Lower Holker

CARTMEL FELL AND LOWER HOLKER. 575

had been put to him by learned persons in London, the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and even from Gottingen in Germany, all of which he never iailed to answer; nor was there a question in mathematics that he could not readily solve. During the last forty years of his ,life he consented to take pupils, whom he instructed in geometry, mensuration. &c. His original :simplicity never forsook him, and he was addressed by his neighbours with -the familiar 80Ubriquet of " Will o'th Hollins " while he resided on his farm; and afterwards, when he removed nearer Cartmel, " Willy Gibson." He died in 1791, aged 71 years.

> Lower Holker Is situated within the poor law union, petty sessional division, and Iural district of Ulverston, county court district of Barrow, and -electoral division of Cartmel, and covers an area, of which the -extent is 2,387 acres, the gross estimated rental £11,583, the rateable value £10,023, and population 1,062. . The township contains the three villages of HOLKER, CARK, and .FLOOKBURGH. The latter, as its name signifies, was anciently a market town, and the memory of its former importance is still :retained in one portion of its single thoroughfare, called Market Street. The charter of incorporation was granted to the Prior of 'Cartmel by Edward I. in 1278. Charles the 11. cancelled the old -charter and granted a new one, which is still in existence, and in possession of Miss Helm, whose family have resided here for several generations. The place seems never to have recovered from the ·effects of a fire, which, in 1680, almost destroyed the little town. A beautiful stone cross, commemorative of the former importance . -of Flookburgh, was erected on May 23rd, 1882, on the site of an .ancient one, which once stood in the main street. It bears the following inscription: "First charter granted to Flookburgh by Edward I., A.D., 1278; second charter by Henry IV., A.D. 1412, 'Charter conferred by Charles 11., A.D. 1675. Erected A.D. 1882, on the site of an ancient cross." The village is situated on -the shores of Morecambe Bay, the broad expanse of whose sands .affords employment to the inhabitants in cockle gathering, of which ·a great quantity are annually forwarded to the inland towns. The Church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, is a handsome :structure, consisting of nave, aisles, and chancel. It was erected in 1900 by the Duke of Devonshire, to replace an older one, the site of which is marked by a memorial. There is seating accommoda­ tion for 460. The benefice is a vicarage, of the value of £270, in ·the gift of Lord Richard Cavendish, and held by the Rev. John .Fowler, M.A. The late John Pollard, Esq., of Holker, bequeathed by will to the churchwardens of Flookburgh the sum of £200, in London & North-Western Railway Stock, the dividends of which .are to be applied in specified proportions to the general expenses of the church, infant school, organ repair fund, organist, choir fund, and poor of Holker, Flookburgh, and Cark. There is an