Setmurthy

The spelling "Satmurthawe" is seen in 1473.http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT2/E4/CP40no847/aCP40no847fronts/IMG_0419.htm ; 4th entry

The parish church of St Barnabas, built in 1794, is grade II listed; it is in the Diocese of Carlisle and the Binsey Mission Community.{{cite web|title=Setmurthy St Barnabas|url=http://www.carlislediocese.org.uk/church/setmurthy-st-barnabas.html|publisher=Diocese of Carlisle|accessdate=24 March 2017}}{{cite web|title=Setmurthy, St Barnabas|url=https://www.achurchnearyou.com/setmurthy-st-barnabas/|website=A church near you|publisher=Church of England|accessdate=24 March 2017}}{{cite web|title=The Binsey Mission Community|url=http://www.binsey.org.uk/|publisher=Binsey Team Mission Community|accessdate=24 March 2017}}

File:Setmurthy Village Hall - geograph.org.uk - 6218986.jpg

There is no built up area of Setmurthy as such; instead it comprises a loose-knit community around the parish church and a former school (built 1896){{cite book |title=Kelly's Directory of Cumberland |date=1906 |page=248 |url=https://specialcollections.le.ac.uk/digital/collection/p16445coll4/id/46184/rec/2 |access-date=21 April 2025}} now used as a village hall.{{cite web |title=Find an address |url=https://www.royalmail.com/find-a-postcode |website=Royal Mail |access-date=21 April 2025}} As at 2025, the Royal Mail only lists 20 properties with a Setmurthy postal address, several of which are farms.

The River Derwent forms the northern and eastern boundary of the parish, separating it from Blindcrake. Bassenthwaite Lake forms the eastern boundary, and the parish is then bordered by Above Derwent to the south east, Embleton to the west and south, and Cockermouth and Bridekirk to the west. The main settlement is the hamlet of Dubwath.{{cite web|title=Information on: Setmurthy (Parish)|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadAreaMetadata.do?a=7&b=11128322&c=setmurthy&d=16&e=62&g=6410969&i=1001x1003x1032x1004x1011&m=0&r=1&s=1490351498794&enc=1&areaId=11128322|website=Neighbourhood Statistics|publisher=Office of National Statistics|accessdate=24 March 2017}}

Watch Hill, also known as Setmurthy Common, reaches {{convert|254|m}} and because of its relative isolation qualifies as a marilyn, a hill with 150 m of topographic prominence. Alfred Wainwright includes it in his The Outlying Fells of Lakeland, recommending an ascent from the west and a return on the same route. He comments that "It is easily attained with a minimum of effort: a stroll on grass so simple that boots are incongruous footwear for it and bare feet appropriate".{{cite book|last1=Wainwright|first1=A.|title=The Outlying Fells of Lakeland|date=2011|isbn=978-0-7112-3175-7|pages=202–203|edition=2nd}}

There are two tiers of local government covering Setmurthy, at parish and unitary authority level: Embleton and District Parish Council and Cumberland Council. The parish council is a grouped parish council, covering the three civil parishes of Embleton, Setmurthy, and Wythop.{{cite web |title=Embleton and District Parish Council |url=https://embleton.wordpress.com/ |access-date=20 April 2025}} The parish is wholly within the Lake District National Park, and so some functions are administered by the Lake District National Park Authority, notably planning.{{cite web |title=Planning |url=https://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/planning |website=Lake District National Park |access-date=10 April 2025}}

Setmurthy is within the Penrith and Solway UK Parliamentary constituency.{{cite web |title=Election Maps |url=https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/election-maps/gb/ |publisher=Ordnance Survey |access-date=20 April 2025}}

Setmurthy was historically a township in the ancient parish of Brigham, which formed part of the historic county of Cumberland.{{cite book |last1=Whellan |first1=William |title=The History and Topography of the Counties of Cumberland and Westmorland |date=1860 |page=295 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_History_and_Topography_of_the_Counti/ZkJCAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA295&printsec=frontcover |access-date=13 April 2025}}{{cite web |title=Setmurthy Chapelry / Civil Parish |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10094770#tab02 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=21 April 2025}} The township took on civil functions under the poor laws from the 17th century onwards. As such, Setmurthy also became a civil parish in 1866, when the legal definition of 'parish' was changed to be the areas used for administering the poor laws.{{cite book |last1=Youngs |first1=Frederic |title=Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England: Volume II, Northern England |date=1991 |publisher=Royal Historical Society |location=London |isbn=0861931270 |page=xv}}

St Barnabas' Church was a chapel of ease to St Bridget's Church, Brigham until 1835, when Setmurthy was made a separate ecclesiastical parish from Brigham.

When elected parish and district councils were established in 1894, Setmurthy was included in the Cockermouth Rural District. Cockermouth Rural District was abolished in 1974, becoming part of the borough of Allerdale in the new county of Cumbria.{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972|year=1972|number=2039|accessdate=3 March 2023}}{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Names) Order 1973|year=1973|number=551|accessdate=3 March 2023}} Allerdale was in turn abolished in 2023 when the new Cumberland Council was created, also taking over the functions of the abolished Cumbria County Council in the area.{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The Cumbria (Structural Changes) Order 2022|year=2022|number=331|access-date=24 January 2024}}

At the 2021 census, the population was 98. In the 2011 census the population had been 110.[https://www.cumbriaobservatory.org.uk/parish-profiles/ Parish Profiles] – Parish to Ward Population Lookup Table – Census 2011. (englisch)

{{Main|Listed buildings in Setmurthy}}

{{As of|2017}} there are nine listed buildings in the parish; Hewthwaite Hall, dating from 1581, is grade II* and the others are grade II.

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.cumbriacountyhistory.org.uk/township/setmurthy Cumbria County History Trust: Setmurthy] (nb: provisional research only – see Talk page)
• {{genuki|county=CUL|Setmurthy}}

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Category:Villages in Cumbria

Category:Cumberland (unitary authority)

Category:Civil parishes in Cumbria

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