Milnthorpe is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

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 ...

, and former

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

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 south of

Kendal Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Westmorland and Furness, England. It lies within the River Kent's dale, from which its name is derived, just outside the boundary of t ...

. Historically in the county of

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland''R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref>) is an area of North West England which was Historic counties of England, historically a county. People of the area ...

and on the A6, the village contains several old hostelries and hosts a

market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market *Marketing, the act of sat ...

every Friday. The parish, which includes the village of Ackenthwaite, had a population of 2,199 according to the 2011 Census.

History

Milnthorpe was granted a

market charter A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

in 1334, although this lapsed in the 1920s. Milnthorpe was part of the township of Heversham-with Milnthorpe, and was in Heversham parish until 1896. The 19th-century Church of St Thomas, which overlooks The Green and The Square, was designed by Kendal architect George Webster. Milnthorpe became a centre of business and activity because it was originally a port, using the River Bela and estuary (now only navigable to

Arnside Arnside is a village and civil parish in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England. It is Historic counties of England, historically part of Westmorland, near the border with Lancashire, England. The Lake District National parks of England and ...

) and it remains a significant commercial centre for the area.

Economy

Tourism is a major contributor to the local economy. Milnthorpe had

coaching inn The coaching inn (also coaching house or staging inn) was a vital part of Europe's inland transport infrastructure until the development of the railway, providing a resting point ( layover) for people and horses. The inn served the needs of t ...

s on the main road north, the modern A6. The village used to be a major

traffic bottleneck A traffic bottleneck is a localized disruption of vehicular traffic on a street, road, or highway. As opposed to a traffic jam, a bottleneck is a result of a specific physical condition, often the design of the road, badly timed traffic lights, ...

before the opening of 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 motorway, M1 and the western end of t ...

in 1970, and the A590/ A591 Kendal link road a few years later. The congestion at Milnthorpe' cross roads was notoriously amongst the worst in the North West. The village is just outside the Arnside and Silverdale

National Landscape An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is one of 46 areas of rural area, countryside in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland that has been designated for protected area, conservation due to its significant landscape value. Since 202 ...

(formerly AONB), with the River Bela forming its northern boundary. The popular children's drink ''

Um Bongo Um Bongo is a brand of juice drinks produced by Sumol + Compal. It was first produced in 1983 by Nestlé, under the Libby's brand, for consumption in the United Kingdom, and was later licensed for production in Portugal. The trademark is current ...

'' was made in Milnthorpe by

Libby's Libby's (Libby, McNeill & Libby) was an American company that produced canned food and beverages. The firm was established in 1869 in Chicago, Illinois. The Libby's trademark is currently owned by Libby's Brand Holding based in Geneva, Switzerlan ...

in the 1980s. Milnthorpe is the home of Duralon Combs, a comb manufacturing business over 300 years old. Big Fish Internet Ltd (formerly BF Internet, now trading as BFI) was founded in Milnthorpe in 1996 and is now located away in Sandside; it is the longest-established web design company in the UK. The village has a branch of the family-owned supermarket

Booths E. H. Booth & Co., Limited, trading as Booths, is a chain of high-end supermarkets in Northern England. Most of its branches are in Lancashire, but there are also branches in Cheshire, Cumbria, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire. It has been ...

. Milnthorpe market was revived in the 1980s and for some years contributed substantially to the parish council's income through stall rentals. In the 21st century the market has reduced in size, reducing the council's income, but it is still held weekly, with a monthly

farmers' market A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or ...

Governance

Milnthorpe is in the

unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

area of

, in the

ceremonial county Ceremonial counties, formally known as ''counties for the purposes of the lieutenancies'', are areas of England to which lord-lieutenant, lord-lieutenants are appointed. A lord-lieutenant is the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarch's repres ...

. It is in the parliamentary constituency of

Westmorland and Lonsdale Westmorland and Lonsdale is a constituency in the south of Cumbria, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Tim Farron, the former leader of the Liberal Democrats (2015–2017). Westmorland and Lonsdale is the Lib ...

, held since 2005 by Liberal Democrat

Tim Farron Timothy James Farron (born 27 May 1970) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2015 to 2017. He has been the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Westmorland and Lonsdale since ...

. Milnthorpe has a parish council. From 1 April 1974 to 1 April 2023, Milnthorpe was in

South Lakeland South Lakeland was a local government district in Cumbria, England, from 1974 to 2023. Its council was based in Kendal. The district covered the southern part of the Lake District region, as well as northwestern parts of the Yorkshire Dales. A ...

non-metropolitan district Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of Districts of England, local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''s ...

Community

Milnthorpe has one

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

, Dallam School, which was graded "Needs improvement" by

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...

in 2023 and one

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

, Milnthorpe Primary School, rated by Ofsted as "Good" in 2019. There are three public houses in the village.

Landmarks

The

Grade I listed 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 ...

house Dallam Tower, with an estate known for its deer, stands near to the River Bela just south-west of Milnthorpe, although in the parish of

Beetham Beetham is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England. It is situated on the border with Lancashire, north of Carnforth. It is part of the Arnside and Silverdale, Arnside and Silverdale ...

. The grade II listed St Anthony's Tower may be seen on the top of St Anthony's Hill to the north-east of the village centre. There are a total of nine grade II listed buildings or structures in the parish, including a footbridge over the River Bela, built in 1730 as a road bridge. Just to the north is Levens Hall, famed for its

topiary Topiary is the horticultural practice of training perennial plants by clipping the foliage and twigs of trees, shrubs and subshrubs to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes, whether geometric or fanciful. The term also refers to plants w ...

People

The former

Leader of the Liberal Democrats The Liberal Democrats are a political party in the United Kingdom. Party members elect the leader of the Liberal Democrats, the head and highest-ranking member of the party. Liberal Democrat members of Parliament also elect a deputy leader of ...

(2015–2017),

(MP for

) lives in Milnthorpe. John Taylor, third

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

from 1880 to 1887, was born in Milnthorpe and lived there until he

emigrated Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Gallery

File:Milnthorpe_church.jpg, Milnthorpe Parish Church File:Cross_Keys_Hotel,_Milnthorpe_-_geograph.org.uk_-_502049.jpg, Cross Keys Hotel File:Bend_in_the_Bela_-_geograph.org.uk_-_354093.jpg, Bend in the River Bela File:Dallam Tower Deer Park - geograph.org.uk - 354074.jpg, Deer shelter in Dallam Tower park

References

External links

Cumbria County History Trust: Milnthorpe
(nb: provisional research only - see Talk page)
Cumbria County History Trust: Heversham
(nb: provisional research only - see Talk page)
Milnthorpe in Cumbria DirectoryMilnthorpe & Heversham

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