Beaumont (St. Mary)

BEAUMONT (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Carlisle, Cumberland ward, and E. division of the county of Cumberland, 4 miles (N. W. by W.) from Carlisle; containing 288 inhabitants. About the year 1323, Robert Bruce, King of Scotland, encamped with his army for five days at the village, and hence sent detachments to ravage the circumjacent country. The parish comprises by measurement 1497 acres of land, the soil of which is a rich black loam, alternated with sand; the village is pleasantly situated on the river Eden, and the Carlisle canal passes through the parish. At the hamlet of Sandsfield, on the western bank of the Eden, vessels of sixty tons' burthen, belonging to the port of Carlisle, receive and discharge their cargoes. There is an extensive salmon-fishery in the river, the property of the Earl of Lonsdale. The living is a discharged rectory, united to that of Kirk-Andrews-upon-Eden in 1692, and valued in the king's books at £8. 1. 8.: the glebe consists of about 12 acres. The church stands upon a considerable elevation. The celebrated wall of Severus crossed the parish.