Beetham 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. 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 ...

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. It is situated on the border with

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, north of Carnforth. It is part of the Arnside and Silverdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 1,724, increasing at the 2011 census to 1,784.

History

Craven in the Domesday Book of 1086 shows that until 1066, Earl Tostig was Lord of Beetham and the surrounding areas of Farleton, Preston Richard, Hincaster, Heversham and Levens in

, plus Yealand Redmayne and Borwick in

. Beetham Manor then amounted to 25 carucates (ca. 3000 acres/1250ha) of ploughland. The

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

of England added it to the extensive lands of Roger de Poitou.

Demography

The parish had a population of 1,724 recorded in the 2001 census, increasing to 1,784 at the 2011 Census.

Community

Points of interest include: * The Church of St Michael and All Angels, parts of which date from the 12th century. * The Heron Corn Mill, a working

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as mill (grinding), milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in ...

and active arts and education center. * The Heron Theatre, an 80-seat

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

housed in the listed 18th century

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

. * The Fairy Steps, a natural staircase in a

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

crag, in the woodland to the west of the village. * A small shrine to Saint Lioba (or Leoba), built into a stone wall in the nearby hamlet of Slackhead.

Geography

The River Bela flows past the village and through the deer park of Dallam Tower, skirting Milnthorpe before it washes out into the

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

Estuary near Sandside. Half a mile to the south-east, Beetham Hall is a 14th-century fortified manor house, now largely ruined, adjoining later buildings. It is a grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

, with a separately II* listed curtain wall and a grade II

barn A barn is an agricultural building usually on farms and used for various purposes. In North America, a barn refers to structures that house livestock, including cattle and horses, as well as equipment and fodder, and often grain.Allen G ...

, and is now occupied by a firm of

funeral director A funeral director, also known as an undertaker or mortician (American English), is a professional who has licenses in funeral arranging and embalming (or preparation of the deceased) involved in the business of funeral rites. These tasks o ...

s. To the north of the village is the paper factory employing 140 people and producing 45,000 tonnes/year, specialising in kraft paper for pharmaceutical and food packaging. In 2021 it was acquired by Inspirit Capital from BillerudKorsnäs and renamed Pelta Medical Papers, the word ''Pelta'' deriving from the Greek word for a light-weight shield carried by a

peltast A ''peltast'' (, ) was a type of light infantry originating in Thracians, Thrace and Paeonia (kingdom), Paeonia and named after the kind of shield he carried.

. There has been a paper mill on the site since 1788, and in 1964 it was the UK's largest producer of kraft paper. Records at

Companies House Companies House is the executive agency of the British Government that maintains the Company register, register of companies, employs the company registrars and is responsible for Incorporation (business), incorporating all forms of Company, co ...

show the previous company names as J & J. Makin (19011990), (J.) Bibby Paper (19901997), Barlow Paper (19971999), Henry Cooke (19992004), and Billerud/BillerudKorsnäs (20042021.

Civil parish

The civil parish of Beetham includes the main villages of Beetham and Storth and the smaller communities of Carr Bank, Sandside, Hale, Slackhead, Farleton and Whasset.

Gallery

File:Beethama6.jpg, The main road into Beetham before the A6 road development File:Footpath_to_Leighton_Hall_-_geograph.org.uk_-_126503.jpg, Footpath to Leighton Hall File:Highland_cows_-_geograph.org.uk_-_76335.jpg, Highland cattle grazing File:Beetham Hall - geograph.org.uk - 862919.jpg, Beetham Hall in 2008

Navigation

References

External links

Cumbria County History Trust: Beetham
(nb: provisional research only – see Talk page)
Beetham Parish Council
{{authority control Villages in Cumbria Civil parishes in Cumbria Westmorland and Furness