Aikton

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Aikton
Cumberland
The Rectory. - geograph.org.uk - 119913.jpg
The Rectory, Aikton
Location
Grid reference: NY273534
Location: 54°52’14"N, 3°7’55"W
Data
Population: 467  (2011)
Post town: Wigton
Postcode: CA7
Dialling code: 016973
Local Government
Council: Cumberland
Parliamentary
constituency:
Workington

Aikton is a small village in the north of Cumberland. It has a single pub, a telephone box and a post box; but no shops.

Name

The name 'Aikton' appears to be a mixture of Old Norse and Old English, from the Norse eiki meaning 'oak' and the English tun meaning 'village' or manor; thus 'oak village'.[1]

Parish church

St Andrew's, Aikton

The parish church is St Andrew's, a church over 900 years old and is one of the oldest in the county. Pevsner says that it has a "solid C12 w[est] front" and gives details of Norman and Early English Period work on the church."[2][3]

Many houses in Aikton have views of the Lake District. The surrounding area is almost entirely farmland, grazed by cattle. The nearest town is Wigton, and the nearest city is Carlisle. Aikton is approximately nine miles, south of the bounds of Dumfriesshire.

The village pub, the 'Aikton Inn', was constructed in the 18th century and is also used as a Bed and Breakfast.

Outside links

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("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about Aikton)

References

  1. Armstrong, A. M.; Mawer, A.; Stenton, F. M.; Dickens, B. (1950–52). The place-names of Cumberland. Part 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 119. 
  2. Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England: Cumberland and Westmorland, 1967 Penguin Books
  3. National Heritage List 1327139: Church of St Andrew, Aikton