Waitby
| Waitby | |
| Westmorland | |
|---|---|
 Waitby | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | NY751082 |
| Location: | 54°28’9"N, 2°23’6"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 60 (2001) |
| Post town: | Kirkby Stephen |
| Postcode: | CA17 |
| Dialling code: | 01768 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Westmorland & Furness |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Penrith and The Border |
Waitby is a small village in Westmorland.
The wider civil parish includes Waitby itself and also Smardale and a series of hamlets such as Riddlesay, Stripes and Leases, all of which are in the farmed and enclosured northern part of the parish. The southern half of the parish is mostly heath and uncultivated, rising to Smardale Fell. In all the parish has fewer than a hundred inhabitants.
The closest town is the pocket-sized town of is Kirkby Stephen on the River Eden to the east.
Waitby Beck rises from springs to the north east of the Waitby, joining Sandwith Sike which flows into the Eden. Other minor becks include Hazel Gill and Choup Gill both of which join Scandal Beck. The Scandal Beck runs to the south of the village.
The Settle-Carlisle Line passes through the parish, as did the South Durham and Lancashire Union Railway; both cross Scandal Beck by Smardale Viaduct and Smardalegill Viaducts respectively.
Name
Waitby ids found as Watebi around 1170) and means "wet farmstead" from the Old Norse vátr by.[1] The village may have also been known as Wadeby or Waldeby; the alternative etymology "Waldeve's dwelling" has also been proposed.[2]
About the village
Waitby Castle (54°28’10"N, 2°22’35"W) is a typical Romano-British fortification built on top of a small hill. The banks ringing the roughly round enclosure are still visible as are the outlines of some inner buildings.[3]
Waitby Greenriggs Nature Reserve (54°28’10"N, 2°22’14"W) lies east of Waitby outside the parish boundary halfway to Kirkby Stephen at the former junction between the South Durham and Lancashire Union Railway (Stainmore railway) and the Eden Valley railway. It was purchased from British Rail in 1987 and is in the care of the local wildlife trust.[4][5]
Waitby and Smardale school was founded in 1630 as a free school for the children of the villages of Waitby and Smardale by James Highmoor, a London weaver born in Kirkby Stephen with the gift of £100 for its upkeep and to employ a schoolmaster.[6] The school was rebuilt in 1867 by public subscription.[7] The building today is a Grade II listed building[7] and has been converted into holiday accommodation.[8]
Leases farmhouse is of the 18th and 19th centuries[9] and a nearby barn is of the 19th century[10] Both are Grade II listed buildings, as is a boundary stone near Leases.[11]
The 18th century Wharton House and later threshing barn in Waitby are also grade II listed buildings.[12]
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Waitby) |
- Waitby parish – Old Cumbria Gazetteer - Portsmouth University
References
- ↑ Smith, A.H.: 'Place-Names of Westmorland , Part' (English Place-Names Society, 1967)
- ↑ Nicolson, Joseph; Burn, Richard; Nicolson, William; Hornyold-Strickland, Henry: 'The history and antiquities of the counties of Westmorland and Cumberland', Volume 1 "Manor of Waitby" (1777), page 555
- ↑ Waitby Castle, Waitby: Matthew Penmott
- ↑ Waitby Greenriggs (Wildlife Trust)
- ↑ Waitby Greenriggs; Wildlife Trust Reserve
- ↑ Nicholas Carlisle (1818), "Waitby, near Kirby Stephen", A concise description of the endowed grammar schools in England and Wales, 2, Baldwin, Cradock and Joy, pp. 736–738, https://books.google.com/books?id=KakAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA736#v=onepage&q&f=false
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 National Heritage List 11250676: Waitby and Smardale School
- ↑ Waitby School
- ↑ National Heritage List 1137185: The Leases, farmhouse and attached buildings
- ↑ National Heritage List 1145016: Byre range south of Leases farmhouse
- ↑ National Heritage List 1312431: Boundary stone south-west of Leases Farmhouse
- ↑ National Heritage List 1145015: Wharton House and attached barn
- Wainwright, Alfred: 'Westmorland Heritage': Waitby pages 454–255