•  Levens, Westmorland

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In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Levens like this:

LEVENS, a township and a chapelry in Heversham parish, Westmoreland. The township lies on the river Kent, 2¾ miles NNW of Milnthorpe r. station, and 5½ S by W of Kendal; contains the hamlets of BeathwaiteGreen and Sizergh-Hillside, and part of Brigsteer; and h as a post office under Milnthorpe. ...

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Acres, 3,953; of which 33 are water. Real property, £5,373. Pop., 936. Houses, 191. The manor belonged to the Redmans; passed to the Bellinghams and the Grahams; and, with levens Hall, belongs now to the Howards. The Hall is a fine old Tudor mansion; contains much elaborate oaken carved work, and some interesting pictures; and stands amid charming grounds. The gardens were planned by Beaumont, gardener to James II.; and the park is traversed by the Kent, between steep and richly wooded banks,-contains a petrifying spring, called the dropping-well,-and has a fine distribution of lawn and wood; while herds of deer

- across the green sward bound,
Through shade and sunny gleam;
And the swans glide past them, with the sound
Of Kent's rejoicing stream.

Levens bridge takes the road from Milnthorpe to Kendal across the Kent; and Levens Force is a foaming cascade of the river, nearly a mile above the bridge. Under Levens Hall was the seat of the Leivins and the Prestons. A ruin at Kirkstead is supposed to occupy the site, and even to include some portions of a Roman temple dedicated to Diana.—The chapelry is less extensive than the township, and was constituted in 1838. Pop., 804. Houses, 166. The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of Carlisle. Value, £200. * Patron, the Hon. Mrs. Howard. The church is modern, in the early English style, with tower and spire.

Levens through time

Levens is now part of South Lakeland district. Click here for graphs and data of how South Lakeland has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Levens itself, go to Units and Statistics.

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