UK Genealogy Archives logo
DISCLOSURE: This page may contain affiliate links, meaning when you click the links and make a purchase, we may receive a commission.

Hawkshead, Lancashire

Historical Description

Hawkshead, a small town, a township, and a parish in Ulverston union, Lancashire. The town stands in a sheltered valley, at the head of Esthwaite Water, 2 miles W of Windermere Lake, 4 E by N of Coniston railway station, and 5 SW by S of Ambleside; is surrounded by a picturesque country, with many of the finest features of the Lake district; dates from very ancient times; was long the capital of Furness, and a seat of the courts of justice of Furness Abbey. It has a compact form, with a rather spacious marketplace; contains a number of old, quaint, picturesque houses; is a seat of petty sessions and a polling-place; and has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Ambleside, a good inn, a town-hall, erected in 1790 and enlarged in 1887, a church, a Baptist chapel, a Friends' meeting-room, a grammar school, an institute with library, reading-rooms, &c., and some charities. The church was founded about the time of the Conquest, retains the piers and arches of its original masonry, was enlarged in the time of Elizabeth by Archbishop Sandys, has a nave, aisles, and chancel, and also a massive square tower containing six bells with curious inscriptions, contains effigies of Archbishop Sandys' parents, and stands on an elevation with a fine view. The churchyard contains the grave of the distinguished Miss Elizabeth Smith, of whom De Quincey wrote an eloquent panegyric.

The grammar school was founded by Archbishop Sandys in 1585, has an endowed income of about £210 and a good library, and numbers among its pupils Dr Walker, Dr Wordsworth, the poet Wordsworth, Lord Abinger, Sir Frederick Pollock, and Dr King. A gymnasium was opened in 1885. A weekly market was formerly held on Monday, but has been discontinued, and fairs are still held on Easter Monday, the Monday before Holy Thursday, and 2 Oct. The township bears the name of Hawkshead with Monk Coniston and Skelwith, and includes the hamlets of Berwick, Henakin, Outgate, Hawkshead Hill, and Gallowbarrow. Acreage, 10, 429, of which 398 are water; population, 1224; of the ecclesiastical parish, 1151. The manor belonged formerly to Furness Abbey, and belongs now to the Duke of Buccleuch. The parish contains also the townships of Claife and Satterth-waite, and comprises 22, 330 acres; population, 2307. Much of the land is hilly pasture. The soil of the Vale of Hawkshead is fertile, and the cultivation of coppice-wood is extensively carried on. Charcoal is produced in large quantities. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Carlisle; net value, £359 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of Carlise. Near the church is Hawkshead Hall, now a farmhouse, but once the property of the abbots of Furness, where they held their manorial court.

Transcribed from The Comprehensive Gazetteer of England & Wales, 1894-5

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Ancient CountyLancashire 
Ecclesiastical parishHawkshead St. Michael 
HundredLonsdale north of the Sands 
Poor Law unionUlverston 

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.


Church Records

Ancestry.co.uk, in association with Lancashire Archives, have images of the Parish Registers for Lancashire online.


Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Hawkshead from the following:


Land and Property

The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Lancashire is available to browse.


Maps

Online maps of Hawkshead are available from a number of sites:


Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Lancashire newspapers online:

DistrictSouth Lakeland
CountyCumbria
RegionNorth West
CountryEngland
Postal districtLA22
Post TownAmbleside

Advertisement

Advertisement