Orton Parish, Carlisle, 1848

ORTON, a parish, in the union of Carlisle, ward and E. division of Cumberland; containing, with the township of Baldwinholme, 482 inhabitants, of whom 204 are in the township of Orton, 5½ miles (W. by S.) from Carlisle. This place was anciently of greater importance than it is at present, and many Roman remains have been discovered in the neighbourhood. The whole parish was formerly encompassed by a rampart and ditch; and at the extremity of each of two lanes running northward and eastward from the village, is an intrenchment for the defence of the road, across which an iron chain was fixed, to guard against sudden attacks from the moss-troopers during the border warfare. Coal is found. A market once held has long been disused. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £9; net income, £370; patron, Sir Wastell Brisco, Bart. Near the church is a school, endowed in 1785, by Thomas Pattinson, with the interest of £100. William Nicholson, a learned divine and antiquary, was born here in 1655.