Beaumont, Cumbria

Beaumont (pronounced locally as bee-mont) is a village and civil parish in the City of Carlisle district of Cumbria, England. The village lies four miles north-west of Carlisle on the banks of the River Eden.

Beaumont
Village Green, Beaumont
Beaumont Location within Cumbria
Population	488 (2011 Census)[1]
OS grid reference	NY 3484759328
Civil parish	Beaumont
District	City of Carlisle
Shire county	Cumbria
Ceremonial county	Cumbria
Region	North West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CARLISLE
Postcode district	CA5
Dialling code	01228
Police	Cumbria
Fire	Cumbria
Ambulance	North West
UK Parliament	Carlisle

Description

The civil parish of Beaumont includes the surrounding villages of Kirkandrews-on-Eden, Grinsdale and Monkhill. The parish is bordered by the River Eden to the north and east, and by the parishes of Burgh by Sands to the west and Orton to the south.

The village has very limited facilities; although it has a pub, The Drover's Rest, there is no school, post office or shop.

History

Beaumont's name, as suggested by the French translation 'beautiful mount', comes from its high setting.[2]

The manor was anciently in the Bruns, Lords of Bowness, who were patrons also of the church: before the year 1380 it became the property of the Dacres, and was annexed to the Barony of Burgh, belonging to the Earl of Lonsdale.[3] The church is in the diocese and deanery of Carlisle. This small rectory was augmented by Queen Anne's Bounty in 1772.[4]

The Carlisle canal ran through the parish, admitting sixty tonne vessels. [5]

In 1961 there were 128 houses in Beaumont. [6] The current average property value is £218,568, compared to an average property value of £218,108 for CA5; This figure is just slightly above the current UK average. [7]

St Mary's Church

St Mary's is an Anglican church built by the Normans in 1296 on the site of a turret on Hadrian's Wall. Visible from the church are the Solway Firth and Scotland to the north; the Lake District, Carlisle and the Pennines to the east.[8]

St Mary's Church

The building is constructed from squared and coursed sandstone from the nearby wall, the line of which runs directly beneath the church, with a graduated roof made from greenslate, coped gables and a cross finial. Little remains of the original church although the single chamber interior is still mostly of the earlier period, notably the south doorway and three east windows, but the church underwent restorations in 1784, 1872 and 1888.[9] The single chamber is still mostly of the earlier period, notably the south doorway and three east windows. The windows, porch and vestry are 19th century restorations and the king post open timber roof dates from the 15th century. Hadrian's Wall Path passes the church, on its way from Carlisle to Bowness-on-Solway (via Grinsdale and Burgh-by-Sands).[10] The church became a Grade II listed building on 1 May 1957.[9]

Features of the church include two medieval grave slabs discovered during a series of Victorian restorations, built into the west wall behind the font. To celebrate the church's 700th anniversary in 1996, kneelers were made to commemorate Rectors in each century;[11] Sir Elias de Thirwall was the first, his tenure starting in 1296.

The church maintains two traditions at weddings. The groom cuts a string tying the church gates shut, bestowing good luck to the couple; and a piece of rope is stretched across the road where wedding cars can pass only if they give money to the children.[12]

Heritage

See also: Listed buildings in Beaumont, Cumbria

Beaumont

There are 7 listed buildings and 3 scheduled ancient monuments in Beaumont as well as it lying within a world heritage site.[13]

Grade II

• Beaumont House
• Hillcrest
• Eden Bank Farmhouse
• Churchyard wall south of Church of St Mary
• Orchard House
• Myrtle Cottage

Grade II*

• Church of St Mary

Scheduled Monument

• Beaumont motte castle and section of Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 70 including turret 70a
• Hadrian's Wall between the field boundary to the south of the site of St Andrew's Church and Eden Bank at Beaumont in wall miles 69 and 70
• Burgh by Sands Roman fort, Beaumont camp, Burgh Castle and Hadrian's Wall from boundary west of churchyard, Beaumont to Burgh Head in wall miles 70 and 71

World Heritage Sites Buffer Zone

• Frontiers of the Roman Empire (Hadrian's Wall)

See also

• Solway Plain

References

1. "Parish population 2011". Retrieved 23 June 2015.
2. "Beaumont, Cumbria". The Cumbria Dictionary. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
3. Bulman, Steve. "Bulmer's History & Directory Of Cumberland, 1901". Retrieved 18 March 2012.
4. Daniel and Samuel Lysons (1816). "Parishes: Bassenthwaite - Beaumont". Magna Britannia: volume 4: Cumberland. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
5. Rosemary Lockie. "BEAUMONT, Cumberland - Extract from National Gazetteer, 1868". UK & Ireland Genealogy. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
6. "Historical Statistics/ Housing". Vision of Britain through time. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
7. "Property details for Myrtle House, Beaumont, Carlisle CA5 6EB". Zoopla. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
8. "Beaumont". Visitoruk. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
9. Historic England. "Church of St Mary (1335624)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
10. "Beaumont - St Mary's Church". Archived from the original on 1 May 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
11. "Beaumont - St Mary". Churches Trust for Cumbria. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
12. "D-block GB-332000-558000". BBC. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
13. "The National Heritage List For England". English Heritage. Archived from the original on 24 April 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2012.

External links

Media related to Beaumont, Cumbria at Wikimedia Commons