Holme-Cultram (Virgin Mary)

HOLME-CULTRAM (Virgin Mary), a parish, in the union of Wigton, Allerdale ward below Derwent, W. division of Cumberland, 6½ miles (W. N. W.) from Wigton; containing 3037 inhabitants, of whom 933 are in the township of Low Holme, 868 in that of Abbey-Holme, 766 in that of St. Cuthbert, Holme, and 470 in that of East Waver-Holme. This parish is bounded on the west by the sea, and on the north by the estuaries of the Wampool and the Waver. It comprises about 22,000 acres, of which nearly 3000 are moss, and the remainder inclosed and cultivated land; the surface is generally flat, with some bold undulations, and there are quarries of excellent freestone. The village is pleasantly situated on the west bank of the river Waver, over which is a neat bridge of three arches; built in 1770, at the expense of the parishioners. The living is a perpetual curacy, valued in the king's books at £6. 13. 4.; net income, £140; patrons and impropriators, the University of Oxford. The church was mostly rebuilt in 1606, the greater part of the old edifice having been destroyed by fire. It was the church of an abbey of Cistercian monks, founded in 1150, by Prince Henry of Scotland, and so richly endowed that, at the Dissolution, the revenue was estimated at £535. 3. 7.: in the churchyard are various remains of the conventual buildings. The abbots were summoned to several parliaments by Edward I. and II.: the last abbot was instituted to the rectory. The Society of Friends have a meeting-house at Beck-foot. At Newton-Arlosh are the ruins of an ancient chapel, said to have been once the parochial church. Walsey Castle, a strong fort, has dwindled into a small heap of ruins.