Isell (St. Michael)

ISELL (St. Michael), a parish, in the union of Cockermouth, Allerdale ward below Derwent, W. division of Cumberland; containing with the townships of Isell-Old-Park and Sunderland, 535 inhabitants, of whom 347 are in the township of Isell with Blindcrake and Redmain, 3¾ miles (N. E. by E.) from Cockermouth. The parish is bounded on the south by the Derwent, which is crossed by a bridge, built in 1691. Isell Hall is of great antiquity, and has been fortified; one of the original towers is still standing, but the rest of the building has been much modernised. White freestone is obtained on Moothay Hill; and coal and copper mines were formerly wrought within the parish. The living is a vicarage endowed with the rectorial tithes, and valued in the king's books at £8. 13. 6½.; net income, £157; patron, Sir Wilfred Lawson, Bart.: the tithes were commuted for land in 1808. The church is in the Norman style.