Waverton is a

linear village In mathematics, the term ''linear'' is used in two distinct senses for two different properties: * linearity of a '' function'' (or '' mapping''); * linearity of a ''polynomial''. An example of a linear function is the function defined by f(x)= ...

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. Waverton lies on the main

A596 road The A596 is a primary route in Cumbria, in northern England, that runs between Thursby ( north-east of Wigton) and Workington. For its entirety the A596 parallels the A595, and meets the A595 at both ends. The A596 begins its course at a ro ...

east of a bridge over the River Waver, 2.2 miles south west from Wigton and 14.2 miles from the nearest city,

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 ...

. The river is the reason for Waverton's name as well as it coming from the old English word tuǹ, this meaning "An enclosure; a farmstead; a village; an estate".

Population

There were no major changes in the population of Waverton in the nineteenth century, when population first began to be collected in the Census. The population was slowly increasing each year, but only by a maximum of 30 people a year up till 1871. After 1871 the Census records show that there was a decrease in the population. This fluctuation was repeated as from 1910 there was a sharp increase, however this was followed by another population depletion just after the 1920. The population of Waverton began steadily increasing even through

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and the continued increase in population could be explained by the baby boom in 1950 which impacted the population all over the UK. As recorded in the 2001 Census, Waverton's population was 326, with 173 females and 153 males. reducing at the 2011 Census to a population of 306, with 151 females and 155 males.

History

Waverton was originally a township in the Parish of Wigton; however it became a civil Parish soon after 1866. Its history is mainly focused around the agriculture industry and the Christ Church, located in what was previously known as the township. Waverton's Church was built in 1865 and completed on 6 May. It was built in a Victorian Perpendicular High Church style as a chapel-of-ease.http://www.achurchnearyou.com/waverton-christ-church/ A description by the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

, retrieved 24 April 2012 The Christ Church had the ability to accommodate 150 people, and was home to two

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

windows. The window on the east of the building had in the centre the figure of Jesus, as well as St. Peter and St. Paul by his sides. The window on the west was circular, holding seven circular lights. Christ Church became the parish church for the newly formed Waverton-cum-Dundraw parish in 1902. St Patrick evangelised near the crossroads before moving on to

Aspatria Aspatria is a town and civil parish in Cumberland, Cumbria, England. The town rests on the north side of the Ellen Valley, overlooking a panoramic view of the countryside, with Skiddaw to the South and the Solway Firth to the North. Its dev ...

. The church housed fittings from the former Dundraw Mission Church (which stopped being as a place of worship in 1965) including its altar, which was carved by the

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

of the day, and a

baptismal font A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...

. A new war memorial (also from Dundraw) was installed in 2007. The Christ Church was described as a "modest village church". It ran weekly regular services, with other events in between such as book sales, pancake day and bank holidays services being a few of them. There was also the Harvest Festival and Plough Sunday had been created to celebrate the mainly agricultural community environment. The church stopped being a place of worship in the early 2020’s, was sold in 2023 and is currently being converted into a private dwelling.

Industry

The 1801 Census showed Waverton as divided into two main forms of employment: *Agriculture *Trade Manufacturing or Hand Craft Throughout the 1800s it was clear that Waverton's industry was mainly dominated by agriculture. In the 1881 Census it was estimated that over 90% of all males had an occupation in agriculture, with the second largest occupation being dealers in various mineral substances.http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/data_cube_page.jsp?data_theme=T_IND&data_cube=N_OCC_ORDER1881&u_id=10218100&c_id=10001043&add=Y Vision of Britain, Chart and Table view Retrieved 29 February 2012 The majority of women, on the other hand, in the 1881 Census were shown not to have a specific occupation, mainly staying at home to look after their children and carry out domestic activities. However a small percentage were employed in domestic services or offices.

Climate

The nearest weather station to is Carlislehttp://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/networks/ Region 4, Retrieved 28 April 2012 which is 14.2 miles north-east from Waverton. The warmest months on average in Waverton are July and August with the highest temperatures being at an average of 19 degrees.

References

External links