Kirk Braddan, Isle of Man

Historical Description

Kirk Braddan, a parish in the Isle of Man, on the Dhoon river, 2½ miles NW of Douglas. It contains the village of Kewague and part of the town of Douglas, and its post town is Douglas. Acreage, 11, 454; population of the civil parish, 2972; of the ecclesiastical, 2708. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Sodor and Man; gross value, £193 with residence, in the gift of the Crown. The parish also includes St Matthew, a perpetual curacy, gross value, £200, in the gift of the Bishop of Sodor and Man; St George, a vicarage, gross value, £380, in the gift of the Vicar of Kirk Braddan; St Barnabas, a vicarage, gross value, £210, in the gift of the Trustees; St Thomas, a vicarage, gross value, £330, in the gift of the Bishop; and St Luke, a perpetual curacy, gross value, £100, in the gift of the Vicar of Kirk Braddan. The whole of the livings have residences. The old parish church was rebuilt in 1773; succeeded an older one, in which a synod was held in 1291; retains a battle-mented tower of intermediate date between that old church and itself; has tall narrow doors and Norman window arches, and forms a striking object. The churchyard contains a monumental obelisk to Lieutenant-Colonel Lord Henry Murray; a monument to Patrick Thompson, a Puritan minister who died in 1673; three Runic crosses, and four other ancient sculptured stones. A new church has been erected; it is a neat Gothic structure, but the steeple was blown down in a severe storm that passed over the island. Remains of an extensive Druidical temple, comprising large stones, mounds, and irregular excavations, were discovered adjacent to the churchyard in 1860. Some remains of ancient kirks or kiels are near Castleward Hill.

Civil Registration

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