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Eight hundred feet above sea level, 18 miles from Kendal, six miles from Kirkby Stephen and in the shadow of the beautiful Howgill Fells, lies the small limestone village of Newbiggin-on-Lune. A spring of clear water known as St. Helen’s Well gushes up beside the village and local tradition decrees that this is the start of the River Lune, beloved of fishermen, which meanders through the Lune Valley to join the sea at Morecambe Bay.
The main industry of the area is farming, as it has been for centuries, with sheep playing the most important role. A Knitting Gallery in the centre of the village is a reminder of the hundreds of pairs of stockings, which were knitted here from “bump” a rough wool. They were sent to Hawes and Kendal for distribution and the women received 3d a pair for their labours.
On the opposite side of the road is a small, single storey building, once the community bakehouse where housewives brought their bread to be baked in the village oven, whilst Low Yard was the venue for a small market held twice weekly, when farmer’s wives gathered to sell their chickens eggs and butter. Brownber Hall overlooks the village and next to it is Tower House, once home to the famous Elizabeth Gaunt, the last woman to be burnt at the stake in London for her religious beliefs. The little church of St. Aidan’s overlooks the square but it is no longer a place of worship having closed and converted into a family home.
The village has seen many changes over the years. At one time there were 14 tailors supplying local needs, a candle house producing candles for all the dale, a wine merchant, corn merchant, joiner and undertaker, cobbler, grocer, pot shop, general store and snuff mill, coaching inn, two visiting banks, post office, school, railways station and bus service. As a result of social changes, most of these amenities have gone, including the school which when it was built in 1872 offered Greek and Latin (to boys only) as part of its curriculum.
But Newbiggin remains an active thriving community, agriculture being its backbone, whilst employment is provided by an animal feed merchant, Weasdale tree nursery (one of the highest in England), a garden centre and craft shop, trout fishing farm, pre-school nursery, haulage and agricultural contractors, bed and breakfast establishments, joiners and builders, insurance brokers, retirement home. The old railway line from Tebay to Darlington has been made into a nature reserve.
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