Mansergh

Township in Kirkby Lonsdale parish, Lonsdale ward, Westmorland.

Acreage:

2,668 acres [1,080 ha], including 950 acres [384 ha] of common land, enclosed 1848.

Population:

rising from 134 in 1801 to 247 in 1871, then declining steadily to 95 in 1971; rising again to 141 in 2001.

Landownership:

Mansergh was hamlet of Barbon in medieval centuries; deemed a manor in its own right by 1587, when sold by Marmaduke Redmayne (whose family had held it from early 15th century) to Henry Brabyn. By 1650s was in hands of Henry Ward, who sold it to Thomas Godsalve (who had bought Rigmaden 1661) before 1664. Descended in Godsalve family to Margaret (d. 1781), wife of Thomas Mawdesley of Mawdesley. Sold to John Satterthwaite 1781, whose trustees sold it to Christopher Wilson of Abbot Hall, Kendal, 1825 (who rebuilt Rigmaden Park 1825-8); descended in Wilson family to present.

Economy:

largely agricultural; small-scale quarrying 19th century. Races held annually in early/mid-19th century (memory preserved in name Racecourse Allotment).

Places of worship:

chapel of ease, dedicated to St Peter, built 1726 by Jacob Dawson on his property at Nether Hall; rebuilt 1879-80.

Schools and other institutions:

schoolmaster recorded 1646. School near chapel built and endowed by Christopher Wilson of Rigmaden 1839; closed 1946; building later used as parish hall.