Hesket (also Hesket-in-the-Forest) is a large

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 ...

in the

Eden District Eden is a local government district in Cumbria, England, based at Penrith Town Hall in Penrith. It is named after the River Eden, which flows north through the district toward Carlisle. Its population of 49,777 at the 2001 census, increased ...

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, on the main A6 between

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 ...

and Penrith. At the 2001 census it had a population of 2,363, increasing to 2,588 at the 2011 census, and estimated at 2,774 in 2019. The parish formed in 1894 with the passing of the

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level un ...

and was enlarged to incorporate the parish of Plumpton Wall following a

County Review Order The Local Government Act 1929 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made changes to the Poor Law and local government in England and Wales. The Act abolished the system of poor law unions in England and Wales and their boar ...

in 1934. Hesket is part of the historic royal hunting ground of

Inglewood Forest Inglewood Forest is a large tract of mainly arable and dairy farm land with a few small woodland areas between Carlisle and Penrith in the English non-metropolitan county of Cumbria or ancient county of Cumberland. Etymology ''Inglewood'' is fi ...

. Settlement in the parish dates back to the Roman occupation.

Extent

The parish is located between the city of

and the market town of Penrith, along nine miles of the A6. The parish encompasses the villages of

Armathwaite Armathwaite is a village in the English ceremonial county of Cumbria. Historically within the county of Cumberland, Armathwaite lies on the River Eden, forms part of Eden district and is served by Armathwaite railway station. The majority of t ...

, Calthwaite, High Hesket, Low Hesket, Plumpton and Southwaite, as well as the

hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. Its size relative to a parish can depend on the administration and region. A hamlet may be considered to be a smaller settlement or subdivision or satellite entity to a lar ...

of Aiketgate,

Morton Morton may refer to: People * Morton (surname) * Morton (given name) Fictional * Morton Koopa, Jr., a character and boss in ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' * A character in the ''Charlie and Lola'' franchise * A character in the 2008 film '' Horton H ...

, Old Town, Thiefside, Petteril Green and Plumpton Foot. It also includes parts of the villages of

Ivegill Ivegill is a small village in the Eden district, Cumbria, England. The village has one place of worship and a school. It is located on an unclassified road near Southwaite services which is on the M6 motorway. It takes its name from the River ...

and

Wreay Wreay ( ) is a small English village that lies on the River Petteril in today's Cumbria. The M6 motorway, A6 trunk road and West Coast Main Line railway all skirt the village. Governance Wreay was once a civil parish, In 1931 it had a populat ...

, with these villages also part of the parishes of Skelton and

St Cuthbert Without St Cuthbert Without, or simply St Cuthbert, is a civil parish within the City of Carlisle in Cumbria, England. The parish lies immediately to the south of Carlisle itself and comprises the following settlements - Blackwell, Durdar, Carleton, ...

respectively.

History

At Castlesteads or Old Penrith just north of Plumpton village are the remains of a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

Fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

known as Voreda. Just north of the site, aerial evidence has located two Roman camps, with limited excavation work in 1977 revealing pottery dating from AD 120. The structures are located near to the main Roman Road connecting the

Vale of York The Vale of York is an area of flat land in the northeast of England. The vale is a major agricultural area and serves as the main north–south transport corridor for Northern England. The Vale of York is often supposed to stretch from the R ...

to Carlilse, which now forms part of the modern-day A6. Many of the villages in the parish have names with Norse origins, several with the common suffix of 'thwaite', from the Norse clearing or meadow. The name Hesket itself derives from the old Norse for horse ('hestr') and road or race course ('skeid'). In 1822, a viking cairn was discovered in the parish, along the route of the A6, near the modern location of Court Thorn GP Surgery, during operations to widen the road. The objects uncovered were placed in the collection at Tuille House Museum in Carlisle. The parish is part of the Royal hunting ground known as

, established by

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

and extended by Henry II. In 1885, Police Constable Joseph Byrnes was shot and killed by three assailants in Plumpton. The trio were wanted in connection with a burglary at Netherby Hall. The men were later caught and sentenced to death by hanging. A memorial to Constable Byrnes was erected in the village and is now Grade II listed. The civil parishes of Hesket-in-the-Forest and Plumpton Wall were formed under the

. Plumpton Wall was incorporated into Hesket-in-the-Forest in 1934, following a

Governance

Hesket is in the

United Kingdom parliamentary constituency The Parliament of the United Kingdom currently has 650 parliamentary constituencies across the constituent countries (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), each electing a single member of parliament (MP) to the House of Commons by th ...

of Penrith and the Border. Neil Hudson was elected its

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

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 of ...

at the 2019 General Election, replacing fellow Conservative

Rory Stewart Roderick James Nugent Stewart (born 3 January 1973) is a British academic, diplomat, author, broadcaster, former soldier and former politician. He is the president of GiveDirectly, a visiting fellow at Yale University's Jackson Institute for G ...

, who announced his intention to stand down from both parliament and the party in October 2019. A district ward named Hesket exists, which incorporates the Parishes of Hesket and

Catterlen Catterlen is a small village and civil parish north west of Penrith, Cumbria. At the 2001 census the civil parish had a population of 471, increasing to 605 at the 2011 Census. The village is a linear one with the B5305 road dividing it into t ...

, electing two representatives to

Eden District Council Eden may refer to: *Garden of Eden, the "garden of God" described in the Book of Genesis Places and jurisdictions Canada * Eden, Ontario * Eden High School Middle East * Eden, Lebanon, a city and former bishopric * Camp Eden, Iraq Oc ...

. The ward is currently represented by Conservative Councilor Elaine Martin and Independent Group Councillor David Ryland, both elected in May 2019. At county level, the parish falls within the Greystoke and Hesket ward, electing one councillor to

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 ...

. In 2017, the seat was won by the Conservative Tom Wentworth-Waites. In March 2022, it was confirmed that Cumbria would be restructured into two unitary authorities, abolishing the County Council and all six District Councils. Hesket will fall within the new unitary authority of

Westmorland and Furness Westmorland and Furness is a future unitary authority area in north-west England, which will come into being on 1 April 2023 on the abolition of Cumbria County Council, together with Cumberland. The council will cover the areas currently served ...

. Elections for a shadow authority took place in May 2022, with the authority due to take over governance in April 2023. Hesket Parish Council divides into three electoral wards, Armathwaite, Calthwaite and Southwaite, each electing five Parish Councillors.

Transport

The Settle-Carlisle Railway, which opened in 1876, runs through the parish with a station at

. Next to it is a Victorian signal box maintained by local volunteers and open for viewing. The

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

also runs through the parish. At one time there were stations on the line at Plumpton, which closed in 1948, and Southwaite and Calthwaite, both of which closed in 1952. The

M6 motorway The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over from the Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 and the western end of the A14 at t ...

and the

A6 road This is a list of roads designated A6. * A006 road (Argentina), a road connecting Las Cuevas with the Christ the Redeemer monument in the border between Argentina and Chile * ''A6 highway (Australia)'' may refer to : ** A6 (Sydney), a road connec ...

run parallel to each other through the parish with a motorway service area at Southwaite. The 104 bus service also runs through the villages of Plumpton, Low Hesket and High Hesket, operated by

Stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

between

and Penrith. There is a community bus service, Fellrunner, which provides return journeys to Carlisle and Penrith from various stops in the parish. The service was established in 1979, spearheaded by a local clergyman, the Reverend Phillip Canham, and is run entirely by volunteers.

Amenities

The parish has five primary schools, in the villages of Armathwaite, Calthwaite, High Hesket, Ivegill and Plumpton. There are three village halls, in the villages of Low Hesket, Ivegill and Armathwaite, run by volunteers, and a community centre housed in a former

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

chapel between the villages of Calthwaite and Plumpton. The villages of Armathwaite, Calthwaite, High Hesket, Ivegill and Plumpton all have parish churches. Armathwaite village has a village shop and post office, two public houses and a children's play area. Calthwaite has a public house, a children's play area and a youth football club. Low Hesket also has a public house. The primary school playground in Plumpton doubles as a children's play area out of school hours. The village has a garden centre and cafe at the former station yard.

Places of interest

The parish contains sixty-six listed buildings, including three Grade II* listed:

Armathwaite Castle Armathwaite Castle is in the village of Armathwaite, Cumbria, England, by the River Eden. Originally built to defend against Scottish raiders in the 15th century, it was converted into a mansion and today is a Grade II* listed building. Deta ...

, now a private residence, the Church of St Mary's in High Hesket, dating from the 18th century but incorporating parts of the medieval church building, and the 16th-century Southwaite Hall Copper House and barns. It also contains the Grade II listed Katharine Well at Mellguards, just outside the village of Southwaite, built as a memorial to the sister of the local architect and philanthropist

Sara Losh Sara or Sarah Losh (1785 – 29 March 1853) was an English architect and designer. Her biographer describes her as an antiquarian, architect and visionary. She was a landowner of Wreay, Cumberland (now Cumbria), where her prime work, St Mary's ...

Gallery

image:The Old School, Armathwaite - geograph.org.uk - 1158646.jpg, The Old School Hall, Armathwaite, now a village hall image:All Saints Church, Calthwaite, In the Parish of Hesket-in-the-Forest - geograph.org.uk - 187728.jpg, All Saints Church, Calthwaite image:School, High Hesket - geograph.org.uk - 993187.jpg, High Hesket Church of England Primary School image:Armathwaite Castle - geograph.org.uk - 2708747.jpg, Grade II* listed Armathwaite Castle, now a private residence image:Crook's Bridge - geograph.org.uk - 195875.jpg, Crook's Bridge, over the River Petteril image:Memorial to Plumpton Police Constable - geograph.org.uk - 172463.jpg, Byrnes Monument, Plumpton image:Armathwaite Station Building 05.07.2015.jpg, Waiting room on the southbound side at Armathwaite Station image:The_road_to_the_former_Plumpton_Station,_Hesket_Civil_Parish_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1168905.jpg, Cottages, Plumpton Village image:Railway bridge, Southwaite - geograph.org.uk - 187703.jpg, Railway Bridge, Southwaite image:Bull's Head Farmhouse, Plumpton.jpg, Bull's Head Farmhouse, Grade II listed building near Plumpton Foot. image:Armathwaite_Bridge_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1158659.jpg, Armathwaite Bridge, which spans the River Eden image:Cottages,_High_Hesket_-_geograph.org.uk_-_996744.jpg, Cottages, High Hesket Village image:Signpost, Armathwaite - geograph.org.uk - 946795.jpg, Traditional Cumberland signpost in Armathwaite village image:Hesket House.jpg, Hesket House, Grade II listed building in High Hesket village image:Plumpton Church. - geograph.org.uk - 146573.jpg, St John the Evangelist Church, Plumpton image:Drybeck Viaduct.jpg, Drybeck Viaduct, part of the Settle-Carlisle Railway image:Roman_remains_next_to_Castlesteads_farm_on_the_A6._-_geograph.org.uk_-_146575.jpg , Remains of Voreda, a Roman Fort at Castelsteads, Plumpton