DOVENBY is a township and village 2 ½ miles north-west from Cockermouth, with a private station for the use of the Dykes family, one mile south of the village, on the Derwent branch of the Maryport and Carlisle railway. This township has a charity of £35 a year arising from rent charges, and £1 5s. derived from about £42 in Savings Bank securities; of the total income, £32 5s. is distributed to six deserving poor persons, at Christmas, and £4 is paid to the master of the National school here, Dovenby Hall, the seat of Mrs. Dykes, is a mansion of freestone, standing in a park of 52 acres; the present house is almost entirely modern, but some of the older portions appear to be constructed of Roman materials. Mrs. Dyke, who is lady of the manor, and the trustees of the late L, F. B. Dykes are the chief landowners. The area is 1,932 acres; rateable value, £2,087; the population in 1891 was 238.

National School (mixed), built in 1845 for 112 children; average attendance, 66. The school is endowed with about 5 acres of land and £509 in securities, producing £47 15s. per annum.