DISTINGTON, a village and a parish in Whitehaven district, Cumberland. The village stands near the coast, 2 miles SE of Harrington r. station, and 3½ S of Workington; and has a post office under Whitehaven. The parish comprises 2, 910 acres. Real property, £4, 434. Pop., 785. Houses, 178. The property is much sub-divided. Hayes Castle, now a ruin at the southern extremity of the village, was the seat of the Moresbys. Building stone, limestone, and coal are worked; and manufactures of tools, hats, and thread are carried on. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Carlisle. Value, 301.* Patron, the Earl of Lonsdale. The church is very good; and there are chapels for Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists.

(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))