Blencogo is a small farming village and former

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 ...

near

Wigton Wigton is a market town in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies just outside the Lake District in the borough of Allerdale. Wigton is at the centre of the Solway Plain, between the Caldbeck Fells ...

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 ...

, England. It is situated on the

Solway Plain The Solway Plain or Solway Basin is a coastal plain located mostly in northwest Cumbria in England, extending just over the Scottish border to the low-lying area around Gretna and Annan. It lies generally north and west of Carlisle along the Sol ...

in the

Allerdale Allerdale is a non-metropolitan district of Cumbria, England, with borough status. Its council is based in Workington and the borough has a population of 93,492 according to the 2001 census, increasing to 96,422 at the 2011 Census. The Bor ...

Borough Council area, off the B3502 Wigton to

Silloth Silloth (sometimes known as Silloth-on-Solway) is a port town and civil parish in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. Historically in the county of Cumberland, the town is an example of a Victorian seaside resort in the North of Engl ...

road. The village is a centre for growing osier

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist s ...

for

basketmaking Basket weaving (also basketry or basket making) is the process of weaving or sewing pliable materials into three-dimensional artifacts, such as baskets, mats, mesh bags or even furniture. Craftspeople and artists specialized in making baskets ...

and related crafts. In 1931 the parish had a population of 139.

Etymology

Armstrong, et al. cite Ekwall, who "derives this name from Welsh 'blaen' 'top'...and 'cog' 'cuckoo' to which was later added ON 'haugr' 'hill' ". However, they say that it is more probable that the final element "is the British plural inflexion (Welsh '-au', Cornish '-ow', Breton '-ou')." So, ' hill of the cuckoo or cuckoos'.('ON' is

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

; 'British' is

Common Brittonic Common Brittonic ( cy, Brythoneg; kw, Brythonek; br, Predeneg), also known as British, Common Brythonic, or Proto-Brittonic, was a Celtic language spoken in Britain and Brittany. It is a form of Insular Celtic, descended from Proto-Celtic, a ...

History

Blencogo first appears in literature around 1100 CE when the Lord

Waltheof of Allerdale Waltheof of Allerdale was an 11th- and 12th-century Anglo-Saxon noble, lord of Allerdale in modern Cumbria. Brother of Dolfin of Carlisle and Gospatric of Dunbar, Waltheof was son of Gospatric, Earl of Northumbria.Hamilton, ''Mighty Subjects'', p ...

gives the barony of Blencogo to Odard de Logis. Numerous land transfers are made to Holme Cultram Abbey in over the next 150 years. Land transfers and grants for Blencogo also appear in the patent and charter rolls for

Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring r ...

(1342),

Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father died ...

(1388), Henry IV (1399), Henry VI (1426),

Edward IV Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...

(1474), and Henry VII (1543). Blencogo was formerly a

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

in Bromfield parish, from 1866 Blencogo was a civil parish in its own right until it was abolished on 1 April 1934 and merged with Bromfield.

Notable residents

Jonathan Boucher Rev. Jonathan Boucher (pronounced Boo-Shay), FRSE, FSA (12 March 1738 – 27 April 1804) was an English clergyman, teacher, preacher and philologist. Early career Jonathan Boucher was born in Blencogo, near Wigton, Cumberland, and educated at ...

(1738-1804), born here

References

External links

Cumbria County History Trust: Blencogo
(nb: provisional research only - see Talk page)
Blencogo Village websiteWillow growers' website
{{authority control Villages in Cumbria Former civil parishes in Cumbria Allerdale

Etymology

History

Notable residents

See also

References

External links