Middlesceugh is a hamlet in the civil parish of Skelton, in the

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 ...

district 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.

History

The name is recorded as 'Middil Stouke' in 1419. 'Middlesceugh and Braithwaite' was historically a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

which straddled the

ancient 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 ...

es of Carlisle St Mary (which had its parish church at

Carlisle Cathedral Carlisle Cathedral, formally the , is a Listed building, Grade I listed Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in the city of Carlisle, Cumbria, Carlisle, Cumbria, England. It was founded as an Augustinian priory and became a cathedral in 1133. It is a ...

) and Hesket-in-the-Forest. The part of St Mary's parish was detached from the main part of the parish, being over south of Carlisle; its inhabitants tended to actually use the churches at nearby Ivegill, High Head or

Sebergham Sebergham is a village and civil parish in the Cumberland district, in the ceremonial county of Cumbria, England. It is located on the B5305, south of Carlisle and south-east of Wigton. The civil parish population at the 2011 Census was 365. The ...

. The township took on civil functions under the

poor laws The English Poor Laws were a system of poor relief in England and Wales that developed out of the codification of late-medieval and Tudor-era laws in 1587–1598. The system continued until the modern welfare state emerged in the late 1940s. E ...

from the 17th century onwards, and as such also became a

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 ...

in 1866, when the legal definition of 'parish' was changed to be the areas used for administering the poor laws. The civil parish of Middlesceugh and Braithwaite was abolished in 1934, being absorbed into the neighbouring parish of Skelton.

Geography

Middlesceugh has a

SSSI A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

called ''Middlesceugh Woods And Pastures'', alongside the Roe Beck. It forms part of the ''Cumbrian

Marsh Fritillary The marsh fritillary (''Euphydryas aurinia'') is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. Commonly distributed in the Palearctic region, the marsh fritillary's common name derives from one of its several habitats, marshland. The prolonged larval st ...

Site'', which was involved in the

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectiv ...

programme.

References

Hamlets in Cumbria Skelton, Cumbria Inglewood Forest {{cumbria-geo-stub