Lorton, Cumbria

The second element in the name "Lorton" is clearly from the Old English "tūn", meaning farmstead or village'. The first remains enigmatic, but experts have suggested[12] it is from an Old Norse river name "Hlóra", meaning roaring, parallel with the Norwegian "Lora".[13] The roaring may refer either to the Whit Beck or the River Cocker.

In 1811, Lorton was at the peak of its prosperity and population due to high demand on agricultural products as England was recovering from the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815).[14] The majority of residents were employed in agriculture across the six farms, including one attached to the 17th-century New House. The farms were powered by fast-flowing tributaries of the River Cocker, which runs the length of the valley. Most of houses and cottages in Lorton started off as barns and mills.[15] Church records indicate a post-war depression from 1816 to 1830, with a population decrease of about 50 people and the number of marriages decreased.[14]

The firm of Jennings Brewery was set up in Lorton in 1828 by John Jennings and brewed here exclusively until 1874.[16]

Lorton Park is a Grade II Listed Regency House owned in the 19th century by Richard Harbord, a Liverpool shipping magnate who is buried in the parish church.[17] In 1863, Prince Arthur visited Lorton Park and planted a commemorative chestnut tree in the gardens.[18]

The novelist and agricultural writer and activist Doreen Wallace (1897–1989) was born in Lorton.

Lorton was mentioned in the Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870–1872) by John Marius Wilson, who described it as "a village, a township, and a parish in Cockermouth district, Cumberland".[19] Wilson gave some early key statistics on the value of real property (£3,288), the head count (456) and the area (5264 acres, 2130 ha). Lorton was mentioned some 15 years later in the Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887) by John Bartholomew, whose figures show some changes: the population lower by 59 at 397 and the area higher 54 acres at 5318 acres (2152 ha).

William Wordsworth, the famous poet born in Cockermouth, immortalised the Lorton Yew Tree in his poem "Yew Trees" in 1804. The tree is calculated to be at least 1000 years old, but it was severely damaged by a storm shortly after the poem was written.[20]