More correctly known as Kirkby-Ireleth. Situated on the east side of the Duddon estuary; Kirkby in Furness is actualy a string of tiny hamlets or villages following the line of the A595 - Soutergate, Sandside, Beckside, Wallend, Marshside and Chapels.
The Manor of Kirkby-Ireleth belonged to the deKirkby family...from the days of the Norman conquest until the 18th century. They lived at Kirkby Hall for ten generations. The Hall, dark and sombre with its large round chimneys and mullioned windows, dates from Tudor times, and is the oldest house in the parish. These days it is a working farm.
Though the village is small and scattered it is nevertheless famous in its own right. Its Norman church for example has a quaint bodiless effigy which attracts a lot of attention, together with an ancient font.
Within one mile is 'The Kirk', a ring embankment at which games used to be played at Easter until the early part of the 20th century.
Seen hereabouts are some fine examples of nineteenth century carved inscriptions on the walls of cottages and stables. Called 'date' stones, these indicate the (then) occupation of the tenants, and the age of the property.
The influence of slate quarries is also particularly nooticeable in this area, and in fact it was the availability of water transport in the Duddon Estuary at the end of the 1700s that actualy ensured their development, putting them eventually as one of the leaders in output and ensuring large quantities of slate being shipped to Bristol, Chepstow, London...and in the nineteenth century, also to the West Indies.
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