DALSTON, Cumberland - Extract from National Gazetteer, 1868

"DALSTON, a parish in the ward of Cumberland, in the county of Cumberland, 4 miles S.W. of Carlisle by the Maryport and Carlisle railway, which has a station here. It is situated on the river Caldew, which, after receiving its tributaries-the Raugh and the Ives-gives name to the Vale of Caldew, through which it flows. Dalston parish comprises the townships of Buckabank, Cumdivock, Hawkesdale, Dalston Ivegill, and Raughton. It is conjectured that the Roman wall from Carlisle to Bowness was built from stone dug from the large freestone quarries of Shawk in the parish of Dalston. Traces of Roman encampments and of a Druidical circle are in the vicinity. It was the Saxon Daegstan. Rose Castle has been the principal residence of the bishops of Carlisle from the reign of Henry III. It was burnt by Robert Bruce. General Lambert took it by storm from the king's forces, and being afterwards converted into a royalist prison, it was burnt by Major Cholmley's orders. It has since been rebuilt, and now retains but little of the original castellated form. There are two cotton-mills in the parish, and an iron and plating forge for the manufacture of agricultural implements. The village is extensive and well built, and at the eastern extremity, where a customary market is held on Friday, was an ancient stone cross, raised on a flight of steps, and bearing several coats of arms. It is a polling-place for the eastern division of the county. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Carlisle, value £283, with some acres of glebe, in the patronage of the bishop. The church is dedicated to St. Michael, and has a bell gable. A new cemetery adjoin the churchyard. There is also a district church at Ivegill, or Highhead, the living of which is a perpetual curacy, value £80, in the patronage of the vicar. The charities amount to £56 per annum, including rent of land. Paley was Vicar of Dalston for nearly twenty years, from 1774 to 1793. There is an endowed grammar school; and a National school and Wesleyan chapel at Dalston Green. Dalston Hall, the ancient seat of the Dalstons, is now converted into a farmhouse." "BUCKABANK, (or Buckhowbank), a township in the parish of Dalston, ward and county of Cumberland, 5 miles to the S.W. of Carlisle. Dalston is a station on the Maryport and Carlisle railway. The township is situated on the river Caldew, and contains cotton factories, mills, an extensive forge, and an edge-tool manufactory. The Bishop of Carlisle is lord of the manor." "CUMDIVOCK, a township in the parish of Dalston, ward of Cumberland, in the county of Cumberland, 6 miles S.W. of Carlisle, and 7 from Wigton." "GAITSGILL, a hamlet in the parish of Dalston, ward and county of Cumberland, 5 miles S. of Carlisle. This forms a township with Raughton." "HAWKESDALE, a township in the parish of Dalston, ward of Cumberland, county Cumberland, 6 miles S.W. of Carlisle, situated on the W. side of the river Coldew. In this township is Rose Castle, the residence of the Bishop of Carlisle; also Holm Hill and Hawkesdale Hall." "RAUGHTON AND GAITSGILL, a township in the parish of Dalston, Cumberland ward, county Cumberland, 5 miles S.W. of Carlisle. It is in conjunction with the parish of Dalston."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]