The Land of the Lune - Drakkar Press

100 Chapter 6: Middleton Fell
The Lune from Stockdale Beck ...
On a hill south of the Church of Holy Ghost (that’s
what its sign says) stands a column nearly 2m
high carved with the letters M P LIII. This is a Roman
milestone indicating that this point is 53 Roman miles
from, it is presumed, Carlisle. This provokes speculation.
Was this apparently unremarkable point special in some
way? Did it mark a junction in the Roman highways?
Or were there perhaps 52 other milestones, now all lost,
between here and Carlisle?
Also carved on the column (in Latin) are the words
“Restored from the soil by Giles Moore 1836”, which
seems a clear admission to an act of vandalism, for
the said Giles Moore obviously knew the significance
of what he had found. For some reason, he re-erected
the column 200m east of where he found it, where the
Roman road is thought to have run.
After a long meander the Lune is joined beyond
Treasonfield by Black Beck, which is the product of
many becks that hurry off the western slopes of Castle
Knott before crossing the quietest High Road in the
country and then flowing gently over green pastures
to the Lune. Ashdale Gill is the largest of these becks,
running in a deep gully past the Three Little Boys, which
are upright slabs about 1m high.
There are remains of an ancient homestead near
Borwens, with roughly circular ramparts 30m in
diameter. Borwens itself has an interesting old barn,
ornately dated 1718. These datestones, usually placed
above main entrances, were fashionable when stone
buildings began to replace impermanent dwellings in
the 17th and 18th centuries. Apart from the date, there is
usually a triangle of letters: husband and wife initials
below and family name initial above.
Meanwhile, on the anonymous but rich, green
slopes above the west bank are two of Loyne’s rural
estates, Rigmaden and Mansergh. The architect George
Webster of Kendal built Rigmaden Park in the 1820s for
Christopher Wilson, a banker of that town. Wilson was
known as a breeder of turf ponies, which are derived
from fell ponies and intended for racing. His grandson,
Christopher Wyndham Wilson, continued the tradition so
successfully that the breed became known as the Wilson
Pony (it is now called the Hackney Pony and considered
the world’s best harness pony). He was also High Sheriff
of Westmorland and a noted wrestler, which sounds a
useful combination.
The Roman milestone near Hawking Hall
Above Rigmaden Park is Kitmere, a reservoir for
Rigmaden Farm. The lake and its boathouse are difficult
to see for they are shrouded by hundreds of thick, high
rhododendrons. These led to an interesting test case. At
first, the Kitmere region was mapped as CRoW land but,
after appeal, it was agreed that the rhododendrons meant
that the land did not meet the legal definition of ‘moor’.
As is their custom, the rhododendrons are spreading
over the surrounding land so perhaps it too will need to
be excluded soon.
Directly below Rigmaden Park is the relatively
new, metal Rigmaden Bridge. This is a favourite put-in
spot for canoeists, who can paddle 10km downstream,
round sweeping bends, by shingle islands and beaches,
and over relatively gentle rapids to Kirkby Lonsdale.
Before attempting this, you should read the long list
of conditions helpfully displayed at the bridge by the
This is Chapter 6 of The Land of the Lune (2nd edition), http://www.drakkar.co.uk/landofthelune.html, Copyright © 2010 John Self