Levens, Kent
Historical Description
Levens, a village, a township, and an ecclesiastical parish in Heversham parish, Westmorland. The township lies on the river Kent, 2½ miles NNW of Milnthorpe railway station, and 5¼ S by W of Kendal; contains the hamlets of Beathwaite Green, Cinderbarrow, and part of Brigsteer. It has a post office under Milnthorpe; money order and telegraph office, Sedgwick. Acreage, 3376, besides 137 of water and foreshore; population, 953. The manor belonged to the Redmans, and passed to the Bellinghams and the Grahams. Levens Hall, the seat of the Bagot family, is a fine old Tudor mansion; contains much elaborate carved oaken work, and some interesting pictures, and stands amid charming grounds. The gardens were planned by Beaumont, gardener to James II., and the park is traversed by the Kent, between steep and richly-wooded banks, contains a petrifying spring called the dropping-well, and has a fine distribution of lawn and wood, while herds of deer
" Across the green sward bound, Through shade and sunny gleam; And the swans glide past them, with the sound Of Kent's rejoicing stream."
Levens Bridge takes the road from Milnthorpe to Kendal across the Kent, and Levens Force is a foaming cascade of the river, nearly a mile above the bridge. Low Levens Hall was the seat of the Leivins and the Prestons, and is now a farmhouse. A ruin at Kirkstead is supposed to occupy the site, and even to include some portions, of a Roman temple dedicated to Diana. The ecclesiastical parish is less extensive than the township, and was constituted in 1838. Population, 847. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Carlisle; gross value, £200 with residence. The church was built in 1828, in the Early English style, with tower and spire. There is also a Wesleyan chapel, erected in 1891. It was built as a centenary memorial of the work of the Wesleyan body in the village. The old chapel is now used for meetings.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Westmorland | |
Civil parish | Heversham | |
Poor Law union | Kendal | |
Ward | Kendal |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Levens from the following:
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Kent newspapers online:
- Kent & Sussex Courier
- Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald
- Dover Express
- Kentish Gazette
- Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald
- Kentish Chronicle
- Maidstone Telegraph
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of Kent, 1619 is available on the Heraldry page, as is also The Visitation of Kent, 1663-68.