St. Patrick’s is one of the finest Victorian Churches in the Diocese of Carlisle. It was built by Levi Hodgson and Robert McAdam of Patterdale to the design of the famous architect Anthony Salvin. The Church was consecrated by the Bishop of Carlisle on 3 November 1853 . An excellent meeting room was built in 1995.

Earlier Churches

The present St. Patrick’s replaced a Church built about 1600. There have been earlier places of worship in the Dale. A charter of 1348 refers to ‘the Chapel of Patricksdale’. There is a ruin of an old Chapel on Boredale Hause on the way over to Martindale.

St. Patrick and Local Tradition

Local tradition says that St. Patrick came to this Dale in the early 5th century, that he converted many local people to Christianity and that the Dale is named after him (St. Patrick’s Dale or Patterdale). Near the Church and War Memorial is St. Patrick’s Well.