Orton 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

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 ...

district, in the ceremonial county 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. It lies south of Penrith, from

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. ...

and from 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 motorway, M1 and the western end of t ...

. The village is in the upper Lune Valley, at the foot of Orton Scar in the

Orton Fells The Orton Fells is an upland area in Northern England, mostly consisting of limestone hills, plateaus and moorlands. Historically in Westmorland, the area lies within the modern county of Cumbria and is bounded by the Lake District to the west, ...

. 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 ...

is nearby. The parish includes a wide area outside the village, and had a population of 594 in 2001, decreasing to 588 at the 2011 Census. Until 1974 it was in

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland''R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref>) is an area of North West England which was Historic counties of England, historically a county. People of the area ...

, from 1974 to 2023 it was in Eden district.

Orton village

Orton has many 17th and 18th-century cottages. Most of these traditional dwellings are stone-faced or whitewashed. Other features in the village are the 13th-century

All Saints Church All Saints Church, or All Saints' Church or variations on the name may refer to: Albania * All Saints' Church, Himarë Australia * All Saints Church, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory * All Saints Anglican Church, Brisbane, Queensland *All ...

, a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

chapel, a primary school, a

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

called the ''George Hotel'', and a small handmade-chocolate factory. In addition it has a Village Tearoom and several B&Bs. The shop-cum-post office is open ten hours a day. There are many local businesses around the village, such as builders and joiners. About 25 new houses were built in the early 1990s and Eden District Council was intending to build 50 more.Village site. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
/ref> Orton village has a

farmers market A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or ...

held on the second Saturday of each month in the village hall and market square, coupled with a live band and a hog roast. Orton was given a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

charter in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, but despite this remains a village, like other, similar villages in

so appointed such as Brough and

Shap Shap is a village and civil parish located among fells and isolated dales in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England. The village is in the historic county of Westmorland. The parish had a population of 1,221 in 2001, increasing slightly to ...

Orton parish

With a 30-mile perimeter, Orton is a large parish, extending some west of the

and east of the M6. It was historically in the county of

, and in 1974 became part of the Eden district in the new county of Cumbria. The parish includes the Tebay motorway service areas and a number of

hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. This is often simply an informal description of a smaller settlement or possibly a subdivision or satellite entity to a larger settlement. Sometimes a hamlet is defined f ...

, including: West of the M6 *Bretherdale *

Greenholme Greenholme is a Hamlet (place)#United Kingdom, hamlet in Cumbria, England. The Greenholme Gala and Agricultural Show is held there annually. Greenholme Bridge crosses the Birk Beck in the hamlet. This bridge appears upon a 1679 list of public b ...

Scout Green Scout Green is a hamlet and small area of farm land near the village of Tebay in Cumbria, England. History It is best known among railway enthusiasts as a location for trainspotting and photography on the West Coast Main Line between Penrit ...

*Salterwath East of the M6 *

Kelleth Kelleth is a hamlet in Cumbria, England, containing around a dozen houses and formerly a toy factory. It is approximately from Penrith. It is in the Lune Valley, is situated next to the River Lune and is at an altitude of . The oldest houses ...

Sunbiggin Sunbiggin is a hamlet in the civil parish of Orton, in the Westmorland and Furness district, in the ceremonial county of Cumbria, England. Location It is near the villages of Raisbeck and Orton. Transport For transport there is the M6 mo ...

Raisbeck Raisbeck is a hamlet in the civil parish of Orton, in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. The surname Raisbeck originates from the hamlet. The name of the hamlet derives from Hrridarr, a personal name and beck, a strea ...

(site of a sausage factory) *Bousfield *Longdale

Orton Fells

The

are limestone hills extending north and east of the village of Orton. They include large areas of

limestone pavement A limestone pavement is a natural karst landform consisting of a flat, incised surface of exposed limestone that resembles an artificial Sidewalk, pavement. The term is mainly used in the UK and Ireland, where many of these landforms have devel ...

, formed into fissures by the abrasive action of glaciers.

Orton Scar

Orton Scar is an area of limestone pavement at the southern edge of the Orton Fells, a mile north of the village. From its summit you can see

Blackpool Tower Blackpool Tower is a tourist attraction in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which was opened to the public on 14 May 1894. When it opened, Blackpool Tower was the tallest man-made structure in the British Empire. Inspired by the Eiffel Tower in P ...

on a clear day, the A66 over Stainmore, the Lake District, the

Howgill Fells The Howgill Fells are uplands in Northern England between the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales, lying roughly within a triangle formed by the town of Sedbergh and the villages of Ravenstonedale and Tebay.

and even down or up the Eden Valley to its source at

Mallerstang Mallerstang is a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the extreme east of Cumbria, and, geographically, a wikt:dale, dale at the head of the upper River Eden, Cumbria, Eden Valley. Originally part of Westmorland, it lies about south of t ...

. The road to Appleby (B6260) leads over Orton Scar. The surrounding moorland was used in the

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

version of

Anne Brontë Anne Brontë (, commonly ; 17 January 1820 – 28 May 1849) was an English novelist and poet, the youngest member of the Brontë literary family. Anne Brontë was the daughter of Maria ( Branwell) and Patrick Brontë, a poor Irish clergyman ...

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall ''The Tenant of Wildfell Hall'' is the second and final novel written by English author Anne Brontë. It was first published in 1848 under the pseudonym Acton Bell. Probably the most shocking of the Brontës' novels, it had an instant and phe ...

''. There are two becks that flow through the village, which join into a river for about 20 metres then split again, both leading to Bybeck Bridge at the parish boundary next to

Tebay Tebay is a village and civil parish in Cumbria, England, within the Historic counties of England, historic borders of Westmorland. It lies in the upper River Lune, Lune Valley, at the head of the Lune Gorge. The parish had a population of 728 ...

. Orton Scar Cafe serves meals in the daytime on Tuesdays to Saturdays.

Governance

Orton is part of the

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

called Orton with Tebay. This covers both parishes and their surrounding areas. The total population of the ward at the 2011 Census was 1,364. In 2016 part of the parish west of the M6 motorway became part of the

Lake District National Park 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 most of the parish east of the M6, including the village of Orton, became part of the

Yorkshire Dales National Park The Yorkshire Dales National Park is a national park in England which covers most of the Yorkshire Dales, the Howgill Fells, and the Orton Fells. The Nidderdale area of the Yorkshire Dales is not within the national park, and has instead ...

Notable people

* Thomas Barlow (1609–1691), academic and Anglican bishop * George Whitehead (1636–1724), a founder of the

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

movement

References

External links

Cumbria County History Trust: Orton
(nb: provisional research only – see Talk page) {{authority control Villages in Cumbria Westmorland Civil parishes in Cumbria Westmorland and Furness