Murton is a small 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
in
Westmorland and Furness
Westmorland and Furness is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Cumbria, England. The economy is mainly focused on tourism around both the Lake District and Cumbria Coast, shipbuilding and the Royal Port of Barrow, Royal ...
,
Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...
, England. The parish had a population of 330 in 2001, rising to 360 at the 2011 Census.
Settlements within the parish include the villages of
Hilton,
Langton,
Brackenber and various small farms, houses and cottages. The town of
Appleby-in-Westmorland
Appleby-in-Westmorland is a market town and civil parish in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England, with a population of 3,048 at the 2011 Census. Crossed by the River Eden, Appleby is the county town of the historic county of Westmorland. ...
is to the south-west.
Geography
Murton is located 200 metres west of the foot of Murton Pike. The village covers an area roughly measuring 6.88ha. A small stream known as Murton Beck runs through the village and down Murton Gill (a small woodland on the west side of the village). The stream continues west through
Flakebridge wood before joining up with
Keisley Beck. A kilometre south of Murton lies
Hilton village and the streams of Hilton Beck and Stannerstones Sike. 1.6 km to the east is
Brackenber, which lies west of George Gill and Lycum Sike.
Murton Pike, to the west of Murton village, is high and a
triangulation point, it is a south-westerly outlier of
Murton Fell, which rises to over at two points. Parts of Murton Fell lie within the
British Army
The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
’s
Warcop Training Area
The Warcop Training Area (WTA) is a UK Ministry of Defence military training area near the village of Warcop in Cumbria. Part of the Defence Training Estate, the area consists of approximately of MoD freehold land.[< ...]
.
[Walking in the North Pennines , Paddy Dillon , 1991 , "Warcop Range Section" , pp.71–8]
google books preview
/ref> South of Murton Pike lies Mickle Fell
Mickle Fell is a mountain in the Pennines, the range of hills and moors running down the middle of Northern England. It has a maximum elevation of . It lies slightly off the main watershed of the Pennines, about south of Cross Fell. After Cr ...
and Roman Fell, both of which are also part of the Warcop Training Area.
History
The settlement of Murton is hundreds of years old, dating from at least the 1300s. Joan Blaeu
Joan Blaeu (; 23 September 1596 – 21 December 1673), also called Johannes Blaeu, was a Dutch cartographer and the official cartographer of the Dutch East India Company. Blaeu is most notable for his map published in 1648, which was the fir ...
’s 1646 map, "Westmorlandia Comitatvs Anglice Westmorland" mentions a village by the name of "Morton" in the present area of Murton, a "Morton Pike" is also marked on the map. Christopher Saxton
Christopher Saxton (c. 1540 – c. 1610) was an English cartographer who produced the first county maps of England and Wales.
Life and family
Saxton was probably born in Sowood, Ossett in the parish of Dewsbury, in the West Riding of Yorkshire ...
’s 1579 map marks "Morton" as well as a village known as "Helton" (probably referring to Hilton) and "Lanton". Murton Hall (marked as "Morton Hall" on past maps) is a grade II listed 14th century building located in the heart of Murton, it is believed that Murton Hall was one of if not the first settlement or building in Murton.
See also
* Listed buildings in Murton, Cumbria
References
External links
Cumbria County History Trust: Murton
(nb: provisional research only – see Talk page)
''www.visitcumbria.com''
Villages in Cumbria
Civil parishes in Cumbria
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