Crosby Garrett One-Place Study

Crosby Garrett is a parish in the Upper Eden Valley in modern-day Cumbria. The largest settlement is the small village of the same name. The parish itself is large and rural, like many in this part of the world, mostly consisting of farmland and fell to the south-west of the village.

St Andrew’s Church sits atop a hill overlooking the village. Parts date to Saxon times though most of the present building dates from the twelfth century onwards. Parish Registers and probate material exist from the late sixteenth centuries with good runs of manorial documents and other material from the seventeenth century onwards. Crosby parish has been home to a nonconformist population since the seventeenth century. The population has always been small with the exception of the period around 1870-1 when the Settle-Carlisle railway line was built to the south-west of the village and the parish became home to many navvies and their families. The viaduct which carries the line over the village is today one of it’s most prominent features. In recent times the parish has become notable for a Roman Cavalry helmet found by metal detectorists in 2010.

This study of Crosby Garrett is an opportunity for focused research on a Westmorland parish which in itself promises to unearth interesting stories but also contribute to our local history knowledge of the county.