Askham Parish, Westmorland, 1848

ASKHAM (St. Peter), a parish, in West ward and union, county of Westmorland, 4¾ miles (S) from Penrith; containing 635 inhabitants. It comprises 4,264 acres, of which 2,049 are tithable, 2,150 wood and common, and 65 tithe-free; the surface is partly undulated and partly hilly, and the soil rests principally on limestone and peat. The river Lowther bounds the parish on the east, and the Dale beck on the south. The living is a discharged vicarage, endowed with a portion of the rectorial tithes, and valued in the king's books at £6; net income, £156; patron, and impropriator of the remainder of the great tithes, the Earl of Lonsdale. The tithes have been commuted for £238.17., of which £114. 5. are payable to the impropriator, and £124.12. to the vicar: the glebe comprises 56 acres. A school was endowed in 1813, with subscriptions amounting to £420, part of which has been vested in the purchase of land.