England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Witherslack St Paul

The Parish

The chapelry of Witherslack, it mother parish being Beetham, forms the southwestern tip of Westmorland and an extensive stretch of the county's border with Lancashire-over-the-Water (or Furness as it is often known). Witherslack is located roughly 10 miles southwest of the county town of Kendal and sits just over a mile north of the A590 road which links the M6 motorway with Ulverstone & Barrow-in-Furness. The chapelry is unusual in being a detached portion of Beetham parish, separated from its mother parish by the estuary of the River Kent. Witherslack is a dispersed settlement, there being no defined village as such merely a loose collection of hamlets such as Strickland Hill, Mill Side, Longhowe End & High Fell End whilst the chapelry's hall is some 2 1/2 miles to the north nowadays a school. The parish is a mixture of habitats and consequently styles of farming, the north is typical of southern Lakeland, rough rocky terrain the home of hardy Herdwick sheep, whilst the south, bordering Morecambe Bay has rich cattle pastures. Morecambe Bay was also noted for its rich fish & shell-fisheries which supplemented farming. Modern developments have come to the parish, the coastal strip being chosen as the route for the Lancaster to Barrow railway line with its iconic Kent Viaduct so photogenic.The parish is drained the short distance to Morecambe Bay by the River Winster to the west & the Kent to its east. Witherslack is sited, at the church, at around 50 metres above the sea land rises to 215 metres at Lord's Seat the summit of nearby Whitbarrow Scar, its naked limestone faces the source of the name. Roughly 4,700 acres of Beetham parish are assigned to Witherslack chapelry within that acreage it would have supported a population of roughly 500 parishioners. Witherslack is not mentioned in Domesday Book as this far to the north there was only a little and sporadic Norman influence.

The Church

St Paul's church sits on the western side of Church Road which parallels the course of the Winster whilst keeping its feet dry at the edges of the floodplain. St Paul comes from a most unusual date for church-building, the church being consecrated in 1671 during the reign of Charles II. The church is a rather stark and plain affair, the blank face of the western tower appearing almost brutalist in its stark simplicity. Nave and chancel are combined into a single and lengthy entity, the whole being roughcast. The window design is also strange they being tiny in the tower and placed towards the top whilst those in the nave and chancel are three-light with arch top. The nave and chancel windows were increased in height in work of 1768. For once Pevsner fails to mention a Victorian restoration so if one occurred it was light & sensitive. To the south of the churchyard a roughly surfaced triangular area allows parking for a few cars outside the local roughly hewn stone walling of the churchyard, once within the photographer has a relatively free hand only impeded by a bank of trees close to the western tower.