Stainton is a village and a civil parish in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. It is near the village of Sedgwick and the town of Kendal. Killington reservoir runs alongside the parish of Stainton and the village is near the A590 road.
In the 19th century John Bartholomew described Stainton as follows:
"Stainton, township and vil., Heversham par., Westmorland, in S. of co.- township, 1735 ac., pop. 388; vil., 4 miles S. of Kendal; P.O."
The village of Stainton
History
The name Stainton derives from the old English meaning of stoney farm/settlement. Stān, meaning "a stone, stone, rock" and tūn meaning "an enclosure, a farmstead, a village, an estate." Stainton used to be the site of an old Roman settlement and is built on limestone. It is situated south east of the lake district national park, 5.3 miles south of the town of Kendal. The Lancaster Canal runs close to Stainton approximately 1 km south of the village. The village is home to a small chapel, post office and 128 houses. The chapel, which was "erected in 1698" is no longer used for religious reasons. In 2003 work started to convert it into a village hall and, ten years later, it was handed on 22 November 2013 to the charity that had funded this project.
Historical monuments
The rich history of the area can be observed by monuments which include a series of bridges across Stainton Beck (Stainton bridge, a packhorse bridge and an aqueduct carrying the Lancaster Canal), Selet Hall and the parish church (St Thomas' Church in the neighbouring village of Crosscrake).
Wainwright wrote about the history stating that "it is a place of great antiquity" and also about how pleasant the parish was. The historical monuments could provide key data about the parish itself. What it was like in the past and also possibly what it will be like in the future, along with giving the parish character, pleasant surroundings and attractions.
Population over time
This is a chart showing the population statistics for Stainton between 1881 and 2011 received from census data. In 1941, there was no census so no recorded data. Over time, there have not been any substantial fluctuations in the data and the population seems to have kept at a steady rate. In 1881 the recorded population was 388 and the most recent record was 313. The lack of major fluctuations could suggest that the boundary of the parish hasn't moved over the years and there have been no major inputs and outputs into the village. Peter Wood states that in the past "people rarely moved far away and were often related to each other" which could be the reason for such a stable trend.
1881 Occupation Roles
This table shows the occupation roles of the population of Stainton in the year 1881. It also splits the occupations into males (blue) and females (orange). As this data from the vision of Britain shows, other than the unidentified jobs there was a high proportion of workers in the agricultural and animals sector. However these were all males which shows it was possibly a very labour-intensive job but it also suggests the surroundings of the parish were mostly countryside. This was confirmed in the book about the history and topography of Westmoreland when T.F.Bulmer stated that " a large portion of the township is laid down in meadow and pasture." Peter Wood also backs it up by stating that a hundred years ago farms were distributed across the parish mainly run by a husband and wife with one or two children.
The second largest sector is domestic which is dominated by females at 23, compared to only two males. This could suggest that it was a traditional village in those times whereby the men went out and worked and the women stayed at home and took on domestic jobs. Over time, however, the occupation roles seem to have shifted around. In 1881, there were only 4 professionals compared to 51 in 2011 as the graph below shows. This may be simply to the fact that there is more opportunity nowadays to take on a higher ranked job than it was previously and there is also a higher demand for disposable income.