About us
The Benefice is in the Eskdale valley and includes the four parishes of Eskdale & Boot, Irton, Muncaster and Waberthwaite. Of the four parishes, Eskdale is the only one to have two churches. The Parish Church of St Catherine is about two miles away from the village of Eskdale and Lord Rea donated land in 1890 for a new village school and Chapel of Ease to be built within the village itself. St Bega's Chapel was 'adopted' by the Carlisle diocese in 1990 and services are held in St Catherines and St Bega's on alternate Sundays. The benefice is part of the Calder Deanery, in the Diocese of Carlisle. Services are held at each church fortnightly according to a published schedule. A Benefice service is held in just one of the churches, should there be a fifth Sunday in the month. The monthly list of services is printed in the Parish Magazine and on this website with extra copies being sent to the local Inns.
Weddings, Christenings and Funerals are held at each of the Parish Churches (not St Bega's) and non-residents are welcome to contact Anne Baker about appropriate services.
There are two Church of England Primary schools attached to the benefice; one at Eskdale Green and the other at Waberthwaite. An After-school club runs regularly at Eskdale Primary School and a youth Group meets monthy on Sunday evenings. At St Bega's Church, a monthly childrens club meets in the Village Hall below the church and the children join the service during communion.
Post Office services are provided at St Bega's Church every Monday and Thurday morning from the Sub Post Office in Holmrook. There is also a permanent Photographic Exhibition of local life at St Bega's Church.
Our churches are always open and visitors are always welcome both to look around and to attend our services.
A monthly Parish Magazine is published and is distributed by hand to every resident in the Benefice and by post to non-resident subscribers. See a specimen copy.
A list of Bible versions 'approved' for public use during services will be found under 'Which bible' on the main menu.
CHURCHYARDS
Each of our parishes is blessed with a beautiful churchyard. However, the maintenance of them can be very costly to our smallcongregations. The cost of grass cutting is a major consideration and so we are grateful for the fact that in the parts of our churchyards which are closed, i.e. there is no longer space for burials, the Borough Council is responsible for maintaining them.
However, the maintenance will be drastically reduced from this year because of the financial restraints on Councils with the cut-backs. Although the entrances and pathways will be kept clear to maintain access, the rest of the old graveyards will not be kept in the same way as they have in the past. This will, of course encourage wildlife and wild flora to flourish over the time and many people see this as being very desirable.
The other issue with our churchyards concerns old gravestones which have become unsafe and the families to whom these graves belong are not In a position to maintain them. The cost of making these headstones safe is very considerable indeed and our churches will have to explore the most practical ways of addressing the problem sensitively.
We know that this may be a very emotive issue for those who have loved ones buried in our churchyards and we shall continue to do our best to maintain those which are currently used for burials to the present high standard but hope that people may be aware of the fact that our resources are limited.
Of course, any contributions to the maintenance of the churchyards will be received most gratefully!