Cleator

Though it has required construction repairs in later centuries, an ancient church has survived in the village, St Leonard's, whose site may have housed an earlier building even as early as the 5th century. While the current building underwent major interventions in 1841 and in 1900–1903, the chancel dates at least in part to the 12th century. Since the Reformation (16th century) the present building has been the Anglican parish church. The grounds are entered through a lychgate and there is a churchyard. The saint to whom the church is dedicated is presumably to be identified with Saint Leonard of Noblac or of Limoges, a 6th century monk and hermit whose popularity spread rapidly throughout Europe in the 12th century. Numerous Christian churches with the same dedication currently exists throughout the world.

The sizeable Catholic St Mary's Church (officially titled Our Lady of the Sacred Heart) was designed by the architect E. W. Pugin (the son of the better-known A.W.N. Pugin, whose works include the Houses of Parliament). The church was constructed in the years 1869–1872 and opened in 1872. Here, too, there is a churchyard and the grounds include a grotto, constructed to give work to the unemployed men of the parish during the depression of 1926. Modelled on that of Lourdes, it is the venue for an annual procession.

Other churches in the area, located in nearby Cleator Moor, include the Methodist Church, first built in 1862 and rebuilt in 1934 after a fire; also the grade 2 listed Anglican Church of St John Evangelist, designed in an Anglo-Norman style by the Carlisle-born architect Charles John Ferguson (1840-1904) and consecrated in 1872. Other nonconformist chapels, now closed, included the Presbyterian church, the Primitive Methodist chapel, a Congregational chapel, and a United Methodist Free church.

The village formed part of the Borough of Copeland, until the latter was abolished on 1 April 2023. The borough's functions were transferred to the new unitary authority Cumberland.[2] The new authority covers 77% of the area of the historic and former administrative county of Cumberland (excluding the Penrith area) and 90% of its population.

Cleator was the site of a number of textile mills (originally linen), and the Kangol firm established itself there in 1938. Following the development of iron ore mining in nearby areas, Cleator was the site of associated works (hence the street name "Kiln Brow" and the location "The Forge"). Longlands Lake nature reserve is on the site of the former Longlands iron ore mine, which first produced ore in 1879 from four pits. By 1924 the Cleator mines had been abandoned. In 1939 they started to subside and flood the area, creating Longlands Lake, which was acquired by Cumbria County Council in 1980.

The population of the village has varied considerably over the years, reflecting the fortunes of local industrial development. An estimate for 1688 (the year of the Glorious Revolution) put the number at 330, and it had increased but little, to 362, by 1801. It then more than doubled, to 763, by 1841. This was the beginning of an expansion which continued for the greater part of the rest of the century, with the arrival of immigrants from Ireland, and, thanks to mining prospects, even from Cornwall. Developments included the creation on the former common to the north of what by the 1880s became the town of Cleator Moor. By 1861 the population had reached 3,995, and increased to well over double the figure only twenty years later, in 1881, when it stood at 10,420. That was the peak. Numbers fell to 8,120 by 1901 and a half-century later in 1951 were registering 6,411. Changed conditions once more brought the figure to 7,686 by 1971; and it had reduced again to 6,939 in 2001.[3]

• Listed buildings in Cleator Moor

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cleator.

• Cumbria County History Trust: Cleator (nb: provisional research only – see Talk page)

• Cleator Moor Town Council
• Some details of the parish church
• Little Ireland website