Beaumont (pronounced locally as bee-mont) 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

district of

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 village lies four miles north-west of Carlisle on the banks of the River Eden. In 2011 the parish had a population of 488.

Description

The civil parish of Beaumont includes the surrounding villages of

Kirkandrews-on-Eden Kirkandrews-on-Eden or Kirkandrews-upon-Eden, in the past known as Kirkanders, is a village and former civil parish, now in the civil parish of Beaumont, in the Cumberland unitary authority area of Cumbria, England. The village is 4 miles nort ...

, Grinsdale and Monkhill. The parish is bordered by the River Eden to the north and east, and by the parishes of

Burgh by Sands Burgh by Sands () is a village and civil parish in the Cumberland unitary authority area of Cumbria, England, situated near the Solway Firth. The parish includes the village of Burgh by Sands along with Longburgh, Dykesfield, Boustead Hill, Moor ...

to the west and Orton to the south. The village has very limited facilities; although it has a pub: The Drover's Rest. There is no school, post office or shop.

History

Beaumont's name, as suggested by the French translation 'beautiful mount', comes from its high setting. The manor was anciently held by the Brun family, Lords of Bowness, who were patrons also of the

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

. Before the year 1380 it became the property of the Dacres, and was annexed to the Barony of Burgh, belonging to the

Earl of Lonsdale Earl of Lonsdale is a title that has been created twice in British history, firstly in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1784 (becoming extinct in 1802), and then in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1807, both times for members of the Lowth ...

. The church is in the diocese and deanery of

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

. This small rectory was augmented by

Queen Anne's Bounty Queen Anne's Bounty was a scheme established in 1704 to augment the incomes of the poorer clergy of the Church of England and by extension the organisation ("The Governors of the Bounty of Queen Anne for the Augmentation of the Maintenance of the ...

in 1772. The Carlisle canal ran through the parish, admitting sixty tonne vessels. In 1961 there were 128 houses in Beaumont. The current average property value is £218,568, compared to an average property value of £218,108 for CA5; This figure is just slightly above the current UK average. FRom 1974 to 2023 it was in

non-metropolitan district.

St Mary's Church

St Mary's is an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

built by the

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...

in 1296 on the site of a turret on

Hadrian's Wall Hadrian's Wall (, also known as the ''Roman Wall'', Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Aelium'' in Latin) is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Roman Britain, Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. Ru ...

. Visible from the church are the

Solway Firth The Solway Firth is an inlet on the west coast of Great Britain, forming part of the border between England and Scotland. The firth (a Scottish term for an inlet of the sea) divides Cumbria (including the Solway Plain) from Dumfries and Gallow ...

and

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

to the north; the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...

and the

Pennines The Pennines (), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of highland, uplands mainly located in Northern England. Commonly described as the "Vertebral column, backbone of England" because of its length and position, the ra ...

to the east. The building is constructed from squared and coursed

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

from the nearby wall, the line of which runs directly beneath the church, with a graduated roof made from greenslate, coped

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

s and a cross

finial A finial () or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a dome, spire, tower, roo ...

. Little remains of the original church although the single chamber interior is still mostly of the earlier period, notably the south doorway and three east windows, but the church underwent restorations in 1784, 1872 and 1888. The single chamber is still mostly of the earlier period, notably the south doorway and three east windows. The windows, porch and vestry are 19th-century restorations, and the king post open timber roof dates from the 15th century. Hadrian's Wall Path passes the church, on its way from

to Bowness-on-Solway (via Grinsdale and

Burgh-by-Sands Burgh by Sands () is a village and civil parish in the Cumberland unitary authority area of Cumbria, England, situated near the Solway Firth. The parish includes the village of Burgh by Sands along with Longburgh, Dykesfield, Boustead Hill, ...

). The church became a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

on 1 May 1957. Features of the church include two medieval grave slabs discovered during a series of Victorian restorations, built into the west wall behind the font. To celebrate the church's 700th anniversary in 1996,

kneeler A kneeler is a cushion (also called a tuffet, hassock, genuflexorium, or genuflectorium) or a piece of furniture used for resting in a kneeling position during Christian prayer. In many churches, pews are equipped with kneelers in front ...

s were made to commemorate Rectors in each century; Sir Elias de Thirwall was the first, his tenure starting in 1296. The church maintains two traditions at

wedding A wedding is a ceremony in which two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnicity, ethnicities, Race (human categorization), races, religions, Religious denomination, denominations, Cou ...

s. The

groom A bridegroom (often shortened to groom) is a man who is about to be married or who is newlywed. When marrying, the bridegroom's future spouse is usually referred to as the bride. A bridegroom is typically attended by a best man and Groomsman, ...

cuts a string tying the church gates shut, bestowing good luck to the couple; and a piece of rope is stretched across the road where wedding cars can pass only if they give money to the children.

Heritage

There are 7

s and 3 scheduled ancient monuments in Beaumont as well as it lying within a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

. Grade II *Beaumont House *Hillcrest *Eden Bank Farmhouse *Churchyard wall south of Church of St Mary *Orchard House *Myrtle Cottage Grade II* *Church of St Mary Scheduled Monument *Beaumont motte castle and section of

in wall mile 70 including turret 70a *Hadrian's Wall between the field boundary to the south of the site of St Andrew's Church and Eden Bank at Beaumont in wall miles 69 and 70 *

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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

fort, Beaumont camp, Burgh Castle and

from boundary west of churchyard, Beaumont to Burgh Head in wall miles 70 and 71 World Heritage Sites Buffer Zone * Frontiers of the Roman Empire (

)

References

External links