Thursby is a village 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 is near to the city 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 ...
. Thursby was
historically
History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...
part of the county of
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 ...
.
History

Thursby lies on an old Roman road, 6 miles south 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 ...
. Thursby takes its old name 'Thor's by' from Thor, the Thunder God of the Saxons, whose temple was reputedly nearby at Kirksteads. The village is predominantly centred on the parish church, a
Victorian
Victorian or Victorians may refer to:
19th century
* Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign
** Victorian architecture
** Victorian house
** Victorian decorative arts
** Victorian fashion
** Victorian literatur ...
building built in 1846 and funded by
Sir Wastell Brisco of Crofton Hall. The earlier church is reported to have been built by
King David I of Scotland
David I or Dauíd mac Maíl Choluim (Scottish Gaelic, Modern Gaelic: ''Daibhidh I mac haoilChaluim''; – 24 May 1153) was a 12th century ruler and saint who was David I as Prince of the Cumbrians, Prince of the Cumbrians from 1113 to 112 ...
.
Notable people
*
Sir Thomas Bouch ( 1822 –1880) was a British
railway engineer
Railway engineering is a multi-faceted engineering discipline dealing with the design, construction and operation of all types of rail transport systems. It includes a wide range of engineering disciplines, including(but not limited to) civil engi ...
, born and educated in Thursby.
Politics and governance
Thursby is in the
Cumberland unitary authority area.
Thursby is in the
Penrith and Solway
Penrith and Solway is a List of UK Parliament constituencies, constituency of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review ...
constituency for elections to the
House of Commons of the United Kingdom
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...
. Since
2024
The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...
, the local
Member of Parliament (MP) is
Markus Campbell-Savours
Markus Dale Campbell-Savours (born January 1981) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Penrith and Solway since 2024.
He is the son of Lord Campbell-Savours. Campbell-Savours is an alumnus of Birkbeck, ...
from the
Labour Party.
Education
Thursby has 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 ...
, Thursby Primary School.
Landmarks
While Thursby is now largely a commuters' village, there are still many historic buildings, particularly in and around the heart of the village. A useful map can be found on the noticeboard near the village green. Traditional clay-walled buildings are a feature of Thursby, examples of which include Greenwood Cottage on the green and Rosedene Cottage opposite the church on Matty Lonning. There are examples of larger Georgian farmhouses at Holly Lodge and West House in the village centre. A 17th-century farmhouse at Evening Hill has elements of clay structures, with outward buildings and a cart entrance, and lies at the end of the village on the road leading south towards
Curthwaite. A little further on is the
Tudor Revival
Tudor Revival architecture, also known as mock Tudor in the UK, first manifested in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture, in rea ...
Evening Hill House, built in 1833, with twisted candlestick chimneystacks.
Church
St Andrews Church at the west end of Church Lane, built in 1846 is Thursby's main church and is responsible for many organised activities from the parish council. Funded by the Brisco family, on the site of the previous church, it has been said to have been built by David I, King of
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
.
Transport
There are two major roads that run through Thursby, one being the
A595
The A595 is a primary route in Cumbria, in Northern England that starts in Carlisle, passes through Whitehaven and goes close to Workington, Cockermouth and Wigton. It passes Sellafield and Ravenglass before ending at the Dalton-in-Furness by-p ...
and the other being the
A596
The A596 is a primary route in Cumbria, in northern England, that runs between Thursby ( north-east of Wigton) and Workington. For its entirety the A596 parallels the A595, and meets the A595 at both ends. The A596 begins its course at a roun ...
. These two roads link Thursby to
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 ...
.
Curthwaite railway station was situated nearby, closing in 1950.
Since being located in a very rural area the bus service is the only form of transport in Thursby there is limited bus services, the most prominent bus service would be the 38 run by
Stagecoach
A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...
. The 38 bus completes a run from Eden Street,
Silloth
Silloth, or Silloth-on-Solway, is a port town and civil parish in the Cumberland (district), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town stands on the coast of the Solway Firth, west of Carlisle. It was developed from the 1850s onwards a ...
to Carlisle Bus Station.
The nearest railway stations to Thursby are
Dalston
Dalston () is an area of East London, in the London Borough of Hackney. It is northeast of Charing Cross. Dalston began as a hamlet on either side of Dalston Lane, and as the area urbanised the term also came to apply to surrounding areas i ...
() and ( ).
Demographics
Thursby has a population of 1,185, increasing to 1,216 measured at the
2011 census.
Over the last 150 years, Thursby's population has clearly aged. However, mortality decline in the late 19th century was mainly due to the reduction of very high infant mortality rates. During the 20th century, declining fertility and improved life expectancy in later life significantly changed age structures. The presence or absence of large numbers of infants dying before their first birthday had little effect on overall age structures.
Social statistics

This shows the social status, based on 1831 occupations. We can see that as expected, there are a large proportion of servant and manual labourers (as shown in green). At 1831, the employers would have largely been on agricultural land. However, for a rural village in the 19th century, Thursby does have a large number of middle and upper social classes compared to others. The 1831 census provides information, down to parish level but only shows occupations of males over 20.
"vision of britain"
Vision of Britain. Retrieved 27 April 2012
See also
*Listed buildings in Thursby
Thursby is a civil parish in the Cumberland district, Cumbria, England. It contains 23 listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England
The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database ...
References
External links
Cumbria County History Trust: Thursby
(nb: provisional research only – see Talk page)
{{authority control
Villages in Cumbria
Place names
Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for a proper nam ...
Civil parishes in Cumbria
Cumberland (unitary authority)