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Rydal and Loughrigg, Westmorland

Historical Description

Rydal and Loughrigg, two hamlets forming a township and an ecclesiastical parish in Westmorland, on the river Rothay, at the foot of Rydal Water, 1½ mile NNW of Ambleside, and 5½ NNW of Windermere station on the L. & N.W.R. Post town and money order and telegraph office, Ambleside. The township contains Clapperegate, Skelwith Bridge, and Rydal village, and bears the name of Rydal and Loughrigg. The ecclesiastical parish, constituted in 1886, contains the village and old highway district of Rydal, with about half of the old highway district of Loughrigg, the remaining half of Loughrigg forming part of the ecclesiastical parish of Brathey. Acreage of the township,. 4733 of land and 129 of water; population, 474; of the ecclesiastical parish, 212. Under the Local Government Act the township has been formed into a civil parish, and has a parish council consisting of five members. Rydal Manor with Rydal Hall belongs to the Le Fleming family. Rydal Mount was the residence and death-place of the poet Wordsworth. The scenery abounds with some of the finest features of the Lake region, and is enhanced by a number of tasteful Lake residences. Rydal Nab, Rydal Head, Rydal Water, Loughrigg Fell, and a streamlet with two picturesque falls form some of the chief features. Farfield or Rydal Head is 2862 feet high. Rydal Water is an expansion of the river Rothay, was anciently called Routhmere, has an oval outline, and though measuring only about three-quarters of a mile in length by scarcely one-third of a mile, presents-an isleted surface, and is surrounded by hills and wooded scenery. Few places of equal extent have been so much sung by poets or eulogised by prose writers as Rydal. The ecclesiastical parish of Rydal was constituted in 1886. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Carlisle; net value, £132. The church was built in 1824, is in the Pointed. style, and consists of chancel, nave, and pinnacled square-tower.

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 CountyWestmorland 
Civil parishGrasmere 
Poor Law unionKendal 
WardKendal 

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


Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Rydal and Loughrigg from the following:


Land and Property

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