Mallerstang is a civil parish in the extreme east of Cumbria, and, geographically, a dale at the head of the upper Eden Valley.

The first part of the name comes from the Common Brittonic words found in modern Welsh as moel ("bare") and bre ("hill").

The river Eden rises as Red Gill Beck in Black Moss, the peat bogs below Hugh Seat.

Mallerstang, like many other Pennine dales, reflects the settlement pattern set a thousand years ago by its Norse settlers (whose language is still evident in the names of many of its geographical features).

But the Romans were using a track that had existed at least since the Bronze Age, and there is evidence for even earlier use in recent finds[7] of flint tools nearby.St Mary's Church in Outhgill was founded in the early 14th century by another powerful patroness, Lady Idonea de Veteripont – but, having fallen into disrepair, was restored by Lady Anne in 1663 (as a plaque over the door records).

Whether there is any substance to these old legends will probably never be settled, and there is no evidence from the limited archaeological investigations for any building here before the Norman castle built in the reign of King William Rufus.

(Hugh Seat is named after him, and Wild Boar Fell, as seen from beyond the castle to the north, is said to have haunted him because in certain lights its profile strongly suggests a face and mitre: the recumbent St Thomas.)

The local protesters had gathered at Lammerside Castle, just north of Mallerstang, and joined the 6000 men who marched through Westmorland towards Carlisle.

The tradition of dissent was still alive in the 17th century when ten or more families in the dale became Quakers – at a time when all non-conformists suffered considerable persecution.

As he moved to London a year before their third child was born, the area narrowly missed being able to claim the great scientist Michael Faraday as a Mallerstang man.

Twenty-five of those who died during the construction of this section of the line (both builders and members of their families) are buried in unmarked graves in the churchyard of St. Mary's.

[citation needed] The population, with 101 on the electoral register (March 2011), is too small to entitle Mallerstang to have a Parish Council, and it has no representation by elected councillors in the nearest town, Kirkby Stephen.

The budget for the coming year and a 'parish precept' (an amount added to the Council Tax specifically for Mallerstang) are agreed at the November meeting.