Blencow or Blencowe is a small village near Penrith

Penrith, Cumbria

Penrith was an urban district between 1894 and 1974, when it was merged into Eden District.The authority's area was coterminous with the civil parish of Penrith although when the council was abolished Penrith became an unparished area....

, Cumbria

Cumbria

Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...

. It is divided by the River Petteril

River Petteril

The River Petteril is a river running through the English county of Cumbria.The source of the Petteril is near Penruddock and Motherby, from where the young river runs northeast through Greystoke, Blencow and Newton Reigny, before passing under the M6 motorway, after which the river turns north,...

 into Great Blencow to the south and Little Blencow to the north. Great Blencow is in the civil parish

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

 of Dacre

Dacre, Cumbria

Dacre is a small village and civil parish in the Lake District National Park in the Eden District of Cumbria, England, and was historically in Cumberland...

 while Little Blencow is within Greystoke

Greystoke, Cumbria

Greystoke is a village and civil parish on the edge of the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England, about west of Penrith. The village centres on a green surrounded by stone houses and cottages.-Buildings:...

 parish.

The post office and village pub are situated in Little Blencow, and there is another pub called the Clickham Inn to the south of the village towards Newbiggin

Newbiggin (Stainton)

Newbiggin is a small linear village in Cumbria, North-western England. It is in the Dacre civil parish about three miles west of Penrith....

. Also at Newbiggin is the Hanson plc

Hanson plc

Hanson plc is a British based international building materials company, headquartered in Maidenhead. Traded on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index for many years, the company was acquired by a division of German rival Heidelberg Cement in August 2007.-History:Hanson...

 Blencowe Limestone Quarry and Blockworks, and the former Blencow railway station

Blencow railway station

Blencow railway station was situated on the Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith Railway between Penrith and Cockermouth in Cumbria, England. The station served the villages of Blencow and Newbiggin. The station opened to passenger traffic on 2 January 1865, and closed on 3 March 1952...

 on the Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith Railway

Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith Railway

The Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith Railway was incorporated by Act of Parliament on 1 August 1861, for a line connecting the town of Cockermouth with the London and North Western Railway West Coast Main Line at Penrith. Arrangements for the use of the stations at either end The Cockermouth,...

.

The mansion of Ennim just south of the village was the home for many years of the Conservative

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 politician and cabinet minister William (Willie) later Viscount Whitelaw

William Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw

William Stephen Ian Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw, KT, CH, MC, PC, DL , often known as Willie Whitelaw, was a British Conservative Party politician who served in a wide number of Cabinet positions, most notably as Home Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister.-Early life:Whitelaw was born in Nairn, in...

. A substantial police

Police

The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...

 presence was maintained at the house even after Whitelaw's retirement, owing to his time as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, informally the Northern Ireland Secretary, is the principal secretary of state in the government of the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Northern Ireland. The Secretary of State is a Minister of the Crown who is accountable to the Parliament of...

.

Blencow at one time had a very well known grammar school

Grammar school

A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...

.

Just to the west of Little Blencow, Blencow Hall is a 15th century pele tower

Peel tower

Peel towers are small fortified keeps or tower houses, built along the English and Scottish borders in the Scottish Marches and North of England, intended as watch towers where signal fires could be lit by the garrison to warn of approaching danger...

, with alterations and extensions of 1590 and further alterations in the 20th century.