Wythop

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Wythop
Wythop Beck and Eskin farm (geograph 2247416).jpg
Wythop Beck and Eskin farm
Cumbria UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Wythop
Location within Cumbria
Population36 (Parish, 2021) [1]
OS grid reference NY182290
Civil parish
  • Wythop
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town COCKERMOUTH
Postcode district CA13
Dialling code 017687
Police Cumbria
Fire Cumbria
Ambulance North West
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Cumbria
54°39′00″N3°15′58″W / 54.650°N 3.266°W / 54.650; -3.266

Wythop is a civil parish in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. It lies between the towns of Cockermouth and Keswick and is within the Lake District National Park. At the 2021 census the parish had a population of 36.

Contents

Toponymy

'Wythop' is " 'withy valley', cf. 'wīðig', 'hop' " (from the Old English). [2] 'Wīðig','withy' means 'willow', 'hop' means 'a small enclosed valley'; so 'Wythop' is the 'valley of willow trees'.

Geography

Alfred Wainwright stressed the unique nature of Wythop valley, in that instead of rising to a crest it fell away to the declivity of Bassenthwaite Lake. [3] However he also made the point that "its scenery is in no way freakish. Here is a charming and secluded natural sanctuary in an idyllic setting. [4]

The promontory of Beck Wythop was selected by Thomas West as one of his four 'stations' for viewing Bassenthwaite Lake. [5]

The settlement of Wythop Mill is just outside the parish boundary, forming part of the neighbouring parish of Embleton. [6]

Governance

There are two tiers of local government covering Wythop, at parish and unitary authority level: Embleton and District Parish Council and Cumberland Council. The parish council is a grouped parish council, covering the three civil parishes of Embleton, Setmurthy, and Wythop. [7] The parish is wholly within the Lake District National Park, and so some functions are administered by the Lake District National Park Authority, notably planning. [8]

Wythop is within the Penrith and Solway UK Parliamentary constituency. [6]

Administrative history

Wythop was historically a township in the ancient parish of Brigham, which formed part of the historic county of Cumberland. [9] [10]

St Margaret's Church, built 1864 St Margaret's church, Wythop - geograph.org.uk - 3379751.jpg
St Margaret's Church, built 1864

The parish of Brigham was large, and its four south-eastern townships of Brackenthwaite, Buttermere, Lorton, and Wythop were served by a chapel of ease at Lorton. Another chapel was subsequently built at Wythop, which was subordinate to the one at Lorton. [11] [12] Wythop was made a separate ecclesiastical parish in 1835. In 1864, a replacement Wythop church dedicated to St Margaret was built on a new site; the old church near Kelswick Farm is now in ruins. [13]

Ruins of Wythop Chapel near Kelswick Farm Wythop Chapel as a whole. - geograph.org.uk - 95440.jpg
Ruins of Wythop Chapel near Kelswick Farm

The township of Wythop took on civil functions under the poor laws from the 17th century onwards. As such, the township also became a civil parish in 1866, when the legal definition of 'parish' was changed to be the areas used for administering the poor laws. [14]

When elected parish and district councils were established in 1894, Wythop was included in the Cockermouth Rural District. [10] Cockermouth Rural District was abolished in 1974, becoming part of the borough of Allerdale in the new county of Cumbria. [15] [16] Allerdale was in turn abolished in 2023 when the new Cumberland Council was created, also taking over the functions of the abolished Cumbria County Council in the area. [17]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "2021 Census Parish Profiles". NOMIS. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 31 March 2025. (To get individual community data, use the query function on table PP002.)
  2. ↑ Armstrong, A. M.; Mawer, A.; Stenton, F. M.; Dickens, B. (1950). The place-names of Cumberland. English Place-Name Society, vol.xxi. Vol. Part 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 457.
  3. ↑ A Wainwright, Wainwright in the Valleys of Lakeland (London 1996) p. 150
  4. ↑ A Wainwright, The North-Western Fells (Kendall 1964) Sale Fell 3
  5. ↑ G Lindop, A Literary Guide to the Lake District (London 1993) p. 201
  6. 1 2 "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 20 April 2025.
  7. ↑ "Embleton and District Parish Council" . Retrieved 20 April 2025.
  8. ↑ "Planning". Lake District National Park. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
  9. ↑ Whellan, William (1860). The History and Topography of the Counties of Cumberland and Westmorland. p. 295. Retrieved 13 April 2025.
  10. 1 2 "Wythop Township / Civil Parish". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 21 April 2025.
  11. ↑ "Lorton Chapelry / Civil Parish". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  12. ↑ Hutchinson, William (1794). The History of the County of Cumberland. p. 122. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  13. ↑ Kelly's Directory of Cumberland. 1906. p. 306. Retrieved 21 April 2025.
  14. ↑ Youngs, Frederic (1991). Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England: Volume II, Northern England. London: Royal Historical Society. p. xv. ISBN   0861931270.
  15. ↑ "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, SI 1972/2039, retrieved 3 March 2023
  16. ↑ "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Names) Order 1973", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, SI 1973/551, retrieved 3 March 2023
  17. ↑ "The Cumbria (Structural Changes) Order 2022", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, SI 2022/331, retrieved 24 January 2024


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