Milnthorpe

Milnthorpe was granted a market charter in 1334, although this lapsed in the 1920s.

Milnthorpe was part of the township of Heversham-with Milnthorpe, and was in Heversham parish until 1896. The 19th-century Church of St Thomas, which overlooks The Green and The Square, was designed by Kendal architect George Webster.

Milnthorpe became a centre of business and activity because it was originally a port, using the River Bela and estuary (now only navigable to Arnside) and it remains a significant commercial centre for the area.

Tourism is a major contributor to the local economy. Milnthorpe had coaching inns on the main road north, the modern A6.{{cite web |title=The Cross Keys Hotel |url=https://www.robinsonsbrewery.com/pubs/cross-keys-hotel-milnthorpe/ |website=www.robinsonsbrewery.com |access-date=29 May 2023 |language=en |quote=a traditional coaching Inn}}{{cite web |title=Stay with Us |url=https://www.thebullshead-milnthorpe.co.uk/stay_with_us/ |publisher=The Bulls Head Milnthorpe |access-date=29 May 2023 |quote=a traditional village coaching inn}} The village used to be a major traffic bottleneck before the opening of the M6 motorway in 1970, and the A590/A591 Kendal link road a few years later. The congestion at Milnthorpe' cross roads was notoriously amongst the worst in the North West.{{cite web |title=Milnthorpe Past & Present |url=https://stthomasmilnthorpe.org.uk/about-us/milnthorpe-past-present/ |website=St Thomas' Milnthorpe |access-date=6 December 2023}} The village is just outside the Arnside and Silverdale National Landscape (formerly AONB), with the River Bela forming its northern boundary.{{cite web |title=AONB Map |url=https://www.arnsidesilverdaleaonb.org.uk/discover/aonb-map/ |website= |publisher=Arnside and Silverdale National Landscape |access-date=6 December 2023 |language=en}}

The popular children's drink Um Bongo was made in Milnthorpe by Libby's in the 1980s.{{cite web |title=1980s Libbys Um Bongo |url=https://retrotvads.com/1980s-libbys-um-bongo/ |website=retrotvads.com |publisher=Retro TV Ads |access-date=5 April 2023 |date=6 March 2013}} Milnthorpe is the home of Duralon Combs, a comb manufacturing business over 300 years old.{{cite web |title=About: Brief history of John Dobson |url=https://duralon.co.uk/pages/about-us |website=Duralon |access-date=4 April 2023}} Big Fish Internet Ltd (formerly BF Internet, now trading as BFI) was founded in Milnthorpe in 1996 and is now located {{convert|2|miles}} away in Sandside;{{cite web |title=Home page |url=https://www.wearebfi.co.uk/ |website=BFI |access-date=4 April 2023 |language=en-uk}} it is the longest-established web design company in the UK.{{ cite news | title=Why Milnthorpe has something for everyone|work= Great British Life|url= https://www.greatbritishlife.co.uk/homes-and-gardens/places-to-live/22617650.milnthorpe-something-everyone/ | date=9 March 2016| access-date= 6 April 2023 |quote=operations director [says] "We're reasonably sure that, of all the other pioneering website companies in the UK from the early days, we're the only digital specialists still in existence"}} The village has a branch of the family-owned supermarket Booths.{{cite web|url=https://www.visitlakedistrict.com/things-to-do/booths-milnthorpe-p1215811 |website=Visit Cumbria| title=Booths, Milnthorpe| access-date=16 December 2024}}

Milnthorpe market was revived in the 1980s and for some years contributed substantially to the parish council's income through stall rentals. In the 21st century the market has reduced in size, reducing the council's income, but it is still held weekly, with a monthly farmers' market.{{cite news |last1=Gould |first1=Nicola |title=A Lakeland Market yearning for the good old days |url=https://www.nmtf.co.uk/mt/MarketTimesOctober2014/files/basic-html/page22.html |access-date=6 December 2023 |work=Market Times |publisher=NMTF |date=October 2014 |pages=22–23}}

Milnthorpe is in the unitary authority area of Westmorland and Furness, in the ceremonial county of Cumbria. It is in the parliamentary constituency of Westmorland and Lonsdale, held since 2005 by Liberal Democrat Tim Farron.{{cite web |title=Tim Farron |url=https://members.parliament.uk/member/1591/career |website=MPs and Lords |publisher=UK Parliament |access-date=6 December 2023}}

Milnthorpe has a parish council.

