Croglin

Croglin is the name of a village, former civil parish, beck (stream), and grange now in the parish of Ainstable, in the Westmorland and Furness district, Cumbria, England. Croglin is a quiet picturesque fellside village between the Pennines and the River Eden, about 14 miles (23 km) south-east of Carlisle. The surrounding land is used for agriculture, mainly sheep. A small river, Croglin Water, flows through the valley down into the River Eden. In 1931 the parish had a population of 198. A village has existed in this location for a long time and may originally have been two separate hamlets. There has been a church on the current site since the Norman period, but the present building, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, was erected in 1878 to a design by J. Hewison of Edinburgh. There is a post office, which opens two mornings a week, and a pub, the Robin Hood. Because of its proximity to the Scottish borders, the village was often raided by the Border Reivers in the 15th century. The lower two stories of a pele tower still survive, incorporated into the house formerly known as Croglin Vicarage, now The Old Pele, a testament to that need for defence. A toy manufacturer, Croglin Toys, was set up in the village in 1980, but now operates from nearby Lazonby. A small dairy in the area, Thornby Moor Dairy, founded in 1979, has developed a type of cheese made from ewe's milk, known as Croglin Cheese.