Little Clifton is a 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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

in the district of Allerdale located on the edge of the Lake District in the county of

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. In 2001, it had a population of 391 and contained 170 households; increasing to a population of 480 in the 2011 Census with 207 households. The village of Little Clifton is east of Workington. The River Derwent is roughly north of Little Clifton. In 1887, John Bartholomew, whilst writing for the Gazetteer of the British Isles, described Little Clifton as a township of 489 persons next to

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207. Locat ...

. Workington was, at that time, a district within the former county of Cumberland.

Governance

Little Clifton, is part of the

constituency of the

UK parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

. The current

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

is Sue Hayman, a member of the Labour Party. The Labour Party has won the seat in every general election since 1979; the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

has only been elected once in Workington since

the Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

: in the

1976 Workington by-election The 1976 Workington by-election was a parliamentary by-election held in England for the House of Commons constituency of Workington in Cumbria on 4 November 1976. It was won by the Conservative Party candidate Richard Page, who became the fir ...

. For the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

residents in Little Clifton voted to elect MEP's for the North West England constituency. For

Local Government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-l ...

purposes it is in the ''Stainburn + Clifton Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, Ward'' of Allerdale Borough Council and the ''Cockermouth South Division'' of Cumbria County Council. Little Clifton has its own Parish councils in England, Parish Council; ''Little Clifton Parish Council''.

Early area history and Toponymy

is formed of the older counties of Cumberland, Westmorland, parts of North Lancashire and North Yorkshire. There are signs of human inhabitancy as early as 5000 years ago with stone circles discovered under 20 miles east of Little Clifton at Long Meg and Castlerigg amongst other places. The early settlements are in areas suitable for crafting tools such as stone axes and became the source for quarrying in the area.
Celts, Celtic immigration began around 500BC and developed in

as Brigantes. Celtic Brigantians had a major settlement at Carlisle, Cumbria, Carlisle and inhabited the area later known as Rheged around 100CE. The Celts flourished following Ancient Rome, Roman rule after the transitional period of Roman rule to Celtic rule c350-420AD. Anglo Saxon invasion absorbed Rheged into the (now) powerful Anglo Saxon kingdom of Northumbria c.630AD. It is From the Anglo Saxons that Little Clifton gained its name. The suffix 'ton' in Little Clifton is Anglo Saxon or 'old English' for enclosure, estate or homestead.

Mining

Mining in

plays a large role in its history. Lead, copper, zinc, barite, haematite, tungsten, graphite, fluorite, and coal have all been mined at different times since as early as the 12th century. Western parts of

, and in particular the Whitehaven area, proved to contain haematite in large shallow deposits which were exploited by early miners. The first documented mining in the Cumbrian area was in Bigrigg mine roughly 15 miles south of Little Clifton in the parish of Egremont, Cumbria, Egremont. It is believed that Romans mined this area and later on by early British and Norse settlers. In 1881 31% of the inhabitants of Little Clifton were involved in mineral extraction, the highest single occupation in the parish at that time. Force Crag mine in Keswick, Cumbria, Keswick was the closest mine to Little Clifton which was mined for lead, zinc and barytes from 1839 to its closure in 1991. Force Crag mine is now run by the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, National Trust and open to the public.

St Luke's Church

(OSGB36: NY 054 290 [100m precision] WGS84: 54:38.8700N 3:28.0354W) Altar screen, St Luke's Church, Clifton - geograph

The site of St Luke's Church dates back to Norman times and has various Norman artefacts such as a Norman archway and Norman cross shaft in the graveyard. The current church dates back to 1901 and contains some superb stained glass windows and other furnishings donated by local families. The church regularly holds concerts, events and open days.

Punderland Farm

Punderland farm featured on the BBC, amongst other British news mediums, due to a 'tragic mistake' which caused the unnecessary slaughter of 200 ewes, 300 lambs and a pet pig. The mishap occurred because of a grid reference error of one digit during the foot and mouth outbreak in 2001. The intended farm for destruction was in Durham away. No more compensation was granted than the standard for loss of livestock at the time and no legal firm would go to court for what would be a costly battle. The farm and its associated barn are the only Listed building#England and Wales, listed building in the parish, being designated at Grade II. It is dated 1739, the farmhouse is roughcast with a green slate roof, and has two storeys and three bay (architecture), bays, and there is a lower right-angled barn to the right.

References

External links

Cumbria County History Trust: Little Clifton
(nb: provisional research only – see Talk page) {{authority control Villages in Cumbria Civil parishes in Cumbria Allerdale