Waberthwaite is a hamlet some one and a half miles north east of Eskmeals on the Esk.
Its a lonely little place near the coast. Here the River Esk flows around the finely wooded hill of Muncaster Castle, with its beacon tower 250 feet up, and here on the edge of a sandy creek, crouches one of the county's ancient white-walled churches.
Low and simple, it has only five windows to light it, some of them 16th century.The east window is enriched with a picture of the Good Shepherd.The 300 year old pulpit has carved panels and borders, and hidden in one of the old box-pews is a Norman font two feet high, looking rather like the base of a pillar. The bell turret was rebuilt in Queen Anne's reign. In the graveyard will be found a 9th century cross shaft which at one time stood on a well used route for travellers heading north from the village.
At the start of the century, quarrying was the name of the game for this village. It had started at Broad Oak with granite sets of different sizes being sent to many Lancashire towns. For years the quarry offered work to around 50 men until 1946 when it was closed. The quarry site is now a site of Special Scientific Interest.
The village shop here opened by a Mrs Hannah Woodall in 1828. Its still there today, incorporating the local Post Office, under the same family ownership, though today it now proudly displays a Royal Warrant for traditional Cumberland sausage...and is better known for its ham, bacon, and sausage nationwide labelled 'Woodalls of Waberthwaite'.
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