Aldoth is a hamlet in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

of Holme Abbey in

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately two-and-a-half miles south-west of

Abbeytown Abbeytown, also known as Holme Abbey, is a village and civil parish in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The name Abbeytown dates to the mid-17th century (''The Towne of the Abbey'', ''Abbey Towne''; ''Abbeytown'' from mid-18th century ...

, one-and-a-quarter miles south of Highlaws, and two-and-a-quarter miles north-east of the hamlet of

Holme St. Cuthbert Holme St Cuthbert (occasionally Holme St Cuthberts; pronounced and occasionally written Holme Saint Cuthbert) is a small village and civil parish in the borough of Allerdale, in the county of Cumbria, United Kingdom. The village is located approx ...

. Other nearby settlements include

Pelutho Pelutho is a hamlet in the civil parish of Holme St. Cuthbert in Cumbria, historically in Cumberland, England. It is situated on the B5301 road between the towns of Aspatria and Silloth. The village of Mawbray is located to the south-west ...

, a mile-and-a-half to the north-west, Mawbray, four miles to the south-west, and Westnewton, three-and-three-quarter miles to the south. Cumbria's

county town In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a county town is the most important town or city in a county. It is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county and the place where the county's members of Parliament are elect ...

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

, is located twenty-and-a-half miles to the north-east.

History and etymology

Aldoth's name comes from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

''eald hlada'', meaning "old barn". In the past, variant spellings have included Ialdlathyt, Aldath, Aldeth, and Aldelathe. Aldoth was mentioned in a survey conducted in the year 1538, during the reign of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

. Then known as Aldeth, the survey recorded that there were at least ten families living in the community. In 1851, a school was built in Aldoth, paid for by the National Organisation for Education of the Poor. There were as many as 55 pupils enrolled in the school at its height, though numbers were known to drop rather dramatically around harvest time and during bad weather. School inspectors noted several issues with the school, such as the lack of nearby accommodation for a teacher, insufficient space for the number of pupils, and animals ''"which invade the cloak-rooms and attack the food stored for midday use"''. Despite eventually being connected to water mains, the school continued to make use of earth toilets. There was a high turnover of teachers in the early 20th century, but by 1929 the school had more stability when Mr Carr arrived. He remained the teacher until Aldoth school closed in 1957.

Aldoth show

An agricultural show took place at Aldoth until at least the 1960s. It was an annual event, usually taking place in August, and would attract visitors from all over the local area. Prizes were awarded for livestock, vegetables, baking, knitting, jam-making, and handicrafts, and the local pub erected a beer tent for the duration of the show. Hound trailing took place, as did

harness racing Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, or spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Australi ...

and sulky trotting, and bets were often placed on the outcome of these events. The grand finale would involve a parade of award-winning livestock. In the evening after the show, a dance was often held in Aldoth school.

Poem

A poem in

Cumbrian dialect The Cumberland dialect is a local Northern English dialect in decline, spoken in Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire North of the Sands, not to be confused with the area's extinct Celtic language, Cumbric. Some parts of Cumbria have a mor ...

was composed in honour of Aldoth show, sometime around the year 1911.

References

{{Reflist Hamlets in Cumbria Allerdale