Middlesceugh

The name is recorded as 'Middil Stouke' in 1419.^[1]

'Middlesceugh and Braithwaite' was historically a township which straddled the ancient parishes of Carlisle St Mary (which had its parish church at Carlisle Cathedral) and Hesket-in-the-Forest.^[2][3] The part of St Mary's parish was detached from the main part of the parish, being over 9 miles (14 km) south of Carlisle; its inhabitants tended to actually use the churches at nearby Ivegill, High Head or Sebergham.^[4] The township took on civil functions under the poor laws from the 17th century onwards, and as such also became a civil parish in 1866, when the legal definition of 'parish' was changed to be the areas used for administering the poor laws.^[5]

The civil parish of Middlesceugh and Braithwaite was abolished in 1934, being absorbed into the neighbouring parish of Skelton.^[6]

Middlesceugh has a SSSI called Middlesceugh Woods And Pastures,^[7] alongside the Roe Beck. It forms part of the Cumbrian Marsh Fritillary Site, which was involved in the Natura 2000 programme.^[8]