Blencogo

Blencogo
The New Inn public house, Blencogo
Blencogo Location in Allerdale, Cumbria Show map of the former Allerdale Borough Blencogo Location within Cumbria Show map of Cumbria
OS grid reference	NY195478
Civil parish	Bromfield
Unitary authority	Cumberland
Ceremonial county	Cumbria
Region	North West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	WIGTON
Postcode district	CA7
Dialling code	01697
Police	Cumbria
Fire	Cumbria
Ambulance	North West
UK Parliament	Workington

Blencogo is a small farming village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Bromfield, in the Cumberland district, in the ceremonial county of Cumbria, England. It is situated near Wigton, on the Solway Plain, off the B3502 Wigton to Silloth road. The village is a centre for growing osier willow for basketmaking and related crafts. In 1931 the parish had a population of 139.[1]

Etymology

Armstrong, et al. cite Ekwall,[2] who "derives this name from Welsh 'blaen' 'top'...and 'cog' 'cuckoo' to which was later added ON 'haugr' 'hill' ". However, they say that it is more probable that the final element "is the British plural inflexion (Welsh '-au', Cornish '-ow', Breton '-ou')." [3] So, ' hill of the cuckoo or cuckoos'.('ON' is Old Norse; 'British' is Common Brittonic).

History

Blencogo first appears in literature around 1100 CE when the Lord Waltheof of Allerdale gives the barony of Blencogo to Odard de Logis.[4] Numerous land transfers are made to Holme Cultram Abbey in over the next 150 years.[5] Land transfers and grants for Blencogo also appear in the patent and charter rolls for Edward III (1342), Richard II (1388), Henry IV (1399), Henry VI (1426), Edward IV (1474), and Henry VII (1543).

Blencogo was formerly a township in Bromfield parish,[6] from 1866 Blencogo was a civil parish in its own right until it was abolished on 1 April 1934 and merged with Bromfield.[7]

Notable residents

• Jonathan Boucher (1738-1804), born here

See also

• Listed buildings in Bromfield, Cumbria
• List of places in Cumbria

References

1. "Population statistics Blencogo Tn/CP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
2. Ekwall, Eilert (1922). The place-names of Lancashire. Manchester: Chetham Society.
3. Armstrong, A. M.; Mawer, A.; Stenton, F. M.; Dickens, B. (1950). The place-names of Cumberland. English Place-Name Society, vol.xx. Vol. Part 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 122.
4. Ritson, Joseph. Annals of the Caledonians, Picts, and Scots; and of Strathclyde, Cumberland, Galloway, and Murray, Volume the Second. Edinburgh: Ballantyne and Company, 1828. 235.
5. Grainger, Francis & William Gershom Collingwood. The Register and Records of Holm Cultram. London: T. Wilson & Sons, 1929.
6. "History of Blencogo, in Allerdale and Cumberland". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
7. "Relationships and changes Blencogo Tn/CP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 30 December 2021.

External links

• Cumbria County History Trust: Blencogo (nb: provisional research only - see Talk page)
• Blencogo Village website
• Willow growers' website