Gilcrux (St. Mary)

GILCRUX (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Cockermouth, Allerdale ward below Derwent, W. division of Cumberland, 5½ miles (N. by W.) from Cockermouth; containing 464 inhabitants. This parish is bounded on the west by the river Ellen, and situated near the railway from Maryport to Carlisle; it comprises 1951a. 1r. 3p., of which 1466 acres are arable, 144 meadow, 333 pasture, and about 6 woodland. The surface is varied, and the lower grounds are watered by a copious stream which has its source in numerous springs in the village; the substrata are chiefly coal, and freestone of good quality for building. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £5. 14. 2.; net income, £100; patron, the Bishop of Carlisle: the impropriation of corn-tithes belongs to F. L. B. Dykes, Esq., and others. The church stands on an artificial eminence, and is in the early English style. Joseph Tordiff, in 1799, endowed a school with £24 per annum.