From 1 April 1974 to 1 April 2023, Milnthorpe was in South Lakeland non-metropolitan district.

Milnthorpe has one secondary school, Dallam School,{{cite web |title=Dallam School - Learning for all, learning for life |url=https://dallamschool.co.uk/ |website=Dallam School |access-date=6 December 2023 |date=9 November 2023}} which was graded "Needs improvement" by Ofsted in 2023{{cite web |title=Dallam School |url=https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/23/137205 |publisher=Ofsted |access-date=6 December 2023}}{{cite news |last1=Pye |first1=Daniel |title=School told it 'requires improvement' after Ofsted inspection |url=https://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/news/23647969.dallam-school-receives-requires-improvement-ofsted/ |access-date=6 December 2023 |work=The Westmorland Gazette |date=13 July 2023 |language=en}} and one primary school, Milnthorpe Primary School,{{cite web |title=Milnthorpe Primary School |url=https://www.milnthorpe.cumbria.sch.uk/cumbria/primary/milnthorpe |website=www.milnthorpe.cumbria.sch.uk |access-date=6 December 2023}}{{cite web |title=Milnthorpe Primary School |url=https://fid.westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk/kb5/westmorlandandfurness/directory/service.page?id=HqGq1DSr9EM |website=Families Information |publisher=Westmorland and Furness |access-date=6 December 2023 |language=en |date=13 April 2023}} rated by Ofsted as "Good" in 2019.{{cite web |last1= |first1= |title=Milnthorpe Primary School |url=https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/21/112184 |website=reports.ofsted.gov.uk |publisher=Ofsted |access-date=6 December 2023 |date=25 July 2022}}

There are three public houses in the village.{{cn|date=April 2023}}

The Grade I listed house Dallam Tower,{{NHLE| num=1086542 |desc=Dallam Tower|access-date=6 December 2023}} with an estate known for its deer, stands near to the River Bela just south-west of Milnthorpe, although in the parish of Beetham. The grade II listed St Anthony's Tower{{NHLE |num=1350009 |desc=St Anthony's Tower|access-date=6 December 2023}} may be seen on the top of St Anthony's Hill to the north-east of the village centre. There are a total of nine grade II listed buildings or structures in the parish, including a footbridge over the River Bela, built in 1730 as a road bridge.{{NHLE | num=1081522 | desc=Footbridge over River Bela approximately 400 metres east-north-east of Milnthorpe Bridge |access-date=6 December 2023}}

Just to the north is Levens Hall, famed for its topiary.{{cite web |title=Levens Hall |url=https://www.historichouses.org/house/levens-hall/visit/ |website=Historic Houses |access-date=6 December 2023}}

The former Leader of the Liberal Democrats (2015–2017), Tim Farron (MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale) lives in Milnthorpe.{{cite news|title=About Tim Farron|url=http://timfarron.co.uk/en/page/about-tim-farron|newspaper=Tim Farron|accessdate=24 September 2015}}

John Taylor, third president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1880 to 1887, was born in Milnthorpe and lived there until he emigrated to Canada.

File:Milnthorpe_church.jpg|Milnthorpe Parish Church

File:Cross_Keys_Hotel,_Milnthorpe_-_geograph.org.uk_-_502049.jpg|Cross Keys Hotel

File:Bend_in_the_Bela_-_geograph.org.uk_-_354093.jpg|Bend in the River Bela

File:Dallam Tower Deer Park - geograph.org.uk - 354074.jpg|Deer shelter in Dallam Tower park

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• Listed buildings in Milnthorpe

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{{commons category|Milnthorpe}}

• [http://www.cumbriacountyhistory.org.uk/township/milnthorpe Cumbria County History Trust: Milnthorpe] (nb: provisional research only - see Talk page)
• [http://www.cumbriacountyhistory.org.uk/township/heversham Cumbria County History Trust: Heversham] (nb: provisional research only - see Talk page)
• [http://www.thecumbriadirectory.com/Town_or_Village/location.php?url=milnthorpe Milnthorpe in Cumbria Directory]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20050212090809/http://www.thisisthelakedistrict.co.uk/lakesguide/towns/kendaltownsmilnthorpe/display.var.516910.0.milnthorpe_heversham_and_leasgill.php Milnthorpe & Heversham]
• [http://www.britainexpress.com/counties/cumbria/gardens/levens.htm Levens Hall]

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Category:Milnthorpe

Category:Villages in Cumbria

Category:Westmorland

Category:Civil parishes in Cumbria

Category:Westmorland and Furness