Milburn
| Milburn | |
| Westmorland | |
|---|---|
Oct2003.jpg) Milburn | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | NY655293 |
| Location: | 54°39’25"N, 2°32’10"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 171 (2011) |
| Post town: | Penrith |
| Postcode: | CA10 |
| Dialling code: | 017683 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Westmorland & Furness |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Penrith and The Border |
Milburn is the northernmost village of Westmorland. A small village, it is located on the northern side of the Eden Valley, about nine miles east of Penrith. To the west the Pennine Hills begin to rise, on Milburn Common. Cross Fell, the highest point of the Pennines, stands over the village.
This is one of a chain of villages following the 650 foot contour of the escarpment. The fellside forms part of the North Pennines Area of Natural Beauty. The parish includes the outlying hamlets of Gullom Holme and Milburn Grange, respectively half a mile and a mile and a quarter south-east of Milburn. The Cumberland border, marked by the Crowdundle Beck, is a mile to the north, and across it stands Blencarn.
The core village consists of a tight cluster of houses, many dating from the mid 18th century, ranged around a roughly rectangular green. A mediæval church and a fortified manor house lie outside the main village area.
History
The most striking feature of Milburn is the consistency of its layout. The houses round the green present a continuous frontage broken only by narrow lanes giving access to the farmyards, barns and fields which lie behind. Roads and tracks enter at the corners of the green and access is so restricted at some points that it has been suggested that the village has been constructed on defensive lines – possibly against the Border Reivers. Disappointingly, however, no buildings from "Reiving" times (late 13th to the end of the 16th century) survive, at least within the vicinity of the green itself. In fact the earliest structures here date from the mid 18th century, with the majority reflecting a major period of rebuilding in the 19th century. The quality of these buildings, however, is of such interest that Milburn has been selected by Brunskill[1] to provide an exemplar of Lakeland architecture.
That Milburn had an earlier history on its present site is clearly signalled by the field-system radiating from the existing village. The evidence of a typical mediæval layout is plain to see, with long narrow fields separated by hedges where groups of strips from the old open town fields have been brought together. This evidence is further underlined by remnants of ridge and furrow in many of the fields.
According to Butterworth,[2] the first documentary reference to "Milburn" dates from 1200/1 when King John (1199–1215) granted the forest of Milburn to William de Stuteville, Lord of the Barony of Cottingham near Hull. The modern village however may have been founded later.
The village must have been in place during the Middle Ages as it had a mediæval field system. (Butterworth argues that the most likely date would have been around 1340 to coincide with the construction of Howgill Castle, although this is mere speculation.)[2]
Sights about the village
Howgill Castle
Howgill Castle is a fortified manor house lying approximately 1 km to the east of the main village and at a slightly higher elevation. Butterworth[2] believes that it dates from about 1340. It is defended to the north-west by a deep ravine and commands extensive views. The original structure is more or less completely disguised by substantial 17th century modifications, but within the unremarkable shell created by this later work lie two three-storey towers, each 64 feet by 33 feet with walls about 9/10 feet thick connected by a wall over ten feet thick and over 40 feet long. This wall contains two superimposed flights of stairs providing communication between the towers. Originally, the ground floors of each tower were accessible only from the first floor. The position of the original entrance in this unusual scheme is unknown.
The west tower now contains a door removed from Appleby prison.
St Cuthbert's Church
St Cuthbert's Church stands in an isolated position about five hundred yards across fields to the south-west of the village.
Pevsner[3] considers the sandstone masonry of the chancel to be Norman, but it is claimed locally that the body of St Cuthbert rested here in 876 on its long wandering in the hands of devotees after the destruction of Lindisfarne. This idea may though be based on no more than the church's being named for St Cuthbert; a very common dedication in the Middle Shires.
In the thirteenth century, Robert de Veteripont 1st Baron of Westmorland received the Chapel of Milnebourne from King John. To the church the present nave was added. The north wall had two windows and the west wall one.
In perhaps the fourteenth century the west windows were re-set. The two arches were rebuilt to stand as now on the south side. An aumbry with a pointed arch, in the south wall of the chancel belongs to this period.
In the seventeenth century, Sir Richard Sandforth of Howgill extended the south side and put a third window there in memory of his wife Anne. The church received its 'chalise and paten' in 1633 and in 1669 the ' bellcot' was erected. In the eighteenth century the south windows were altered in imitation sixteenth century style.
In the nineteenth century, seven years after Queen Victoria's Jubilee, a major reconstruction took place. A new bellcote was built, retaining the old finials. A new north window was added, matching the south windows. The west window was restored where the doorway had been, and the south door which had been bricked up was re-opened. The old oak box pews were removed and there panels placed against the walls. The east window was redesigned and revealed a coffin lid dated c.1300 used as a memorial to a one time Rural Dean, with shears to cut the tonsure of the priesthood.
The church (extensively restored in 1894) still retains its unpretentious character. It consists of a nave, chancel and south aisle, part of which is now the porch and vestry. There is a small bellcote. The south door is late Norman and a number of decorated stones of Norman date are set into the exterior of the south wall.
Methodist Chapel
A former Methodist Wesleyan Chapel at the west end of the Green is now a private residence. It was built in 1834 and accommodated 90 seated. Butterworth[2] estimates that by the 1860s half of the village's population were probably Methodists. However the size of the congregation declined steeply during the late 20th century and the Chapel closed in 1989.
Maypole
In the centre of the Green, sited on a small mound known as Butt Hill, stands a Maypole. It is some 65 feet high and is topped by a heavy metal weather cock. Such maypoles are a common feature of villages in the Eden valley and there has been a maypole on this site in Milburn for at least 150 years, though there is no tradition of dancing round the maypole here however and the weather vane is the only useful feature. The maypole has been replaced frequently over the years: the pole erected in 1995, at the expense of the Lord of the Manor, displayed a pronounced lean which may have been due to the fact that it was struck by lightning shortly after its installation. The present maypole was erected in 2014.
Culture and Community
The Village Hall is a substantial sandstone building on the outskirts of the village to the south of the Green, erected by the Parish Council in 1912. At one stage it housed a small library and reading room. In its early days the Hall was always referred to as "The Institute", or simply "The Insti". In the late 1940's children would have school dinners at the Institute.
The annual children's Sports Day and the Village Show are the survivors of the Milburn Gala. The first Gala was held in 1887 and it persisted as an annual event until 1939 and the outbreak of the Second World War. In the past, the Gala was an elaborate event involving a marquee for dancing, a flower show and races around the green. Cumberland Wrestling was a popular feature. The surviving Sports Day and Village Show are more modest events but continue to be well-supported.
There are Guy Fawkes celebrations on the green every 5 November, complete with hot-dogs, bonfire and fireworks.
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Milburn) |
- '800 years of Village History' - Cumberland and Westmorland Herald 4 October 1997
- Butterworth, David: 'Milburn: A History'