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Ravenstonedale

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"This parish hath its appellation from a brook of the name of the Raven running through it; in like manner as the village of Renwick (Ravenwick) in Cumberland. It was commonly of old time written Ravenstandale: So there was Stanmore in the parish of Brough. The parish is bounded on the East by the parish of Kirkby Stephen; on the South, by the parishes of Kirkby Stephen and Sedbergh; on the West, by the parish of Orton; and on the North, by the parishes of Crosby Garret and Kirkby Stephen: And contains about 225 families; whereof 59 are dissenters [in 1777]. The church is said to be dedicated to St. Oswald. It is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of Sir James Lowther baronet. ... The church was rebuilt in the year 1744, in an elegant manner. It hath a square tower steeple, with three bells. In the old church there were two rows of seats below the communion table, where (it is said) the steward and jury of the manopr sate formerly, in their court of judicature. And the malefactors were imprisoned in a hollow arched vault, the ruins whereof are still to be seen, on the north side of the church. ... There is also an handsome dissenting meeting house at Ravenstonedale."
[Nicolson and Burn: The history and antiquities of the counties of Westmorland and Cumberland. 1777. Transcribed by Anne Nichols.]

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The parish is bounded on the East by the parish of Kirkby Stephen; on the South, by the parishes of Kirkby Stephen and Sedbergh; on the West, by the parish of Orton; and on the North, by the parishes of Crosby Garret and Kirkby Stephen.
Newbiggin-on-Lune later became its own parish (but does not have its own page on this site)

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Archives & Libraries

The FC-Rdale Independent History Archive - assembled by Frank Chalmers.

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Cemeteries

M.I.s for Ravenstonedalewere transcribed in Monumental Inscriptions of Westmorland by E. Bellasis 1888-89 and are available on Westmorland Papers. An index to gravestones is available on the Ravenstonedale site

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Census

No returns survive for the 'census' of 1787.

Census returns are available from the usual sources for 1841-1911.

Transcript for heads of households in 1841 and 1891 has been made available by Janis Garcia.

Transcript and index for 1851 has been published by the Cumbria Family History Society and also in 'North Westmorland - An Index to the 1851 Census' compiled by David Lowis and Barbara Slack.

A transcript for 1881 is available on EdenLinks.

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Church History

NY7204 : St Oswald's Church, Ravenstonedale by Alexander P Kapp
© Alexander P Kapp


St Oswald
C18th church with W tower, nave and single bay chancel.
Though with older NW and SW porches, the latter with reset doorway of c1200.
Georgian furnishings inside including 3-decker pulpit and W gallery.
There are the ruins of a Gilbertine priory to the North.
This and other photographs are on the Geograph site.
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Church Records

Parish Registers and Bishop's Transcripts are held by Cumbria Archives :
originals at Kendal RO and microfilm copies at Carlisle RO.

 RavenstonedaleNewbiggin-on-Lune
 WPR6WPR102
Baptism registers1571-18521892-1979
Marriage registers1577-19731893-1966
Banns registers1814-19131893-1973
Burial registers1571-1980 
Bishops transcripts1667-1895 

See the CASCAT online calogue for WPR6 for information on these and other parish records.
See the CASCAT online calogue for WPR102 for information on these and other parish records.

For searching on LDS familysearch.org see IGI batch numbers (compiled by Jake Prescott)
or use the batch number search site (by Hugh Wallis).

Ravenstonedale parish registers, (1571-1812) by Ravenstonedale. Parish Published in 1893, printed by Wilson (Kendal) available on OpenLibrary

Non-conformist registers:

Presbyterian Church 1708-1837 (baptisms) - Kendal Record Office

Independent Chapel 1775-1837 (births, baptisms and burials) - Public Record Office, PRO

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Description & Travel

Much useful information is given on the Ravenstonedale website

You can see pictures of Ravenstonedale which are provided by:

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Directories

The details for the parish from the Parson & White's Directory for 1829 are transcribed on Edenlinks site.

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Gazetteers

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History

The Later Records relating to North Westmorland by John F. Curwen (1932) on British History Online

Cumbria County History Trust has published a "Jubilee Digest" for the township of Ravenstonedale

The history and traditions of Ravenstonedale, Westmorland.
by William Nicholls Published in 1877, J. Heywood, Simpkin, Marshall & Co.; (Manchester, London) available on OpenLibrary

There is a Ravenstonedale Parish History Group

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Maps

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference NY719021 (Lat/Lon: 54.41339, -2.434298), Ravenstonedale which are provided by:

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Population

1641/21017(est)
1671937(est)
18011138
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Taxation

Hearth Tax records for 1674 Ravenstonedale transcribed on Edenlinks.
Hearth Tax records for 1674 Ravenstonedale (2) transcribed on Edenlinks.
Hearth Tax records for 1674 Ravenstonedale (3) transcribed on Edenlinks.
Hearth Tax records for 1674 Ravenstonedale Weasdale transcribed on Edenlinks.

Window Tax records for 1777 Ravenstonedale transcribed on Edenlinks.