population of 370. The equivalent figure from the 2001 census was 342.
Long Marton is a village and civil parish in the Eden District of the English county of Cumbria. In 2011 the population was 827.
Little Strickland is a small village and civil parish in the Eden district of Cumbria, England. It is about 7 miles (11 km) from Penrith and 8 miles (13 km) from the small town of Appleby-in-Westmorland. The village has one place of worship and a telephone box. The population of the civil parish as taken at the 2011 Census was less than 100. Details are included in the parish of Great Strickland. On 1 April 2019 Thrimby parish was merged with Little Strickland.
Ousby is a village and civil parish in Eden district, in the English county of Cumbria. It is a Thankful Village, one of 52 parishes in England and Wales that suffered no casualties during World War I. The parish had a population of 362 in 2001, which had increased to 447 at the 2011 Census, and includes the hamlets of Crewgarth, Row, Shire and Townhead. Melmerby parish was absorbed on 1 April 1934, on 1 April 2019 Melmerby became a separate parish again.
Ousby is a civil parish in the Eden District, Cumbria, England. It contains 15 listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. All the listed buildings are designated at Grade II, the lowest of the three grades, which is applied to "buildings of national importance and special interest". The parish includes the village of Ousby, the surrounding countryside, and hills and fells to the east. Note that Melmerby became a separate parish in April 2019 but this list still includes it. The listed buildings consist of two churches, two medieval cross bases, houses, farmhouses and farm buildings, a former post office, an inn, and a former shepherd's hut, later used as a walkers' hut.