Clifton is a small

linear village Linearity is the property of a mathematical relationship ('' function'') that can be graphically represented as a straight line. Linearity is closely related to '' proportionality''. Examples in physics include rectilinear motion, the linear ...

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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. C ...

, England. Historically part of

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...

, it lies south east of Penrith.

Geography

The civil parish of Clifton has its western boundary defined by the

River Lowther The River Lowther is a small river which flows through limestone rock in Cumbria, England. It is a tributary of the River Eamont which in turn is a tributary of the River Eden which flows into the Solway Firth near Carlisle. The Lowther begins ...

, to the north and east lie the civil parishes of

Brougham Brougham may refer to: Transport * Brougham (carriage), a light four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage * Brougham (car body), an automobile with a similar style Automobile models * Cadillac Brougham, 1987–1992 * Chrysler New Yorker Brougham, c. 1 ...

and Great Strickland, to the south is the civil parish of Lowther. The village of Clifton has a church, primary school, and a pub. Most of the hamlet of Clifton Dykes (on the C3047 road) also lies within the parish. The name of this was shown as ''Longchimney'' on the first edition

Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was a ...

map of 1897, and then as ''Clifton Dikes'' on the later second edition. The current spelling was settled on more recently.

History

Clifton Dykes has been suggested as the (pre-Roman conquest) centre of the Carvetti, an Iron Age and Roman-period 'tribe', one that possibly led a resistance against Roman forces in 69 A.D. under the leadership of

Venutius Venutius was a 1st-century king of the Brigantes in northern Britain at the time of the Roman conquest. Some have suggested he may have belonged to the Carvetii, a tribe that probably formed part of the Brigantes confederation. History first b ...

. This is based upon the evidence of a large (c.7 acre) Iron Age enclosure discovered there, plus assumptions about its strategic importance on the Eden Valley communication routeway. However, this has been disputed: the Carvetii may have always been centred on Carlisle even before the Romans set up

Luguvalium Luguvalium was a Roman town in northern Britain in antiquity. It was located within present-day Carlisle, Cumbria, and may have been the capital of the 4th-century province of Valentia. Name The Romans called the settlement at what is today ...

and Venutius may not have been Carvetiian.

Clifton Moor Battle

Clifton Moor Clifton may refer to: People *Clifton (surname) *Clifton (given name) Places Australia *Clifton, Queensland, a town **Shire of Clifton * Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong *Clifton, Western Australia Canada * Clifton, Nova Scoti ...

was the site, in 1745, of the final battle in England (and the last battle ever on English soil) between Bonnie Prince Charlie and the

Duke of Cumberland Duke of Cumberland is a peerage title that was conferred upon junior members of the British Royal Family, named after the historic county of Cumberland. History The Earldom of Cumberland, created in 1525, became extinct in 1643. The dukedom ...

. The story of a local family, the Wybergs, whose property was forcibly sold by

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three K ...

in 1652, is told in

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...

's novel, ''

Waverley Waverley may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Waverley'' (novel), by Sir Walter Scott ** ''Waverley'' Overture, a work by Hector Berlioz inspired by Scott's novel * Waverley Harrison, a character in the New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Stree ...

'', which also features the battle on Clifton Moor.

St. Cuthbert's church

The local church, St Cuthbert's, contains the graves of 10 men killed in the battle of Clifton Moor. (The Scots dead are, reputedly, buried beneath a tree towards the southern end of the village). Some of the remains of St Cuthbert are also said to be languishing in the church. St Cuthbert's church contains a monument to a local benefactress, Eleanor Engayne, who died about the year 1395 ; according to the ''Topography and Directory of Westmorland, 1851'', the manor of Clifton was given in the reign of Henry II, by Hugh de Morville, one of

Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), was an English nobleman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then ...

's murderers, to Gilbert de Engayne, with whose descendants it continued till their heiress, Eleanor, in 1364, carried it in marriage to William de Wyberg.

Transport

There once were two railway stations, the 1846 Clifton station (later named Clifton and Lowther railway station) was on the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway (now part of the

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

WCML), it closed to passengers in 1938. Another station Clifton Moor station was on the Eden Valley Railway and opened 1863, closing in 1962. Confusingly Clifton & Lowther Station was at a hamlet known as Clifton Moor. The nearest station is now

Penrith railway station Penrith may refer to: Australia *Penrith, New South Wales, a satellite city of Sydney, Australia **Penrith Stadium, home ground of the Penrith Panthers **Penrith Bears, ice-hockey team **City of Penrith, local government area **Electoral district o ...

. At the boundary with the civil parish of Yanwath and Eamont Bridge where the west coast mainline railway crosses the

river Lowther The River Lowther is a small river which flows through limestone rock in Cumbria, England. It is a tributary of the River Eamont which in turn is a tributary of the River Eden which flows into the Solway Firth near Carlisle. The Lowther begins ...

is Hugh's Crag Viaduct (also known as ''Lowther Viaduct'', or ''Clifton Viaduct'') built in 1846.Lowther Viaduct
''www.engineering-timelines.com'' The

M6 motorway The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over from the Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 and the western end of the A14 at ...

now also runs through the parish.

Other

The former

Wetheriggs Pottery Wetheriggs Pottery is a former pottery on the C3047 road, east of the hamlet of Clifton Dykes, in Clifton, Cumbria, southeast of Penrith in England. It opened in the mid 19th century providing farm and housewares for local consumption, later th ...

also is within the civil parish, east of the village. Clifton Hall, a 15th-century Pele tower.

References

Further information

*History, topography, and directory, of Westmorland: and Londsdale north of the sands, in Lancashire together with a descriptive and geological view of the whole of the Lake district, P. J. Mannex, 1849, "Clifton Parish" pp. 218–219, other pages
google books

External links

Cumbria County History Trust: Clifton
(nb: provisional research only - see Talk page)
Clifton
The Cumbria Directory, ''www.thecumbriadirectory.com''
Clifton Standing Stones
''www.megalithic.co.uk''
Clifton - Moor - "The Battle of"
Contemporary account of the Battle of Clifton Moor by Thomas Savage, of Clifton End Farm, 1745, via ''edenlinks.rootsweb.com''
Clifton Tower Hall

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

, ''www.english-heritage.org.uk'' {{authority control Villages in Cumbria Civil parishes in Cumbria Eden District