Urswick is a civil parish that includes the villages of Great Urswick and Little Urswick. It is located in the

Furness Furness ( ) is a peninsula and region of Cumbria, England. Together with the Cartmel Peninsula it forms North Lonsdale, Historic counties of England, historically an exclave of Lancashire. On 1 April 2023 it became part of the new unitary author ...

area 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. The villages are situated to the south-west of the town of

Ulverston Ulverston is a market town and civil parish in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it lies a few miles south of the Lake District Lake District National Park, National Park and j ...

. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 351, decreasing at the 2011 census to 1,397. Great Urswick is situated along the north and west sides of Urswick Tarn, a small body of water (c. 1100 feet by 600), although the largest such natural body in Low Furness. The tarn is fed from the surrounding hills and feeds Gleaston Beck to the south, the water is said to have a red hue due to the iron content of the surrounding land. Little Urswick, the smaller of the two settlements, stands further south on the lower slopes of a limestone outcrop known as Bolton Heads.

Toponymy

A number of explanations have been suggested for Urswick's name. The '-wick' element is perhaps from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

''wic'' meaning 'farm' or 'trading centre', an element commonly found in settlements on or near

Roman roads Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...

(see below). It has been suggested that the first element may mean 'bison lake' from Old English ''ur'' + ''sǣ'' . However, an alternative explanation has been proposed which incorporates the first definite historical reference to the ancient estate that incorporated the present Urswick villages – ''Chiluestreuic'' – from the Domesday survey (see references). The name 'Great Urswick' originated as 'Much Urswick', not because of its size but because of its association with Michael le Fleming. The village was an original part of Michael's lands, granted to him before 1111 by

Henry I Henry I or Henri I may refer to: :''In chronological order'' * Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936) * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955) * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018) * Henry I of France (1008–1060) * Henry ...

, whilst Little Urswick belonged to

Stephen of Blois Stephen (1092 or 1096 – 25 October 1154), often referred to as Stephen of Blois, was King of England from 22 December 1135 to his death in 1154. He was Count of Boulogne ''jure uxoris'' from 1125 until 1147 and Duke of Normandy from 1135 un ...

and later

Furness Abbey Furness Abbey, or St. Mary of Furness, is a former monastery located to the north of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. The abbey dates back to 1123 and was once the second-wealthiest and most powerful Cistercian monastery in the country, behi ...

. The name 'Much Urswick', meaning 'Michael's Urswick', was used to differentiate between the lands of Michael and Furness Abbey.

History

Urswick has visible remains of several prehistoric settlements, including a

univallate hill fort A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...

known as Skelmore Heads, on the hills overlooking the village. There can be little doubt that the history of the village dates back to the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

or further, given the wealth of ancient sites in the local area. In 2023 it was confirmed that a human bone and a periwinkle shell bead found in Heaning Wood Bone Cave in Great Urswick were about 11,000 years old, representing "clear evidence of Mesolithic burials in the north

f England F, or f, is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet and many modern alphabets influenced by it, including the modern English alphabet and the alphabets of all other modern western European languages. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounc ...

. The history of Roman presence in the village, as with the rest of

, is currently under investigation. Finds of Roman coins, including pre-invasion issues, from Furness indicate that the Romans were active in the area from the earliest days of the Roman invasion. An article published in 2007 made a claim for Roman military activity focused on what later became Dalton-in-Furness: the medieval secular capital of Furness. The author bases his argument on observations made by an 18th-century antiquarian; unsupported by 20th and 21st century investigations providing evidence for Roman archaeology. Such evidence would undoubtedly include Roman finds linked to contexts discovered in the evaluation of archaeological loci where Roman activity is suspected during late 20th and early 21st century urban development. Despite the cutting of many service and foundation trenches in Dalton, no such evidence has been revealed. This strongly suggests that this approach remains speculative at best. Roman finds, including coins, have been found by metal-detector users to the west of Great Urswick. Field survey by the ''Urswick Origins Discovery Programme'' (UODP) in 2003 and 2004 also located and recorded a significant quantity of worked red, (St Bees) sandstone masonry in the walls of the Church of St Mary and St Michael, (''see below'') and in field walls to the north-west and west of the church. St Bees sandstone is not native to Urswick parish. The sandstone found by the UODP teams is considered unlikely to have belonged to a (long-demolished) medieval building or buildings; partly because the majority of it occurs in field walls and in the church and churchyard walls between the medieval villages of Great and Little Urswick. Some pieces also show distinctive tooling and other features (such as bar or cramp slots) that find comparison with tooling and features on masonry from Roman sites on Hadrian's Wall and its hinterland. Sandstones are known to have been imported and worked for specific architectural features in Roman forts elsewhere in Cumbria – for example, at ''Waterhead'' (Ambleside) and ''Hardknott'' in Eskdale. In 2004 the UODP ran an evaluation excavation project alongside a commissioned professional geophysical survey, (by UK-based ''GSB Prospection'') of 1.08ha of two fields to the west and south-west of Great Urswick's church, (''see below'') to test the results from the field survey. The results of the geophysical survey were published – ''Life Before Barrow – Part 1: Urswick Origins Discovery Programme Interim Report 1 – 2004-5'': First Light Heritage Agency, Ulverston 2005. In 2005, following an eleven-year historical research and archaeological survey, evaluation excavation and remote sensing investigation programme; excavations began on what was considered through a range of field and remote sensing evidence, (''see above'') to be the site of a 1st-century/early 2nd century Roman fort, organised by First Light Heritage Agency with the aid of students from the University of Cardiff's Archaeology Department and local people. The outcomes of the 2004 and 2005 projects have received local criticism which failed to fully take into account evidence resulting from an 8-year study of the site published in 2002 (available from ''Oxbow Books'', Oxford: see reference below.) Critics also chose to ignore evidence published in 2005 resulting from the 2003-4 field survey, evaluation excavation and geophysical survey (''see above''). The first interim publication of the 2004/5 archaeological interventions will appear in 2012 via a new website dedicated to the archaeology of the Lake District and Cumbria. There has also been research to suggest that some of the fabric of the present St Mary & St Michael's Church (previously St Mary's) may date back to the

