Lorton & Derwent Fells Local History Society

This site introduces you to the Lorton and Derwentfells Local History Society, L&DFLHS, its activities,its publications, and historical resources. Whether you live locally or not, you can join as a member for £10 annually. Each new subscription year starts in January. For more about the Society's role, please scroll down.

To see a poster for our next event please click here.

We regret that our programme has been cancelled for the rest of 2020. Our delayed AGM was held by Zoom on the 8th October.

Members who pay a subscription for 2020 will also have membership for 2021.

We hope to be able to give more information about resuming our programme during November

Our area in the County of Cumbria

The Society has its principal focus in the area of the English Lake District to the west of Keswick and the south of Cockermouth. The map shows this area of Cumbria, formerly Cumberland. The old townships covered are Brackenthwaite, Buttermere, Embleton, Lorton, Loweswater, Mosser, Pardshaw, Whinfell and Wythop.

Follow us on Facebook

The Society now has a Facebook page where you can keep up to date with our programme, follow links to relevant material and join the discussion about the local history of our area. You do not need a Facebook account to read the material, but you do if you wish to contribute. Go to our Facebook page by clicking LortonLocalHistorySociety.

'New Domesday' digital resource -May 2020

In 2020 the Society created a digital resource containing the records for our area of the land valuation survey undertaken during 1909-15. This resource of images held at Cumbria Archive Centre, Carlisle, and The National Archives, is not an online resource, but images for particular properties can be requested and sent by email. The content and how to access is given on this page.

Recent Publication

This new booklet They lie in Foreign Fields was published by the Society in October 2018. Authored by Walter Head and Sheila Gordon, this booklet remembers the local men who died in World War One. The booklet is not for sale, but a copy may be downloaded for personal use as a PDF (click the image above).

The Greenwood maps

The Society provides the Greenwood county maps of Cumberland and Westmorland at the original scale to view, download, and use freely. These maps were surveyed in 1821-3 at one inch to the mile. Click the image above to go to the Greenwood page.

What does the Society do?

The Society is a membership organisation, run by an elected committee.
It organises a programme of events for its members and visitors, primarily a series of bi-monthly talks. Additionally it organises historical visits and occasionally walks and exhibitions.
It publishes a quarterly booklet called the Wanderer, has previously published The Journal, and occasionally publishes books and other material.
Additionally it organises historical visits and occasionally walks and exhibitions.
It keeps an archive of historical material related to the area, and provides support to other local and family historians.
The Society is a member of the Cumbria Local History Federation, a founder member of the Cumbria County History Trust, and a member of the British Association for Local History.

Welcome to our Website