Brigham Parish, 1848

BRIGHAM (St. Bridget), a parish, comprising the borough and market-town of Cockermouth, and the townships of Blindbothel, Brigham, Buttermere, Eaglesfield, Embleton, Gray-Southan, Mosser, Setmurthy, and Whinfell, in the union of Cockermouth, Allerdale ward above Derwent, W. division of Cumberland; the whole containing 7,397 inhabitants, of whom 490 are in the township of Brigham, 2 miles (W.) from Cockermouth. This parish is situated among the lakes Bassenthwaite, Buttermere, Crummock, and Loweswater, which, with the rivers Derwent and Maron, form its boundaries; and is intersected by the Cocker, which falls into the Derwent at Cockermouth. The surface is hilly, but since the inclosure of the waste land, the high grounds have been chiefly brought into cultivation: there are quarries of limestone, freestone, and blue slate, and a mine of coal has been opened. The village, which contains some respectable dwellinghouses, is built upon an eminence on the south bank of the Derwent, commanding a richly diversified prospect. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £20. 16. 0½ net income, £190; patrons and impropriators, the family of Lowther, to whom, in 1813, land was assigned in lieu of all tithes for the township of Brigham. The church, situated at the distance of half a mile from the village, has a handsome window of five lights in the decorated style, at the east end of the south aisle; a curious circular window of the same date; and a monumental arch richly canopied. A chapel of ease was erected by the Rev. Dr. Thomas, in 1840; and there are separate incumbencies at Buttermere, Cockermouth, Embleton, Lorton, Mosser, Setmurthy, and Wythrop. The dissenters have several places of worship.