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St Bega, Bassenthwaite, Cumberland

Location
(54°38′50″N, 3°12′3″W)
Bassenthwaite
NY 226 287
pre-1974 traditional (England and Wales) Cumberland
now Cumbria
medieval Carlisle
now Carlisle
  • James King
08 Aug 2015

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Feature Sets
Description

Extensive changes were made to the church in 1873, when it was given a more ‘Gothic’ appearance. The church now consists of a chancel, nave, S aisle, N porch and W bellcote. The earliest surviving feature is the chancel arch, with plain imposts and no other sculpture.

History

This part of the country was not covered by Domesday Book. Bassenthwaite was in the deanery of Allerdale in the Honour of Cockermouth. The church was sometimes called ‘Beghokirk’ and was given to to Jedburgh Priory/Abbey. Bassenthwaite, itself, was given to Gospatric by Alan, son of Waldeve/Waltheof lord of Allerdale. Adam III of Bassenthwaite, possibly a descendent of Gospatric, left two daughters as heirs about 1358. After this the manor was broken up into High and Low Bassenthwaite. The church is located in High/Upper Bassenthwaite.

In the Taxatio of 1191-2, the tax assessment for the church is given as £9. 0s. 0d.

Features

Interior Features

Arches

Chancel arch/Apse arches
Comments/Opinions

In the past, there has been confusion and debate about whether the church at Bassenthwaite was dedicated to St Bega or St Bridget during the medieval period. Nicolson and Burn stated that the church was dedicated to St Bridget and that Waltheof had given the church to the abbey of Jedburgh. A few years later, Hutchinson repeated the same. Whellan agreed that the church was dedicated to St Bridget, but said that the manor of Bassenthwaite had been given by Alan, 2nd lord of Allerdale, to his bastard brother Gospatric, though he agreed that it was Waltheof who had given the church to Jedburgh Abbey. The Chronicon Cumbriae states that Alan gave Bassenthwaite to Gospatric, his bastard brother. Although the Chronicon is not considered a reliable source, the same information is is stated in the late-13th-century Memorandum of the Descendants of Waldeve, son of Earl Gosptric, Lords of Allerdale. The priory of Jedburgh (later made an abbey) seems to have been founded about 1138, so presumably the gift of Bassenthwaite church is no earlier than this. In 1139, the first mention of a prior of Jedburgh is given in a charter, witnesses to which are both Alan son of Waltheof, Gospatric his brother, and Daniel prior of Jedburgh. The appearance of all three persons in Roxburgh at this time may be significant concerning the gift of the church at Bassenthwaite to the priory. Swift argued convincingly that the church at Bassenthwaite was always dedicated to St Bega.

Bibliography

F. Arnold-Forster, Studies in Church Dedications: or, England’s Patron Saints, 3, London 1899, 43 and 344.

J. Bain, ed., Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland, 2, Edinburgh, 1884, 16 no. 64.

T. Bulmer, History, Topography, and Directory of Cumberland, Preston, 1901, 333-34.

W. Collingwood, ‘Thirteenth-century Keswick’, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, 2nd Series: 21 (1921), 164-65.

J. Cox, County Churches: Cumberland and Westmorland, London, 1913, 44-45.

T. Graham, ‘The Honour of Cockermouth’, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, 2nd Series: 29 (1929), 69-79.

T. Graham, ‘Allerdale’, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, 2nd Series: 32 (1932), 28-37.

J. Hunter, ed., Fines, sive Pedes Finium: sive Finales Concordiae in Curia Domini Regis, AB Anno Septimo Regni Regis Richard I. ad Annum Decimum Sextum Regis Johannis, A.D. 1195 - A.D. 1214, 2, London, 1844, 10.

W. Hutchinson, The History and Antiquities of Cumberland, 2, Carlisle, 1794, 234-38.

M. Hyde and N. Pevsner, The Buildings of England, Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness, New Haven and London, 2010, 146.

A. Lawrie, Early Scottish Charters prior to A.D. 1153, Glasgow, 1905, 121 no. CXXI, 285 fn., and 318 fn.

J. Morton, The Monastic Annals of Teviotdale or, the History and Antiquities of the Abbeys of Jedburgh, Kelso, Melros, and Dryburgh, Edinburgh, 1832, 52.

J. Nicolson and R. Burn, The History and Antiquities of the Counties of Westmorland and Cumberland, 2, London, 1777, 94.

J. Prescott, ed., The Register of the Priory of Wetherhal, London, 1897, 294 fn. 2, and 387.

The Surtees Society, The Register of the Priory of St. Bees, Durham, 1915, 493 and 531.

R. Swift, ‘The oldest parish register of Bassenthwaite’, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, 2nd Series: 66 (1966), 276-92.

Taxatio Ecclesiastica Angliae et Walliae Auctorite P. Nicholai IV. circa A.D. 1291, London 1802.

E. Venables, ‘The Dedications of the Parochial Churches and Chapels of the Modern Diocese of Carlisle’, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, 1st Series: 7 (1884), 123, 140 and 147.

W. Whellan, The History and Topography of the Counties of Cumberland and Westmoreland, Pontefract, 1860, 283-84.

J. Wilson, ed., The Victoria History of the County of Cumberland, 2, London, 1905, 15, 121 and 136.