Abbey Holme in 1837

Abbey Holme, about six miles from Wigton, has a small market on Saturday, in summer only. The quarter population in 1831 was 861 ; the parish population was 3,056. In this parish was an abbey of Cistercians, said to have been founded about the year 1150, by Prince Henry, son of David, king of Scotland ; part of the ruins is remaining, and has been converted into the parish church. In the reigns of Edward I and Edward II the abbots of this religious house were summoned to several parliaments. Woolsty-castle, of which there is now scarcely a vestige, was a strong fortress. Near it is the famous Green-Row academy.