Pennington, Furness

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Pennington
Lancashire

Road in Pennington
Location
Grid reference: SD260770
Location: 54°10’60"N, 3°7’60"W
Data
Population: 2,008  (2011)
Postcode: LA12
Dialling code: 01229
Local Government
Council: Westmorland and Furness
Parliamentary
constituency:
Barrow and Furness

Pennington is a small village and parish in the Furness part of Lancashire. Pennington lies between Ulverston, Rosside and Lindal. Pennington is located just off the nearby A590, with the nearest railway link in Ulverston.

Pennington Church of England Primary school is the only primary school in the rural hamlet of Pennington. The school's most recent Ofsted report provides further information about the school. The school has a mixed gender of pupils with 172 pupils on roll. Due to being a faith school Pennington C of E Primary is categorised as being a Voluntary Controlled School. According to the most recent Ofsted report of 2006, the School received a Grade 1: Outstanding classification.[1]

History

In the early 1870s, Pennington was described as:

PENNINGTON, a parish in Ulverston district, Lancashire; near the Furness railway, 1¾ mile W S W of Ulverston. It has a post-office under Ulverston. Acres, 2, 767. Real property, £18, 436; of which £7, 500 are in mines, and £2, 732 in quarries. Pop. in 1851, 489; in 1861, 879. Houses, 163. The increase of pop. arose from extension of mining operations.[2]

It is thought that the name of Pennington came from the aristocratic family who inhabited Muncaster Castle a few miles away. The name likely arose from the Pennine chain of mountains. When put together, the British word "pennig" (little hill) and the Saxon word "ton" (town) makes Pennington. Traditionally Muncaster Castle was always the seat of the Lord Pennington, whose history includes Sir William Pennington, Duke of Hertford. The Pennington family still has links to Muncaster, with the majority of the remaining descendants living in West Yorkshire.

There are a set of stocks outside the church gate that were used to punish offenders and there are runic inscriptions within the churchyard. In late 11th century England, Pennington is mentioned in the Domesday Book as one of the townships forming the Manor of Hougun which was held by Tostig Godwinson, Earl of Northumbria.[3] The manor is exactly the same size as the parish which formerly belonged to the Cistercian Furness Abbey, and includes 4,160 acres or six and one-half square miles. The parish was the smallest in Lancashire. The village was composed of 50 houses and 284 people in the mid-nineteenth century, and is about the same size today. The first recorded occurrence was spelled Pennigetun in the book.

Harry Christian, a soldier who was awarded the Victoria Cross, was born in Pennington.

To the west, in the nearby hamlet of Rosside, are the earthwork remains of Pennington Castle, a mediæval ringwork.

References

("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about Pennington, Furness)