The history of Casterton

Whilst the name Casterton has been interpreted to mean that there was a Roman camp in the vicinity, probably somewhere along the Roman road that preceded Wandales Lane, no trace of it has been found. The earliest firm evidence for settlement seems to have been at Chapel House Farm, where there was a chapel of St. Columba and a well in the 14th century.

Further references in the 15th to 17th centuries mention the manor of Casterton, and also note the coal workings up on the fell to the east, hence ‘Colliers’ Lane’, known as such to this day. Down by the Lune Kirfitt Hall or its predecessor is supposed to have been the trysting place of King Henry VIII and Katherine Parr.

It is difficult to build a comprehensive picture of the area until accurate maps first appeared in the 19th century, though by then there may have been thirty or more farms within what later became the parish of Casterton. It was in the 1830s that Low Casterton became more of a focal point, with the arrival of the Clergy Daughters’ School from Cowan Bridge, the establishment of the Servants’ School, and the construction of the chapel, now Holy Trinity Church. The schools, later combined as Casterton School, remained the best known feature until its merger into Sedbergh School in 2013. It is Sedbergh’s junior school, known as Casterton Sedbergh Prep School, which currently occupies the historic site.

Simon Drakeford’s history blog

One of our residents, Simon Drakeford, has created a blog with detailed studies of historic features of the village, which he adds to on a regular basis.

Jubilee historical trail

In additon to his blog posts, Simon Drakeford has created an historical trail around the village

The Victoria County History

The Victoria County History (VCH) was founded in 1899 as a national project to write the history of every parish in every county in England. At its inception, the project was dedicated to Queen Victoria, which is how it derives its name.

The project progressed very quickly until the First World War which brought all research to a halt. It took a few years after the War for the impetus to be regained. It wasn’t until 1932 that new life was given to the venture when the VCH was offered to the University of London as a research project to be run out of the Institute of Historical Research (IHR). The VCH Central Office has remained in the IHR ever since.

From 1932 until World War Two, volumes continued to be published, albeit at a slow rate. The pace picked up in the 1950s but dropped off again in the 1970s. In all this time, no start was made on a county history for Westmorland.

The VCH Cumbria project was launched in 2010, with work carried out by the Cumbria County History Trust. We are fortunate in Casterton that the first volume of the Westmorland County History selected to be printed was the Lonsdale Ward.

Most of the early research for the Lonsdale Ward volume was carried out by Emmeline Garnett. Sadly she died in 2022 before the work was completed. An early draft of her work has been available online for many years. Research on the volume was continued by Prof. Angus Winchester. Dr. Sarah Rose was added to the research team with other contributions by Prof. Fiona Williams and Dr. Christopher Donaldson.

The academics made good use of the many other interested parties to support their work, including in the case of Casterton, referencing many of the historical Sketch series published on the Casterton parish website.

In September 2025 the first volume of the VCH Westmorland series was finally published. It was the 250th volume to be published since the first one in 1901.

Copies of the volume can be purchased here 

The reminiscences of William Makinson (1921-2007)

William (everyone knew him as ‘Billy’’) was the third generation of his family to farm in Casterton, and had a wealth of knowledge of the village and its people going back to the beginning of the twentieth century. Fortunately he sat down with Miss Margaret Pilkington in 1994 and talked at length of his life, and these musings were subsequently transcribed by Jean Hamlett into a fascinating 23-page document. Alternatively you can read Billy’s reminisences, part one and part two, on this website.

Casterton residents who fought in World War I

As part of the 100 year anniversary of the end of World War One, Jean Hamlett researched the stories of Casterton men who served during the war and survived. A copy of her research can be found in a ring binder at the back of Holy Trinity Church. The biographies of some of the men are published on this website.

Old census information

Whilst information from the ten-yearly censuses between 1841 and 1911 can be found online, it can be tiresome to have to search for it. The information from those years for Casterton has been printed out by local resident Martin Coombs. He will be happy to lend the (very large) file to anyone who is interested.

Casterton School

Geoffrey Sale’s book, The History of Casterton School, was published in 1983. Read a brief article summarising Geoffrey’s  research about the school over the period of WWI.

In recent times: Gill Sykes has very kindly provided an excellent illustrated article about the more recent history of Casterton School.

Old maps of Casterton

It can be fascinating to compare the past with the present through old maps. Amongst the most useful online sites for this is that of the National Library of Scotland, which facilitates a split screen view of old and new at the same time. The above link will open showing Casterton. Different maps can be chosen.

Casterton, Victoria, Australia

Whilst Great Casterton and Little Casterton can be found down in Rutland, as far as we know the only other community in the world with precisely the same name as ours is in the state of Victoria, Australia.

Some ten times larger than its Cumbrian cousin, the other Casterton is described as “a relatively small rural centre of about 2000 people located on the banks of the Glenelg River in a valley surrounded by rolling hills some 350 km west of Melbourne Victoria. It is a service centre to a large pastoral, mixed farming, timber-producing and dairying district near the South Australian border. Casterton has a golf course, a racecourse, a caravan park, a sports and leisure centre”.

The two Castertons are formally twinned, but although several of our residents have in the past visited Casterton, Victoria, the connection has slumbered a little in recent years. However, a member of the parish council is currently trying to awaken it again.

Local legend has it that the Australian settlement was founded by two brothers named Kirkby. An Australian website says merely that “the townsite of Casterton emerged on a crossing place along the Glenelg River. Surveyed in 1840 it was named after a settlement in the north of England.”