St James' Church, Hayton

Before 1868, the village of Hayton was included in the parish of Aspatria and as such the inhabitants had to walk the two miles to worship at St. Kentigern’s Church, which is where the Musgrave family installed their private chapel.

However, in that year Hayton was constituted a separate ecclesiastic district in accordance with the provisions of Lord Blandford’s parliamentary act of 1868.

After which it became a separate parish in conjunction with the neighbouring villages of Allerby, Outerside, Prospect and a short stretch of the Solway Coast at Mealo, as well as many outlying farms.

The church, built on a site donated by a Mr Blackburn, the then occupant of Hayton Castle was designed by the firm of architects, Travis of Manchester at a cost of about £1,300.

Inside it is spacious and well-maintained with an attractive wrought iron screen dividing the naïve from the chancel and two fine Stained glass windows which admit a flood of variously tinted light.

There is also a two-light window, portraying the carrying of the cross and the crucifixion, inserted by the parishioners and friends to the memory of Thomas Thwaites, first rector of Hayton, who died 22 November 1884.