House History Files: Peaselands, Cumbria
Lying in the beautiful Lyvennet Valley, near the village of King's Meaburn in Cumbria, is Peaselands; a charming, stone-built, grade II-listed farmhouse, which owners, Caroline Fancott-Beynon and her husband, Andrew (whose family bought the property in 2001), are currently renovating.
‘PEASLANDS’, KINGS MEABURN, CUMBRIA - 1936 (SOURCE: ‘AN INVENTORY OF THE HISTORICAL MONUMENTS IN WESTMORLAND’ (LONDON, 1936), P. 19)
"It's a very old property with so many original features, and having a love of history, I thought it would be fantastic to learn more about the house and, in particular, the stories of the people who were there before us.”
NOT YOUR AVERAGE FARMHOUSE
“We believed the original part of the house was built in 1707 as we have a lovely date stone over the door. And from looking at maps, we knew the back part was added in the early 19th century, and the additional attached barn, back kitchen, and maid's room, as we call them, in the mid-19th century.
The house started as a typical Cumbrian farmhouse, but the later additions made us think there may have been someone with some money there - it’s not a huge house, but there are clear additions to the property which made it sizeable for a farmhouse at the time, plus the evidence of the maid's room, which was accessed externally near the barn.
‘PEASLANDS, KINGS MEABURN’, SIX-INCH ORDNANCE SURVEY MAP - 1859. SHEET REFERENCE: WESTMORLAND XV (SOURCE: NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND)
We also knew there was a Peaselands band in the early to mid-20th century that played in the big bedroom on the rear extension – and one day, between the band and the dancing, they came through the roof into the room below!"
THE CLEASBYES OF ‘PEESLANDS’
Piecing together clues from a mix of newspaper reports, wills, directories, electoral registers, poll books, census records, tithe apportionments, land tax assessments, parish registers, and more, revealed that the house and land were passed down through the centuries by just three families.
1768 POLL BOOK FOR ‘KINGSMEABURN’ - SHOWING GEORGE THORNBURROW (OWNER OF PEASELANDS) AS A FREEHOLDER. (SOURCE: ANCESTRY.CO.UK, ORIGINAL DATA: LONDON METROPOLITAN ARCHIVES AND GUILDHALL LIBRARY).
Ownership was traced back into the 1600s, beyond the date above the lintel, and far beyond the earliest period that can generally be relied upon to find sources online (which tend to become much patchier before the date of the first census which recorded individuals, in 1841). The distinctive name probably helped, spelled alternatively as Peaslands, Peeslands and Pezlands in various records.
Caroline’s instinct that Peaseland’s owners may have been more affluent than your average farmers was borne out by local parish registers of the 1600s (transcribed online by a local genealogy group), which revealed a ‘John Cleasbye of Peesland’, who was buried in nearby Morland in 1649 (and whose great-grandfather may have been Sir William Cleasbye of Westmoreland). The house was then passed down through different lines of the same family and was put up for sale for the first time in 1866, being described in the local paper as ‘that ancient capital messuage and tenement or estate, called ‘Peaslands''.
PEASELANDS ESTATE FOR SALE (SOURCE: BRITISH NEWSPAPER ARCHIVE, ORIGINAL REPORT: THE PENRITH OBSERVER, TUESDAY 18 SEPTEMBER, 1866.)
‘It was lovely to learn that despite many people having lived in the house, it has been passed on through family lines, so in its over 300-year history, the house was only sold twice before my in-laws bought it. And we intend to pass the house on to our children, so it will hopefully be in the family for many years to come."
A FRONT ROOM FIT FOR WORSHIP
Searches for earlier owners, the Thornborrows (descendants of the Cleasbyes through marriage), led to a further unexpected discovery. An obituary for owner Henry Thornborrow in 1846 found in a digital copy of The Wesleyan Methodist Association Magazine for 1846 revealed him to be a devout methodist, which led to the discovery that Peaselands was registered as a Wesleyan Methodist Association preaching place in the 1851 Ecclesiastical Census, seating twenty people.
OBITUARY OF HENRY THORNBORROW OF PEASELANDS, KING'S MEABURN - 1846 (SOURCE: MYUNITEDMETHODISTS.ORG.UK, ORIGINAL DATA: THE WESLEYAN METHODIST ASSOCIATION MAGAZINE).
"You would never know it to look at the house — a traditional farmhouse — yet as it has remained remarkably unchanged, I can almost imagine the people there worshipping. It’s really brought the house alive for us."
PLAYING FOR THE FAMILIES OF THE WILLIAM PIT DISASTER
Delving deeper into the Peaselands band of the mid-20th century revealed a history of musicians in the same family since at least 1888 and details of an event they played in 1947 to support the William Pit Disaster Fund — raising money for the families of the 104 men who lost their lives in nearby Whitehaven.
THE WILLIAM PIT DISASTER FUND (SOURCE: BNA. ORIGINAL: THE PENRITH OBSERVER, TUESDAY 23 SEPTEMBER, 1947)
For Caroline, the history of this special house is something her family will cherish for years to come, “We've always felt honoured to be the custodians for the next chapter, but it's so lovely to now know who has gone before us ".
House History Package Details:
PEASELANDS, A HOUSE HISTORY WALL PRINT. RESEARCHED & WRITTEN BY REBECCA MERRIFIELD, MARCH 2023.
Caroline ordered ‘The Comprehensive Online’ house history package, which includes twenty-five hours of online research*, and comes with a beautifully designed A2-sized wall print and accompanying printed storybook.
"I was blown away when I opened the package and started reading. The storybook provided so much more information than I ever expected. There is so much information packed in there on the timeline; every time I go back and read it, I find something new. Presenting it that way is so useful as it helps us visualise the history. Providing links to all the historical sources and potential further sources is great as we can easily continue the research for ourselves, and the images of the historical records really bring the history to life.
The print is stunning; I can’t wait to get it framed and on the wall once our renovations are complete. I know it will be a big talking point for visitors."
Find out more about the Comprehensive house history package (*now includes one day of archival research):