Crook

Township in Kendal parish, Kendal ward, Westmorland. CP enlarged by addition of parts of several adjacent CPs 1935.

Acreage:

2,119 acres [858 ha] before boundary changes. Commons enclosed 1823.

Population:

rising from 179 in 1801 to peak of 279 in 1871 and 1881, then falling back to 230 by 1931 (last census year before boundary changes). Population of enlarged CP stood at 340 in 2001.

Landownership:

part of both Marquis and Lumley fees of barony of Kendal (q.v.). Crook Hall (formerly Thwatterden Hall) owned in mid-16th century by Myles Philipson and was in Philipson family for several generations.

Economy:

largely agricultural; woollen worsted manufacture and bobbin turning at Crook Mill by 1830, and machine works at Birks Mill in 19th century.

Places of worship:

medieval chapel of ease (14th-century bell); surviving tower of old church, dedicated to St Catherine, thought to date from 1620. Rebuilt on new site 1887. Quaker meeting house built 1711; demolished 1841, but burial ground remained. Independent (Congregational) chapel built 1866; closed 1966.

Schools and other institutions:

schoolhouse built 1795; rebuilt near Howes 1852; superseded by new school in centre of township 1873; closed 1984. Training colony for farm work (for epileptic boys) at Browhead (see Crosthwaite & Lyth). Village hall (Crook Memorial Hall) built 1926-7.