Sources


L&DFLHS 'Digital Archive of Historical Sources' now available

In February 2023 the Society made available the first issue of its Digital Archive of Historical Sources, DAHS. In May 2023 issue two was released, now including a large collection of manorial records.

This is a large collection of copies, mainly photographs, of primary historical sources which have been collected during the thirty years of the Society. See an introduction here, and the content of Issue 2 here. It is available to Society Members to borrow on a memory stick/flash drive, under an agreement which is intended, essentially, to prevent the publication of the images themselves unless complying with the rights of those holding the original material. It is also available to others in the UK for bona-fide projects involving the local history of our area, at the discretion of the Editor. There is no charge for use.

The DAHS contains basic notes on the content and use of the records, and a geographical finder is included to simplify the task of identifying the records relevant to a particular project. The content will grow with subsequent issues, but the content is by no means comprehensive. It will assist researchers in starting a project and making progress from home, but will often need to be followed up with searches of the local record offices and possible The National Archives to provide more specialised sources.

For further information please contact the Editor, Derek Denman.
email the society

L&DFLHS 'New Domesday' records

In 2020 the Society created a digital resource containing the records for our area of the land valuation survey undertaken during 1909-15. This resource of images held at Cumbria Archive Centre, Carlisle, and The National Archives, is not an online resource, but images for particular properties can be requested and sent by email. These records are also contained in the Digital Archive of Historical Sources, above.

The content and how to access is give on this page. The complete records are included the Digital Archive of Historical Sources, above.

L&DFLHS on-line sources

Memorial Inscriptions.

The Society is transcribing the Memorial Inscriptions for the burial grounds within its area. Below you may download the Lorton and Loweswater MIs for personal research only:

Loweswater Memoral Inscriptions. (PDF)
(To view : Left click on the PDF icon - To Download : Right Click and Select "Save As", "Save Linked File As", ...)

The plan of the Churchyard can be viewed here.

Lorton Memorial Inscriptions. (PDF)
(To view : Left click on the PDF icon - To Download : Right Click and Select "Save As", "Save Linked File As", ...)

The plan of the Churchyard can be viewed here.

Will of Richard Robynson, clerk, 1549

Richard Robynson was Chaplain of Loweswater in 1508 and lord of the manor from 1545. See Journal 60 for further information.

Will of Richard Robynson, clerk, 1549. (PDF)

A Plan of Lorton Hall Estate, 1803

This plan was commissioned by the owner, Joshua Lucock, who purchased the Lorton Hall in 1800 and resided there as Squire of Lorton, He died in 1809. See Journal 59 for an article on the history of Lorton Hall.

LortonHallEstatePlan1803 (PDF)

Booklets on local churches

Buttermere Church Booklet, Pedder, 1945

ButtermereChurchPedder1945 (PDF)

Embleton Church Booklet, Hartland, 1987

EmbletonChurchHartland1987 (PDF)

Lorton Church Booklet, Farrer, 1946

LortonChurchFarrer1946 (PDF)

Lorton Church Booklet, George, 1995

LortonChurchGeorge1995 (PDF)

Loweswater Church Booklet, Rowland, 1929

LoweswaterChurchRowland1929 (PDF)

Loweswater Church Booklet, Ames

LoweswaterChurchAmes (PDF)


Our Victoria County History (vch) sources


While contributing our Jubilee Digests for this project, the Society collected a good deal of information arranged by VCH place, generally civil parishes, and VCH topic. This includes detailed boundaries, and can be viewed here.


John Bolton's lecture - 1891


In 1891 John Bolton gave a lecture on Lorton and Loweswater 80 years ago, focussed on 1811. This was based on the recollections of his grandmother-in-law. His lecture gave detail about the buildings and people of Lorton, Loweswater and Brackenthwaite at that time and since. You can read/download his lecture here and his research notes and transcription of the Loweswater 1597 judgment here. John Bolton was master at Lorton School from 1877-1882. You can read an article about his life in the August 2018 Wanderer here.


General guides to Organisations


A general guide to county-wide organisations is being developed by Cumbria Local History Federation website. Follow this link:

An icon link to the Cumbria Local History Federation website - guide.


Links to Sources


We are now using the links to sources and recources for local history, provided by Cumbria Local History Federation website. Follow this link:

An icon link to the Cumbria Local History Federation website - guide.

A picture of Crummock and Buttermere by William Green
Crummock and Buttermere by William Green