Ousby or Ulfsby, Cumberland

Historical Description

Ousby or Ulfsby, a village and a parish in Cumberland. The village stands on an affluent of the river Eden, 2 miles W of the Maiden Way, 2½ NW of the boundary with Westmorland, 4½ W of the summit of Cross Fell, 4 from Lang-wathby station on the M.R., and 8½ ENE of Penrith. It is said to have taken its name from Uiff, a Dane who anciently held the property around it, is now commonly called Ousbyshire, and is a small and straggling place. The parish contains also the hamlets of Bradley, Fell Side, and The Row. Post town, Melmerby; money order and telegraph office, Langwathby (R.S.O.) Acreage, 7457 of land and 15 of water; population, 271. Much of the surface is mountainous and waste, and much of the cultivated land suffers injury to its crops from very high winds, rushing down from the gorges of the mountains. Limestone and sandstone abound, and small seams of coal and veins of lead occur. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Carlisle; gross value, £320 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of Carlisle. The church is ancient, was repaired in 1859, has a bell-turret, and contains a piscina, three sedilia, and a wooden effigy of a knight. There are a Wesleyan chapel built in 1872, and remains of an ancient earthwork, with traces of buildings within the enclosure. Robinson the antiquary and Bishop Homing were rectors.

Administration

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

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

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 Ousby or Ulfsby from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Ousby (St. Luke))

Land and Property

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

Maps

Online maps of Ousby or Ulfsby 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)

Visitations Heraldic

The Visitation of Cumberland, 1615 is available on the Heraldry page.