Ousby, Thankful Village (Background: Ousby)

Ousby is the only ‘Thankful Village’ in Cumbria – having lost no-one to the First World War

With over 800,000 servicemen killed in the First World War, there was scarcely anywhere in Britain that did not lose one or more of its sons.  However, in the 1930s it was recognised that, of the tens of thousands of villages and towns in the country, just 32 had managed to emerge from the war with no losses. More recently, that number has been revised upwards to 53. These places came to be known as ‘Thankful Villages’:  of which just one was in Cumbria – Ousby, a small village with a population of under 400, located in the Eden Valley, Cumberland.
In fact, Ousby is a “Double Thankful Village”, in that none of those who went to fight in World War II lost their lives either. 

A plaque in the village church, St Luke's, commemorates this.

Text by Bill Shannon
Image of banner in St Luke’s church from  https://www.lakesguides.co.uk/html/lgaz/lk10931.htm

See also https://eastofedenmc.org.uk/st-luke-ousby/

For a full list of Thankful Villages, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thankful_Villages

To find out more about the history of Ousby click here https://www.cumbriacountyhistory.org.uk/township/ousby

For a full list of all interesting facts, click here
https://www.cumbriacountyhistory.org.uk/full-list-interesting-facts