A village in the Eden, seven miles north-east of Penrith. A busy place when thousands of sheep are sold here periodically, it stands above a fine curve of the Eden, with houses looking away to a splendid sandstone bridge of four arches, and with many old possessions...a weathered stone which was part of the village stocks, and an ancient cross crowned by a cube with a little cross tilted back to make a sundial. The shaft is believed to be around 800 years old.
Many British artifacts, burial mounds, even a Bronze Age fort have been found in the village over the years. The Roman fort of Voreda was close by at Plumpton. Yet another link to Arthurian legend here...in the north-west corner lies Tarn Wadling, now drained, linked strongly to the story of Gawain and the Green Knight.
Many of the houses here date from the 17th and 18th centuries, with most properties being built of hard red sandstone from the local quarries. In fact Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral has steps made of Lazonby stone.
The church of St Nicholas though consecrated in 1863 has had a church on the site since 1272 when Sir Hugh Morvill gave it to Lanercost Priory. It still has its original churchyard cross. This 19th century church is built rather odly on the side of a great pyramid hill. It has an Elizabethan altar cup, and there is a fragment of a mediaeval gravestone in the churchyard.
Three miles north-west of Castleriff is the site of a moated ruin.
The big cave near Baronwood, known as Giant's Chamber, is said to have served as a place of refuge when the Scots came over the border.
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