Waitby is a small village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Westmorland and Furness Westmorland and Furness is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Cumbria, England. The economy is mainly focused on tourism around both the Lake District and Cumbria Coast, shipbuilding and the Royal Port of Barrow, Royal ...

Unitary Authority of

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

, England. The parish contains two small villages, Waitby and Smardale, plus the small hamlets of Riddlesay, Stripes and Leases, all of which are in the farmed and enclosured northern part at an elevation of around 200–300m. The southern half of the parish is mostly heath and unused for agriculture, it rises to Smardale fell; which it includes, at elevations between 300 and 400m. The civil parish of

Ravenstonedale Ravenstonedale is a village and large civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cumbria, on the watershed between the River Lune and River Eden, Cumbria, River Eden. The village lies south west of Kirkby Stephen. The parish includes the villa ...

forms the boundary to the south. The western border with Crosby Garrett civil parish is formed by Scandal Beck. To the north and east lie

Soulby Soulby is a village and civil parish in Westmorland and Furness Unitary Authority of Cumbria, England. The parish had a population of 186 in 2001, increasing slightly to 187 at the 2011 Census. The village has a village green. Famous people ...

and

Kirkby Stephen Kirkby Stephen () is a market town and civil parish in Cumbria, England. It lies on the A685 and is surrounded by sparsely populated hill country, about from the nearest larger towns, Kendal and Penrith. The River Eden rises away in the pea ...

civil parishes respectively. The population of the civil parish as measured at the 2011 Census was less than 100. Details are included in the parish of Crosby Garrett. Waitby Beck rises from springs to the north east of the Waitby, joining Sandwith Sike which flows into the River Eden. Other minor becks include Hazel Gill and Choup Gill both of which join Scandal Beck. The Settle & Carlisle line passes through the parish, as did the

South Durham & Lancashire Union Railway The South Durham and Lancashire Union Railway (SD&LUR) built a railway line linking the Stockton and Darlington Railway near Bishop Auckland with the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway (the West Coast Main Line) at Tebay, via Barnard Castle, Stainm ...

; both cross Scandal Beck by Smardale Viaduct and Smardalegill Viaducts respectively.

Etymology

Waitby (originally ''Watebi'' c.1170) means "wet farmstead" from the

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

''vátr'' (wet) + ''by'' (farm. cf "byre") The village may have also been known as Wadeby or Waldeby; the alternative etymology "Waldeve's dwelling" has also been proposed.

Smardale

Other features

Waitby Greenriggs nature reserve lies east of Waitby outside the parish boundary halfway to Kirkby Stephen at the former junction between the

(Stainmore railway) and the

Eden Valley Railway The Eden Valley Railway (EVR) was a railway in Cumbria, England. It ran between Clifton Junction near Penrith, Cumbria, Penrith and Kirkby Stephen via Appleby-in-Westmorland. Passenger traffic ended in 1962 and the line was reduced to the tr ...

. It was purchased from

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...

in 1987 and is part of the

Cumbria Wildlife Trust Cumbria Wildlife Trust is a wildlife trust covering the county of Cumbria, in North West England. It runs more than 40 nature reserves, and aims to broaden the awareness and knowledge of the wildlife in the county. History The trust was establis ...

History

Waitby Castle

Waitby castle is a typical romano-British fortification built on top of a small hill. The banks ringing the roughly round enclosure are still visible as are the outlines of some inner buildings.

Waitby and Smardale school

Waitby and Smardale school was founded in 1630 as a free school for the children of the villages of Waitby and Smardale by James Highmoor, a London weaver born in Kirkby Stephen with the gift of £100 for its upkeep and to employ a schoolmaster. The school was rebuilt in 1867 by public subscription. Now named ''Waitby School'' the building is a grade II listed building[ and has been converted into holiday accommodation. There is also a football team in waitby called waitby fc

Other listed structures

Leases farmhouse (18th/19th century) and a nearby 19th century barn and boundary stone near Leases are grade II listed structures. The 18th century Wharton House and later threshing barn in Waitby are also grade II listed buildings.

References

External links

Cumbria County History Trust: Waitby
(nb: provisional research only – see Talk page)

maps, images, coordinates and other geographical information of various features in Waitby Parish. ''www.geog.port.ac.uk'' (

Portsmouth University The University of Portsmouth (UoP) is a public university in Portsmouth, England. Comprising five faculties, the university offers a wide range of academic disciplines. in 2022, with around 28,280 students enrolled in undergraduate and postgr ...

) {{authority control Villages in Cumbria Civil parishes in Cumbria Westmorland and Furness