Bootle, Cumberland
Historical Description
Bootle, a town and a parish in Cumberland. The town stands at the junction of two streams not far from the Whitehaven and Furness railway, about 1½ mile from the shore, and 6½ miles S by E of Ravenglass, and it has a station on the railway, and a post, money order, and telegraph office under Carnforth. It consists chiefly of a single street; yet possesses interest for tourists in some charming environs, and is a polling-place. A market was formerly held, and there are fairs on 27 April and 24 Sept. The parish comprises 6777 acres of land and 1159 of water and foreshore; population, 783. Part of the surface is Bootle Fell, and part is the northern skirt and ascent of the Black Combe Mountain. Remains of a Roman camp are on Esk-Meals Common; and the east window of the chapel of a Benedictine nunnery, founded by a daughter of Henry de Boyvill, fourth lord of Millom, is still standing at Seaton. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Carlisle; tithe commuted at £440. Patron, the Earl of Lonsdale. The church is partly ancient, of Early English date, with Saxon vestiges; underwent repair in 1837; was reseated in oak and thoroughly restored in 1891; has a pinnacled tower 90 feet high, built in 1862; and contains an octagonal font of red sandstone, and a brass of Sir Hugh Askew, who was knighted at the battle of Pinkie. There is a Congregational chapel and a workhouse.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Ancient County | Cumberland | |
| Ecclesiastical parish | Bootle St. Michael | |
| Poor Law union | Bootle | |
| Ward | Allerdale above Derwent |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish registers date from the year 1655.
Churches
Church of England
St. Michael (parish church)
The church of St. Michael is an edifice of rubble cobbles, with red sandstone dressings, in the Early English style, and consists of chancel, nave, transepts, west porch and a western tower 90 feet in height and containing 2 bells: on the north wall of the chancel is a brass to Bridget Fox, widow, daughter of Richard Parker, of Tarn, by whose munificent gift of £1,500 the restoration of the church in 1891 was principally effected: on the south wall is a brass, with effigy of a knight in armour, to Sir Hugh Askew, ob. 2 March, 1562, and knighted at the battle of Pinkie, or Musselburgh, 10 Sept. 1547: there is also a shield bearing a bugle horn and the inscription J. H. and another with the initials R. B.: in the vestry are hatchments for the Rev. Richard Hutton B.D. rector, d. 1 July, 1804, the Rev. Daniel Steele, rector, d. 1764, and the Rev. John Wennington B.A. d. 1764: on the north wall of the nave is a brass to Thomas Grice esq. of Cross House: the font has an octagonal basin with the inscription, In Nomine Patris, Filii, et Spiritus Sancti, in old English characters; six of the sides are ornamented with quatrefoils, and the other two bear shields with the arms of the Huddlestone family: the church was repaired and transepts added in 1837: the rebuilding of the tower, begun in 1870, was completed in 1880: in 1888 the chancel was new-roofed, new altar rails fixed and an organ erected, at a cost of £300, and in 1891 a new roof was put on the nave, the interior re-seated and choir stalls and a pulpit of oak erected: in the course of excavating for the foundations of the tower, six skeletons of unusual size were met with, lying north and south: the cost of restoration since 1893 has amounted to £3,300: the church affords 400 sittings.
Congregational
Congregational Chapel
The Congregational chapel, as appears from an inscription over the entrance, was originally founded by Mr. Joseph Writridge, of London, in 1780, for Lady Huntingdon's Connexion; it will seat 120 persons.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Bootle from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Bootle (St. Michael))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Cumberland is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Bootle are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Poor Law
Bootle was the head of a Poor Law Union, which was formed 12th July 1837. Initially it was comprised of the following parishes: Birker & Austhwaite, Bootle, Corney, Drigg & Carleton, Eskdale & Wasdale, Irton with Santon, Millom, Muncaster, Ulpha, Wabersthwaite, Whicham and Whitbeck. Millom Rural joined at a later date.
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of Cumberland, 1615 is available on the Heraldry page.
Workhouse
The Bootle Union Workhouse, about half a mile from the town, on the road leading towards the station, was erected in 1856, for 100 inmates.