Culgaith

The name Culgaith is first attested in the twelfth century, as Culgait.{{Cite book |last=Mills |first=Anthony David |title=A dictionary of British place-names |date=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-960908-6 |edition=1st ed. rev |series=Oxford paperback reference |location=Oxford New York}}, (p. 142). "This name is of most likely Brythonic origin. It is formed from an Old Celtic base *cūl, which has developed into Welsh 'cil', 'corner, retreat,' and British *koid, Welsh coed, 'wood'. The Old English form of the name would have been Cȳlcēt."{{Cite book|last1=Armstrong|first1=A. M.|last2=Mawer|first2=A.|last3=Stenton|first3=F. M.|last4=Dickens|first4=B.|title=The place-names of Cumberland|volume=Part 1|series=English Place-Name Society, vol.xx|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1950–52|page=185}}Cf. {{Cite book |last=Coates |first=Richard |title=Celtic Voices, English Places: Studies of the Celtic Impact on Place-Names in Britain |last2=Breeze |first2=Andrew |publisher=Tyas |year=2000 |isbn=1900289415 |location=Stamford}}.{{rp|283}} The first element might also be *cǖl, 'narrow', which would give Culgaith the same etymology as Culcheth.{{cite web|title=The Brittonic Language in the Old North|url=http://spns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Alan_James_Brittonic_Language_in_the_Old_North_BLITON_Volume_II_Dictionary.pdf|access-date=24 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170813011121/http://spns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Alan_James_Brittonic_Language_in_the_Old_North_BLITON_Volume_II_Dictionary.pdf|archive-date=13 August 2017|url-status=dead}}

Culgaith is less likely to be derived from Gaelic *{{lang|ga|cid gaoit}} or {{lang|ga|*cil gaoit}}, meaning 'at the back of the wind' and 'windy nook', respectively.{{cite book|last1=James B.|first1=Johnston|title=The Place-Names of England and Wales|page=225}}

The B6412 road links Culgaith to the A66 road to the south and the village of Langwathby to the north west. The town of Penrith is {{Convert|6|mi|km}} to the west.Bing Maps straight line distance File:All Saints Church, Culgaith, Cumbria, UK - from the west.jpg

File:Culgaith Crossing - geograph.org.uk - 242387.jpgThe village probably took its name from Henry de Culgaith, Clerk, who received a grant of lands in Carlisle, the local see, in vico Francorum. In circa 1296, his widow Alice de Culgaith quitclaimed the dower held of Holm Abbey which included her late husband's fee farm for rents.Bishop of Carlisle, Register

There was originally a chapel of Latin Christendom, attached to a mother church at Kirkland.Daniel Lysons and Samuel Lysons, 'General history: Civil and ecclesiastical divisions', in Magna Britannia: Volume 4, Cumberland (London, 1816), pp. xxviii-xxxi. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/magna-britannia/vol4/xxviii-xxxi.T.Cadell & W.Davies (eds.), Magna Britannia, vol.IV, Cumberland (London, 1816) However, at the time, the Lord of the Manor in Moieties of Land was Sir Michael de Hercla, later Earl of Carlisle. He fought alongside King Edward I in the Scottish wars of independence, and was present at the siege of Caerlaverock Castle in 1300. The Earl fell foul of the King, and was attained and sent to the dungeon at Carlisle. The Manor was alienated to Sir Hugh Monceby, a brave knight.

Lady Knyvett inherited the estates of the Morricebys and Pickerings at Culgaith. Sir Michael's son and heir Andrew de Hercla further angered the new King Edward II, who ordered his execution at Carlisle in 1327, supposedly the year of his own demise.the fate of this family is told in the Chronicle of Lanercost Abbey. Nonetheless, the wood, Kirklandres, at Culgaith Manor, was conveyed to the monks at York. During the Wars of the Roses, the Manor was transferred to the Priory of Carlisle, with the church and chapel of ease.C139/112/61; Cumberland and Westmorland. Antiquarian and Archaeological Society n.s. xxxiii. 53; Calendar of Pipe Rolls, 1429-36, p. 116.

A grammar school was founded at the heart of the village opposite the parish church, for the parishes of Culgaith and Blencarn. Land at Culgaith was used to found the Barton Grammar School. Before his death in 1443 he conveyed the manor to Hugh Salkeld.C139/112/61; Cumberland and Westmoreland. Antique and Archaeological Society n.s. xxxiii. 53; Calendar Pipe Rolls, 1429-36, p. 116. By the census of 1811, the population of the area was grouped within the parish with the townships of Kirkland, Blencarn, and Skirwith.

There were 141 houses and 608 inhabitants in the chapelry, under the superior township of Skirwith. The population did not grow significantly until the 1960s. During the previous hundred years, Culgaith increased by only four people. During the industrial revolution the parish was distinctly agricultural, of which 3,052 acres were arable, 4625 were grazing pasture, and unbelievably, only 16 acres were woods in the whole of Kirk to Linton.'Kirkdale - Kirk-Linton', in A Topographical Dictionary of England, ed. Samuel Lewis (London, 1848), pp. 697-701. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/england/pp697-701.

Culgaith railway station opened in 1880 and permanently closed in May 1970.

• Canadian politician Matthew Kendal Richardson was born in Culgaith.{{Cite web |url=http://www2.parl.gc.ca/parlinfo/Files/Parliamentarian.aspx?Item=ed5a57c6-1df6-41f7-a7f9-40fe934f3d28&Language=E&Section=FederalExperience |title=PARLINFO - Parliamentarian File - Federal Experience - RICHARDSON, Matthew Kendal |access-date=4 January 2011 |archive-date=9 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509130024/http://www.parl.gc.ca/ParlInfo/Files/Parliamentarian.aspx?Item=ed5a57c6-1df6-41f7-a7f9-40fe934f3d28&Language=E&Section=FederalExperience |url-status=dead }}
• Stuart Lancaster, a former head coach for the England Rugby Football Union, was born in Culgaith.

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• Listed buildings in Culgaith

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• [http://www.cumbriacountyhistory.org.uk/township/culgaith Cumbria County History Trust: Culgaith] (nb: provisional research only – see Talk page)
• [http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/england/cumbria/culgaith Listed Buildings of Cumbria]

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Category:Villages in Cumbria

Category:Civil parishes in Cumbria

Category:Westmorland and Furness

Category:Cumberland places with etymologically Brittonic names