Askam and Ireleth is a civil parish close to Barrow-in-Furness in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England. Historically part of Lancashire, it originally consisted of two separate coastal villages with different origins and histories which, in recent times, have merged to become one continuous settlement. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 3,632, reducing at the 2011 census to 3,462.
Ireleth has its origins as a mediaeval farming village clustered on the hillside overlooking the flat sands of the Duddon Estuary. Askam was established following the discovery of large quantities of iron ore near the village in the middle of the 18th century.
The pair originally fell within the boundaries of the Hundred of Lonsdale 'north of the sands' in the historic county of Lancashire. Following local government reforms in 1974 the parish became part of the county of Cumbria, and after further reforms in 2023 it became part of Westmorland and Furness.
The nearby River Duddon estuary and surrounding countryside have made the area well known for its wildlife, while the villages' exposed position on the eastern bank facing the Irish Sea have encouraged the establishment of wind energy generation, amid local controversy.
History
Ireleth
Ireleth is the smaller and older of the two villages, with its origins stretching back to the Viking occupation of Britain. It was originally clustered along a stream, named 'Hole Beck', about half a mile up the hill from the estuary below. It was also the junction of four roads passing through the area. Firstly, there was the 'Sands' road, named 'Marsh Lane' in maps of the 1850s, heading down the hill towards the shore, where it met one of the possible routes for crossing the treacherous tidal sands of the Duddon at low tide. Secondly, there was the lane heading north along a ridge towards Kirkby-in-Furness. Part of these two roads form today's A595 main road. There was also a road leading up the stream's valley towards the hamlet of Marton, and finally a road east over the hills towards Dalton-in-Furness.
Viking origins exist in two forms: remains have been found near St. Peter's parish church and the name of the village itself is Viking, translated from the Old Norse as 'hill-slope of the Irish'. Remains included the long house of “chief Scotch”.
It is thought the village was included in the Domesday Book, compiled soon after the Norman Conquest, but there is debate over which of the entries for the Furness area in William the Conqueror's census actually refers to modern day Ireleth. Several sources name a settlement called Gerleuuorde, part of the Manor of Hougun, as the correct entry but there is no conclusive evidence to support this, not least because of the discrepancies in spelling. Samuel Lewis' A Topological Dictionary of England, written 1848, posits a different contender as the true Ireleth. He claimed Ouregrave referred to the village because of the existence of a mill named Orga-Mill, but he conceded this was also conjecture. Lewis' full text on Ireleth is below.
During the Middle Ages, the entire area was controlled by the Cistercian monks of Furness Abbey. During this time, Ireleth was little more than one of many farming communities in Furness. The iron ore developments of Askam largely bypassed Ireleth, and the village developed slowly, housing farmers and workers from local towns. The religious history of the village is recorded as starting around the year 1608, when an endowment was created to fund a village school. Giles Brownrigg, named variously as a local landowner or a tailor who had left the area to make his fortune in London, gave money to establish a school house and a salary for a schoolmaster. This building existed on what is today Sun Street; the only remains today are a font and a plaque, kept in the modern day school building, inscribed:
Ireleth featured in the Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales. In this, it is said-
Ireleth did not have a parish church at this point, falling into the 'Above Town' area, together with the hamlets of Marton and Lindal, of the parish of Dalton-in-Furness. Lacking a place of worship, it was decided the newly built school could also be put to use as a chapel. Fishwick's 'Lancashire & Cheshire Church Surveys, 1649–1655' of 1849 cites this record from a church survey taken in 1650: