Glassonby is a small village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 and civil parish in the Eden Valley

River Eden, Cumbria

The River Eden is a river that flows through Cumbria, England on its way to the Solway Firth.-Course of river:The Eden rises in Black Fell Moss, Mallerstang, on the high ground between High Seat, Yorkshire Dales and Hugh Seat. Here it forms the boundary between the counties of Cumbria and North...

 of Cumbria

Cumbria

Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, about 3 miles (4.8 km) south south east of Kirkoswald

Kirkoswald, Cumbria

The village, civil parish and former market town of Kirkoswald lies in the Lower Eden Valley of Cumbria, formerly Cumberland, about from Penrith. The village is usually referred to locally as KO....

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There is a methodist church and a microlight flying centre in the village.

The Anglican

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

 church of St Michael, just to the south of the village, is not the parish

Parish

A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

 church of Glassonby but of Addingham. The village of Addingham lay near the River Eden but was lost centuries ago when the river changed its course. The church was rebuilt using some stones from the original and the name kept for the parish. Addingham parish was divided into a number of civil parishes in 1866.

Just to the north of the village, at White House Farm, is a well-preserved late sixteenth century bastle house

Bastle house

Bastle houses are a type of construction found along the Anglo-Scottish border, in the areas formerly plagued by border Reivers. They are farmhouses, characterised by elaborate security measures against raids...

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The ashes of Rev G. Bramwell Evens, who was a popular broadcaster of the 1930s, were scattered at Old Parks Farm. He was a regular visitor to Glassonby in the 1920s and 30s. He is commemorated by a memorial at Old Parks which reads 'Sacred to the memory of Rev G. Bramwell Evens, "Romany of the BBC", whose ashes are scattered here. Born 1884. Died Nov 1943. He loved birds and trees and flowers and the wind on the heath'.

Glassonby Civil Parish

The civil parish of Glassonby stretches from the banks of the River Eden to the summits of the North Pennines

Pennines

The Pennines are a low-rising mountain range, separating the North West of England from Yorkshire and the North East.Often described as the "backbone of England", they form a more-or-less continuous range stretching from the Peak District in Derbyshire, around the northern and eastern edges of...

, where it borders Alston Moor

Alston Moor

Alston Moor is an area of moorland and civil parish in Cumbria, England, based around the small town of Alston. The parish had a population of 2,156 at the 2001 census. As well as the town of Alston, the parish includes the villages of Garrigill and Nenthead, along with the hamlets of Nenthall,...

. In addition to Glassonby itself it includes the village of Gamblesby

Gamblesby, Glassonby

Gamblesby is a village near Melmerby in the civil parish of Glassonby, Cumbria, England. It appears first in written records in 1177 as Gamelesbi, and in 1212 as Gamelesby. It was a civil parish until 1934....

, a separate civil parish until 1934, and the hamlets

Hamlet (place)

A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...

 of Glassonbybeck, Maughanby and Unthank

Unthank, Glassonby

Unthank is a village near Gamblesby in the civil parish of Glassonby in Cumbria, England. It is first mentioned in writing as Unthanke in 1332....

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