sub-Roman The fall of the Western Roman Empire, also called the fall of the Roman Empire or the fall of Rome, was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire, a process in which the Empire failed to enforce its rule, and its vast ...

period. The early medieval origins of the church were first highlighted in the early 20th century when fragments of two early Christian stone crosses were discovered built into the church fabric – one with a significant Anglo-Saxon runic inscription and sculptural representation of two figures. A specific historical context for this Anglo-Saxon inscription and depiction has been proposed, (''see references''), and an archaeological and historical context for an early medieval religious site, incorporating a post-Roman, pre-Norman church forming the focus for a significant large early Christian monastic estate. It has further been suggested that this early historic estate may be the birthplace of

St Patrick Saint Patrick (; or ; ) was a fifth-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Ireland, the other patron saints being Brigid of Kildare and Columba ...

: a theory which has been challenged chiefly by some Cumbrian prehistorians, industrial and commercial sector archaeologists and historic environment curators – again without full and proper reference to the historical and archaeological investigations; the first phase of which was published in 2002, (as noted above), and ongoing from 2002 to the present. Urswick was probably recorded in the

Domesday Survey Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

, as part of a larger estate – Hougun. The name Hougun may derive from the

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

word ''haugr'': meaning hill or mound. Houganai or island of Hougun was also the name given to the nearby island of

Walney Island Walney Island, also known as the Isle of Walney, is an island off the west coast of England, at the western end of Morecambe Bay in the Irish Sea. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, it is part of Barrow-in-Furness, sepa ...

. As noted above, it has been suggested that it may be Chiluestreuic, previously thought to refer to the now lost ''Killerwick'' near

Dalton-in-Furness Dalton-in-Furness is a town in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England, north east of Barrow-in-Furness. Along with the rest of the Furness peninsula, it was historically part of Lancashire. It is in the parish of Dalton Town with Newton, a ...

. The 'chil-' element, probably representing Old Irish ''cill'', referring to a monastery or hermit's cell, certainly fits if Urswick was home to an early monastery. In the 12th century, Great Urswick became part of the manor of

Muchland Muchland is a medieval manor in Low Furness in the county of Cumbria in northern England. The manor was the seat of the Lords of Aldingham, and included at its peak the villages of Bardsea, Urswick, Scales, Stainton, Sunbrick, Baycliff, G ...

, whilst Little Urswick remained within the Liberty of Furness belonging to

who later granted it to

. The Abbey also claimed rights to the already ancient St Mary's Church, which led to a long running dispute with the lords of Muchland, finally settled in the Abbey's favour. In the 13th century Little Urswick was part of an exchange of land between the Abbey and Muchland and was ceded to the latter. Great Urswick war memorial

Nowadays, Urswick has largely become a

commuter Commuting is periodically recurring travel between a place of residence and place of work or study, where the traveler, referred to as a commuter, leaves the boundary of their home community. By extension, it can sometimes be any regular o ...

village for the towns of Ulverston and

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town and civil parish (as just "Barrow") in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the county of Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borou ...

. However, agriculture also remains important, with the villages surrounded by farms. In February 2024 an

alligator snapping turtle The alligator snapping turtle (''Macrochelys temminckii'') is a large species of turtle in the Family (biology), family Chelydridae. They are the largest freshwater turtle in North America. The species is Endemism, endemic to freshwater habitat ...

was discovered in Urswick Tarn, by parish councillor Denise Chamberlain.

In popular culture

Little Urswick has an entry in ''

The Meaning of Liff ''The Meaning of Liff'' is a humorous dictionary of toponymy and etymology, written by Douglas Adams and John Lloyd, published in the United Kingdom in 1983 () and the United States in 1984 (). Content The book is a "dictionary of things ...

'' (''"(n.) The member of any class who most inclines a teacher towards the view that capital punishment should be introduced in schools."'')

References

Other sources

*Dickinson, S (2002); ''The Beacon on the Bay'' : the discovery of an early Christian church and monastic site at Great Urswick, Low Furness, Cumbria, and the case for its connections with St.Ninian, St.Patrick, St.Hild and St.Columba. * ''British Archaeology'' – the Council for British Archaeology publication: issues 87 (March/April 2006), 88, (May/June 2006) and 89 (July/August 2006) for an article about the church and the 2004/5 excavations and remote sensing programme (Issue 87), a letter of critique, (Issue 88) and a rebuttal (Issue 89).

External links