# Stainton (near Kendal)

Stainton is a village and civil parish in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. It is near the village of Sedgwick and 5.3 miles (8.5 km) south Kendal. Killington Reservoir runs alongside the parish of Stainton and the village is near the A590 road. In 2021 the parish had a population of 316. From 1974 to 2023 it was in South Lakeland district.
The village is home to a small chapel, post office and 128 houses. The chapel, which was erected in 1698 is no longer used for religious reasons. In 2003 work started to convert it into a village hall and, ten years later, it was handed on 22 November 2013 to the charity that had funded this project.
It is situated south east of the Lake District national park. The Lancaster Canal runs to the south of the village.

## History

The name Stainton derives from the old English meaning of stoney farm/settlement. Stān, meaning "a stone, stone, rock" and tūn meaning "an enclosure, a farmstead, a village, an estate."
Stainton used to be the site of an old Roman settlement and is built on limestone.
In the 19th century John Bartholomew described Stainton as:
    "Stainton, township and vil., Heversham par., Westmorland, in S. of co.- township, 1735 ac., pop. 388; vil., 4 miles S. of Kendal; P.O."

### Historical monuments

Monuments in the parish include a series of bridges across Stainton Beck (Stainton bridge, a packhorse bridge and an aqueduct carrying the Lancaster Canal), Selet Hall and the parish church (St Thomas' Church in the neighbouring village of Crosscrake).
Alfred Wainwright wrote about the history stating that "it is a place of great antiquity" and also about how pleasant the parish was.

## Demographics

Census population and households of Stainton parish :
| Census | Population | Households |
| 1871 | 378 | |
| 1881 | 388 | 78 |
| 1891 | 405 | 83 |
| 1901 | 332 | 81 |
| 1911 | 331 | |
| 1921 | 324 | 77 |
| 1931 | 276 | 76 |
| 1951 | 335 | 92 |
| 1961 | 297 | 100 |
| 1971 | 249 | |
| 2001 | 301 | 123 |
| 2011 | 313 | 128 |
| 2021 | 316 | 126 |

### Occupations

This table shows the occupation roles of the population of Stainton in the year 1881 for males (blue) and females (orange). Other than the unidentified jobs, there was a high proportion of workers in the agricultural and animals sector.
The second largest sector is domestic which is dominated by females at 23, compared to only two males.
In the 2011 census the recorded number of economically active people in the parish was 226 and of those, 146 were economically active. With this table it is possible to compare the 1881 occupation statistics with those of 2011. As the 1881 graph shows the most significant occupations other than the unknown ones were agriculture and domestic. The largest sector in 2011 was professionals and associate professionals which compared to only 4 in 1881 is a large expansion. This shows that over 130 years the dominant occupation roles have shifted from agriculture to professionals and also managers and directors.
Of those who were economically inactive, one was unemployed, seven of them are full-time students and 56 were retired.

### Education

In the parish of Stainton there are 255 members who are 16 and over. As the Graph shows 219 of these have qualifications between level one and the highest level of qualification including apprenticeships. As the graph shows, 105 people who live in the village have gained a level four qualification which is the greatest percentage at 41.2% of the total number.Out of 255 people, 36 in the parish have no qualifications.

### Households

In 2011, two-person households dominated the parish with 46.75% (56) houses. There were few houses occupied by larger families, with only eight houses having five people or more in them. The majority of the homes were detached or bungalows, followed by semi-detached homes.