Mosser is a village in the

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 ...

of Blindbothel, in the

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

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. It lies south-west of

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

and south of

Cockermouth Cockermouth is a market town and civil parish in the Cumberland unitary authority area of Cumbria, England. The name refers to the town's position by the confluence of the River Cocker into the River Derwent. At the 2021 census, the built u ...

, and is within the boundaries of the

Lake District National Park The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...

History

The name "Mosser" means 'Moss shieling', in the sense of a peat bog. Mosser 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 ...

in 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 ...

of Brigham in the historic county of

. 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. As such, the township also became a

in 1866, when the legal definition of 'parish' was changed to be the areas used for administering the poor laws. A

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...

dedicated to St Philip existed at Mosser from medieval times. It had fallen into ruins by the late 17th century, but was rebuilt in 1773. An

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of Mosser was created in 1883, covering the townships of Mosser, Blindbothel, Eaglesfield and part of Whinfell. The old church of St Philip initially served as the parish church. A new church, also dedicated to St Philip, was built in the Eaglesfield township in 1891; it is called St Philip, Mosser, by reference to the ecclesiastical parish it serves, despite not being in the old Mosser township. The old chapel at Mosser was subsequently rededicated to St Michael and is now also known as the Fell Church. The civil parish of Mosser was abolished in 1934 and its area incorporated into the civil parish of Blindbothel. In 1931 (the last census before the parish was abolished), Mosser had a population of 56. On 28 February 2018 there was a 3.2 magnitude earthquake of which Mosser was at the epicentre.

References

External links

Cumbria County History Trust: Mosser
(nb: provisional research only – see Talk page) Villages in Cumbria Former civil parishes in Cumbria Cumberland (unitary authority) {{Cumbria-geo-stub