ORMSIDE, or Ormes-Head, a parish in East Ward district, Westmoreland; on the river Eden, 2 miles S S E of Appleby r. station. It contains the two small villages of Great Ormside and Little Ormside; and its post town is Appleby, under Penrith. Acres, 2, 430. Real property, £1, 611. Pop, 188. Houses, 29. The property is divided among a few. The manor belonged to the Vescis; passed to the Radcliffes, the Pickerings, the Hyltons, and others; and belongs now to Sir R. Tufton, Bart. Ormside Hall is an old seat; and Breeks Hall was the seat of the Bartons. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Carlisle. Value, £166.* Patron, the Bishop of Carlisle. The church is ancient, with a tower; includesa private chapel of the Tuftons; contains three brasses of the 17th century; and was reported in 1859 as not good. There is a national school.

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