Clifton Parish (Westmorland), 1848

CLIFTON (St. Cuthbert), a parish, in West ward and union, county of Westmorland, 2½ miles (S.E. by S.) from Penrith; containing 288 inhabitants. It derives its name from the situation of the village on a rocky eminence in the vale of the river Lowther, by which the parish is bounded on the north and west. At Clifton Moor, now inclosed, a slight skirmish occurred between the Duke of Cumberland's dragoons and the rear-guard of the Pretender's army on its retreat to Scotland. The parish comprises 1,676a. 2r. 39p., of which about 35 acres are woodland; the soil is various, in some parts a dark brown mould on a substratum of gravel, in others a strong red soil resting on clay, and in some parts light and sandy. There is a station of the Lancaster and Carlisle railway, called the Clifton-Moor station. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £8. 3. 4.; net income, £150; patron, the Bishop of Carlisle. The tithes were commuted for land in 1811. The church is a small ancient structure, with a low tower. When excavating for the railway, a Roman altar, in a high state of preservation, was dug up. There is a medicinal spring, the water of which is efficacious in the cure of scorbutic complaints.