Broughton West
Civil parish in Cumbria, England
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Broughton West is a civil parish in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. It is based around the small town of Broughton-in-Furness, for which Broughton West was historically an alternative name. The parish also includes the small village of Foxfield, and the hamlets of Bank End, Lower Hawthwaite and Broughton Mills.
| Broughton West | |
|---|---|
Broughton in Furness | |
  Broughton West Location within Cumbria | |
| Population | 925 (Parish, 2021)[1] |
| OS grid reference | SD2187 |
| Civil parish |
|
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BROUGHTON IN FURNESS |
| Postcode district | LA20 |
| Dialling code | 01229 |
| Police | Cumbria |
| Fire | Cumbria |
| Ambulance | North West |
| UK Parliament | |
History
Broughton was historically a township in the ancient parish of Kirkby Ireleth, which formed part of the Lonsdale Hundred of Lancashire.[2] The township was known as "Broughton West" or "Broughton-in-Furness", to distinguish it from the other township in Lonsdale Hundred called Broughton, 14 miles (23 km) to the east, which was also known as Broughton-in-Cartmel or Broughton East.[3][4] St Mary Magdalene's Church at Broughton-in-Furness, although dating back to at least the 12th century,[5] was a chapel of ease to St Cuthbert's Church at Kirkby Ireleth until 1870, when an ecclesiastical parish of Broughton-in-Furness was created.[6]
The township took on civil functions under the poor laws from the 17th century onwards.[7] As such, the township 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.[8] Whereas the name Broughton-in-Furness was used for the ecclesiastical parish and by the General Post Office for postal addresses, the civil parish used the Broughton West variant of the name.[6]
When elected parish and district councils were created under the Local Government Act 1894, Broughton West was given a parish council and included in the Ulverston Rural District, which was renamed North Lonsdale Rural District in 1960.[2] North Lonsdale Rural District was abolished in 1974, and Broughton West became part of the South Lakeland district in the new county of Cumbria.[9][10] Broughton West ceased to have its own parish council in 1976, when it was grouped with the neighbouring parishes of Angerton and Dunnerdale-with-Seathwaite under Duddon Parish Council.[11] South Lakeland was abolished in 2023 when the new Westmorland and Furness Council was created, also taking over the functions of the abolished Cumbria County Council in the area.[12]
Governance
There are two tiers of local government covering Broughton West, at parish and unitary authority level: Duddon Parish Council and Westmorland and Furness Council. The parish council is a grouped parish council covering the three parishes of Broughton West, Angerton and Dunnerdale-with-Seathwaite.[11] The parish council meets at the Victory Hall on Station Road in Broughton-in-Furness.[13]
Demography
At the 2021 census the population of the parish was 925.[1] The population had been 954 at the 2001 census,[14] and 912 at the 2011 census.[15]
