Underskiddaw

{{Short description|Civil parish in Cumbria, England}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}

{{Infobox UK place

| country = England

| coordinates = {{coord|54.61|-3.14|display=inline,title}}

| official_name = Underskiddaw

| population = 264

| population_ref = (2011)

| civil_parish = Underskiddaw

| unitary_england = Cumberland

| lieutenancy_england = Cumbria

| region = North West England

| constituency_westminster = Penrith and Solway

| post_town = KESWICK

| postcode_district = CA12

| postcode_area = CA

| dial_code = 01768

| os_grid_reference = NY2625

| london_distance =

| static_image = Underskiddaw - Little Man.jpg

| static_image_width =

| static_image_caption = Skiddaw Little Man

| pushpin_map = United Kingdom Allerdale

| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Allerdale, Cumbria

}}

Underskiddaw is a civil parish in the Cumberland in the English county of Cumbria. The parish lies immediately to the north of the town of Keswick, and includes the southern and eastern flanks of Skiddaw as well as part of the valley of the rivers Greta and Derwent, and a small part of Bassenthwaite Lake. The parish includes the settlements of Applethwaite, Millbeck and Ormathwaite, all of which lie along the line where the southern slopes of Skiddaw meet the valley.{{cite web | url = http://www.election-maps.co.uk/electmaps.jsf | title = Election Maps | publisher = Ordnance Survey | access-date = 2010-01-14}} A significant area of the parish is within the Skiddaw Group SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) and, within that, Cumbria Wildlife Trust has the {{cvt|1,200|sqmi}} Skiddaw Forest nature reserve rewilding project.{{cite news|newspaper=The Guardian|first=Patrick|last=Barkham|date=5 September 2024|title='A 100-year vision': Skiddaw's barren peak to spring to life in ambitious rewilding |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/sep/05/skiddaw-forest-cumbria-rewilding-england-nature-reserve}}

The parish has a population of 282 in 122 households, reducing at the 2011 Census to a population of 264 in 128 households.{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11129967&c=CA12+4NL&d=16&e=62&g=6410933&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=0&s=1434466541570&enc=1|title=Parish population 2011|access-date=16 June 2015}} It is within the Penrith and Solway constituency of the United Kingdom Parliament.{{cite web | url = http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/viewFullDataset.do?instanceSelection=03070&productId=779&$ph=60_61&datasetInstanceId=3070&startColumn=1&numberOfColumns=8&containerAreaId=790345 | publisher = Office for National Statistics | title = Census 2001 : Parish Headcounts : Allerdale | access-date = 2009-11-22}}

Millbeck Hall belonged to the Williamson family. Edward Williamson of Millbeck died before 1577 owing money to the German copper miners at Keswick and Caldbeck.W. G. Collingwood, [https://archive.org/details/tractseries08cumb/page/n415/mode/2up Elizabethan Keswick: Extracts from the Accounts of the German Miners at Augsburg (Kendal, 1912), p. 195] There is a carved stone doorway lintel dated 1592 with the name of the owner, Nicholas Williamson. The inscription in Latin has been translated as "Whither? to live and die, or to die and live".Michael Waistell Taylor, The Old Manorial Halls of Westmorland & Cumberland (Kendal, 1892), pp. 320-4.[https://whc.unesco.org/en/documents/158943 Picture of the Williamson motto at Millbeck, Andrew Locking] In March 1595, a distant cousin, also called Nicholas Williamson visited Millbeck. He was arrested and taken to the Tower of London for his part in a conspiracy.HMC Salisbury Hatfield, vol. 5 (London, 1894), pp. 145-6, 244: Mary Anne Everett Green, Calendar State Papers Domestic, 1595-1597 (London, 1869), pp. 26, 46: Annie I. Cameron, Calendar State Papers Scotland, 1593-1595, vol. 11 (Edinburgh, 1936), pp. 547 no. 483, 582 no. 525, 611 no. 565: Joseph Bain, Calendar of Border Papers, vol. 2 (London, 1896), p. 24 no. 46.