Wreay

Chapelry and township in St Mary’s parish (Carlisle), Cumberland ward, Cumberland. Absorbed into St Cuthbert Without CP 1934.

Acreage:

1,110 acres [449 ha], including c. 490 acres [c.200 ha] of common land, enclosed 1778.

Population:

rising from 118 in 1801 to peak of 181 in 1881, then falling back to 131 by 1931 (last census year for which separate figure available).

Landownership:

manorial rights held by Carlisle Priory, passing to Dean and Chapter of Carlisle at Reformation. Losh family of Woodside, Brisco, held much of land in chapelry from later 18th century until 1904.

Economy:

predominantly agricultural; tile works (to west of Ravenside) mid-19th century.

Places of worship:

chapel of ease recorded 1319; it or successor chapel consecrated 1739. Replaced by St Mary’s church, a highly original creation built by Sarah Losh in memory of her sister 1841–42. Cemetery chapel built c.1835.

Schools and other institutions:

reader in chapel served as schoolmaster, maintained by chapel endowment, in later 17th century. School built 1751 and endowed by John Brown of Woodside 1763; replaced by new school nearby, built and further endowed by Losh family 1830; now Wreay CE Primary School. Girls’ school built c.1840 by Losh family. Working men’s reading room established 1856. Parochial library adjoining school, erected 1874. Village hall, near Chapel Hill, built c.1956.