Population 588 (2011) Civil parish Orton Country England Shire county Cumbria District Eden District UK parliament constituency Penrith and The Border | OS grid reference NY623083 Region North West Sovereign state United Kingdom Local time Monday 8:20 AM Dialling code 015396 | |
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Weather 1°C, Wind SE at 3 km/h, 96% Humidity | ||
Orton is a village and civil parish in Cumbria, England, 15 miles (24 km) south of Penrith, Cumbria, 8 miles (13 km) from Appleby-in-Westmorland, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) the M6 motorway near to the Lake District. It is set at the foot of Orton Scar in the upper Lune Valley. Just a few miles over the scar is the Eden valley.
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Map of Orton, Penrith, UK
Historically it was part of the county of Westmorland but is now in the Eden District of Cumbria.
Orton Scar
Orton Scar is renowned for its beautiful limestone pavements and also the views. From its summit you can see Blackpool tower on a clear day, the A66 over Stainmore, the Lake District, the Howgill Fells and even down or up the Eden Valley and its source at Mallerstang also you can see as far as the southern uplands. The road leading to Appleby (B6260) leads over Orton Scar and the surrounding moorland was used in the movie version of Anne Brontë's novel The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. There are two becks flowing through the village which join into a river for about 20 metres then split up again both leading to Bybeck bridge at the parish boundary next to Tebay.
Orton Village
Orton has many 17th and 18th century cottages. Most of these traditional cottages are either stone faced or white washed, the 13th century All Saints Church, a Methodist chapel, a primary school, one pub called the George Hotel and a small handmade chocolate factory which is famous worldwide. There are also places such as the Village Tea rooms and B&Bs. Also the shop/post office is a popular place which usually has at least one or two people in it in the 10 hours of it being open. Many unadvertised local businesses also are situated around the village such as builders or joiners. Around 25 new houses were built in the early 1990s and now Eden District Council intend to build 50 new houses by 2012.
Orton village has a popular farmers market held on the second Saturday of each month in the village hall and market square, this has a friendly atmosphere with a live band plus a hog roast. Orton was given a market town charter in the Middle Ages but despite this it has always remained a village like other similar places in Westmorland which were made market towns, for example Brough and Shap.
Orton Parish
With a 30-mile perimeter Orton is one of the largest parishes in England. Within the parish is the well known Tebay motorway service area. Many people describe the village as 'picturesque' or the 'village of tranquility'. The Parish also contains a number of hamlets such as:
Governance
Orton is part of the electoral ward called Orton with Tebay. This ward covers both parishes' and their surrounding areas. The total population of the ward at the 2011 Census was 1,364.