LIMESTONE COUNTRY - A Northern Coast to Coast Walk: From St Bees to Robin Hood's Bay - page 59

Many of Orton's cottages date from the 17th and 18th centuries. Petty Hall, which
once belonged to the Birkbeck family, bears the date 1604 on a panel over the doorway.
Not far away stands Orton Hall, built in 1662, and for many years the home of the Burn
family, one of whom acquired fame for his legal writings.
Probably the most famous of Orton's inhabitants, however, was George Whitehead,
one of the founders of the Society of Friends. Born here in 1636, he fell under the spell
of the charismatic George Fox, and to the distress of his family, turned Quaker while
still a youth. This was a most perilous time for Quakers, and while it is understandable
that many folk in isolated communities like Orton should take to the faith, they were
universally hated by Anglicans, Presbyterians, and Baptists alike, and it was common-
place to find people baiting them and beating them with sticks. Somehow, Whitehead
survived this persecution and embarked on a personal crusade of a most remarkable
order. Preaching widely, as George Fox had done, he argued at length with preach-
ers and professors alike, and visited imprisoned Quakers both willingly and then as a
prisoner himself. He was placed in stocks and whipped. Undaunted, he held services
on windswept hillsides, petitioned the House of Commons for justice for Quakers, and
spent increasing periods of his life in prison.
Yet nothing, it seemed, could deter him from his mission. In his quiet way he per-
suaded King Charles to free every captive Quaker, only to see them later thrown back
into prison and robbed of their estates. From James II he secured immunity from per-
secution, but it was not until after the Revolution that Parliament passed an Act recog-
nising Quakers as citizens.
If George Fox was the creator of the Society of Friends, George Whitehead, it has
been said, 'was the law-giver, the Moses of his creed'. Unabashed, he stood before sev-
en sovereigns, obtaining concessions that later found their way into the Quaker Magna
Carta of 1696. He died in 1723, aged 86.
At the southern edge of the village stands a delightful double-arched bridge which
separates the waters of Chapel Beck. Another attractive pedestrian bridge stands
nearby, giving into the grounds of Orton Hall.
Orton Hall is an extensive Jacobean mansion house in six acres of private grounds,
mainly laid to lawn with mature trees and shrubs, with a small wood at the rear of the
property. It dates from 1662 and is a Grade II Listed Building.

Orton to Kirkby Stephen

Distance 20.5km (12.8 miles)

Height Gain Nominal