St John the Baptist, Blawith, Church of England

The church has a graveyard. The few surviving monuments in the old churchyard were surveyed by members of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society around 1980. there is an illustrated transcript of the inscriptions (with other church records) in Cumbria Record Office, Barrow.

It was founded in 1577 and closed in 1998. It is now in the care of the Churches Conservation trust. The current church building was opened in 1863 replacing the original one, the ruins of which still exist on the other side of the road.

Blawith Church, a small but very neat edifice, opened for Divine service in 1863. It was erected at a cost of £1,600, and contains 171 sittings, all of which are free.The style is Gothic, and in the beautiful stained glass window in the chancel are depicted the Ascension, the Presentation in the Temple, and the Adoration of the Magi.It is dedicated to St. John the Baptist, and superseded the old dilapidated chapel which stands a few yards distant, and was in existence as early as the year 1577.In 1715 the inhabitants elected a young man to be reader and schoolmaster, and petitioned Bishop Gastrell to license him, though he was under the canonical age.In reference to this request the bishop writes in his Journal :--" The inhabitants pretend to the right of electing their own curate."The salary at that time was £1 a year.The living is a perpetual curacy, in the gift of the Duke of Buccleuch and the incumbency of the Rev. John Ashburner, who resides in a neat manse called Meadow Lodge, erected in 1519 by the late incumbent, but purchased by the patron in 1579, and presented to the living for a parsonage-house. The benefice has received several grants from Queen Anne's Bounty, most of which was laid out in the purchase of land, which, with other sums in the hands of the Bountv Board and Ecclesiastical Commissioners, makes the living worth £155 per annum.

from Mannex' s Directory of Furness & Cartmel, 1882.

Whilst every effort has been made to record exact details of record office and library holdings you are recommended to check with them before visiting to ensure that they do hold the records and years you wish to examine. Similarly check with transcript publishers to ensure they cover the records and years you require before making a purchase.

The Cumbria Record Office, Barrow hold:

• Baptisms 1728-1985
• Marriages 1730-1956
• Banns 1825-1985
• Burials 1728-1812

The IGI contains:

• Baptisms - 1728-1837
• Marriages - 1730-1837

This site provides historical information about churches, other places of worship and cemeteries. It has no connection with the churches themselves.

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