Dean is a village and

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 authorit ...

in the Allerdale district, in the county of

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. C ...

, England. Dean has a Church of England school, a church called St Oswald's. Nearby settlements include the towns of

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207. Locat ...

and

Cockermouth Cockermouth is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England, so named because it is at the confluence of the River Cocker as it flows into the River Derwent. The mid-2010 census estimates state that Cocke ...

Location

Dean is located in Allerdale, in the west of

in the North West of England. It is situated south-west of

, on a minor road off the A5086. It is about west of the nearest part of the Lake District National Park. The nearest tourist information centre is in Cockermouth.

The village

The village contains The Royal Yew Inn, a traditional country pub. Dean is also home to the Dean Church of England Primary School, which also serves three other small villages. Dean is situated in fertile farming land; it has existed for a long time, dating back to the 12th century through the evidence of the 12th century church, and a

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

founded in 1596. Forms of agriculture in the 19th century include wheat, oats and potatoes. The Curwens of

are known to have been the principal landowners in the area.

Governance

Dean is in the

parliamentary constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

of Copeland,

Trudy Harrison Trudy Lynne Harrison (born 19 April 1976) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Copeland since the February 2017 by-election. It was the first time Copeland had elected a Conservative MP sin ...

is the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

. For

Local Government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-l ...

purposes it is in the ''Dalton

Ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

'' of

Allerdale Borough Council 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 Boro ...

and part of the ''Cockermouth South'' Ward of

Cumbria County Council Cumbria County Council is the county council for the non-metropolitan county of Cumbria in the North West of England. Established in April 1974, following its first elections held the previous year, it is an elected local government body respon ...

. Dean has its own parish council, Dean Parish Council, which also covers villages of Branthwaite,

Deanscales Deanscales is a hamlet in the Allerdale district, in the county of Cumbria, England. Nearby settlements include the village of Dean and the town of Cockermouth. Deanscales is on the A5086 road. Deanscales has 1 pub. See also *Listed buildings ...

, Eaglesfield, Pardshaw and

Ullock Ullock is a village in Cumbria, England, located at National Grid reference NY076239, approximately south west of Cockermouth and south east of Workington. The River Marron flows through the village. It is located just outside the Lake Dist ...

St Oswald's Church

St Oswald's Church is on the edge of the village and dates back to the 12th century. A

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

was added in the 15th century and a sanctuary in the 17th century. From 1967-1973 extensive

renovations Renovation (also called remodeling) is the process of improving broken, damaged, or outdated structures. Renovations are typically done on either commercial or residential buildings. Additionally, renovation can refer to making something new, ...

were carried out which included new

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

pews A pew () is a long bench (furniture), bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating Member (local church), members of a Church (congregation), congregation or choir in a Church (building), church, synagogue or sometimes a courtroom. Overview ...

and a pulpit. Other features include the Norman font and the 15th century chancel windows. St Oswald's Church is one of three in Cumbria to have gargoyles. In the graveyard there are several ancient gravestones and a Preaching

Cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...

, the base of which is 12th century or earlier and thought to have been used by the monks of

Calder Abbey Calder Abbey in Cumbria was a Savigniac monastery founded in 1134 by Ranulph de Gernon, 2nd Earl of Chester, and moved to this site following a refoundation in 1142. It became Cistercian in 1148. It is near the village of Calderbridge. Histo ...

. The church is built in blocks of

calciferous sandstone Calciferous sandstone is a geological term relating to strata at the base of the Carboniferous formation, below the entire sequence of coal measures. This term may be unique to the UK. Typically this part of the geological sequence, as in the T ...

and has green slate roofs.

Etymology

'Dean' is 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 settlers in the mid-5th c ...

'denu' meaning 'valley'.

History

There are records for Dean's housing and population up to the 1961 census; they show that in 1961 there was a population of 710 with 214 houses. The census records go back to 1831. The village population has fluctuated between the 500s and the 700s between 1931 and 1961, having the highest population between 1821 and 1881. Dean's housing has only ever consisted of about 200 houses. This number has fluctuated, with a loss of 30 properties between 1901 and 1931. However the number of properties in Dean has now risen to 214.

Climate

The climate in Dean is that of the north-west of England, which is exposed to large amounts of rainfall due to the fact that the region is home to high ground. Despite this though Dean is seen to be drier than the surrounding areas with less than 800mm of rain a year this is because it is benefited by the rain shadow effect because of the high ground of

North Wales North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdonia N ...

and the Lake District. The coldest months for the area would be January and February but the warmest month would be July. Because North West England is among the more exposed parts of the UK, and relatively close to the North Atlantic and containing large upland areas, Cumbria is subject to strong winds. The strongest winds can be felt most in the winter half of the year, especially from December to February.. Retrieved 2012-05-2

References

External links

*
Cumbria County History Trust: Dean
(nb: provisional research only - see Talk page) {{authority control Villages in Cumbria Civil parishes in Cumbria Allerdale