About A Place

This interactive map is the main portal for accessing current information on the histories of individual places within Cumbria.

Finding a Place

The map above shows the pre-1974 counties of Cumberland and Westmorland, divided into their "Wards" - and those parts of the former counties of Yorkshire and Lancashire now included within the county of Cumbria.

Click within a WARD and a pop-up map of the ward will appear with all the townships/parishes marked within it. These are the Civil Parishes as they existed around the 1890s. Click on a name, and you will be taken to the page for that place.

Alternatively, you can find infomation about a place, including hamlets and villages, through this alphabetical TOWNSHIP LIST on the right hand side (or below, if you're using a hand-held device).

The Township Pages

Each of the 348 townships/civil parishes of Cumbria has a webpage to itself. On that page you will find a brief single-page summary of the history of the place, based upon the Historical Gazetteer entry (see opposite), but subject to amendment from time to time in the light of new research. Full Victoria County Histories of each place will be eventually be posted - but this will take time, possibly many years to complete.

In the meantime, a list of draft township histories (complete, interim or partial) is available HERE. If YOU would like to embark on researching the history of a particular place for the project, please get in touch with Dr Sarah Rose via the Contact Us page. Full training and support will be given.

On the Township Pages too you will find links to up to ten papers which have appeared over the years in the Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society. There will also be links to other external sites, including maps and other resources.

If you spot something that you think is wrong in one of the Digests, and have evidence to back up what you say, please let us know via the Contact Us page. Accepted amendments will be incorporated into the township web page - and will be included in subsequent editions of the Gazetteer

The design and development of the interactive map and its associated content was made possible through the assistance of grants from the Marc Fitch Fund and from E H Booth & Co Ltd.

Cumbria: An Historical Gazetteer

Cumbria: An Historical Gazetteer has been published by the Regional Heritage Centre at Lancaster University in association with the Cumbria County History Trust. It contains short summaries of historical information about every community in Cumbria. Arranged alphabetically, it provides information about population, landownership, local economic history, places of worship, schools and other community institutions across the centuries.

The Gazetteer is based on the 'Jubilee Digests' that were produced by a large team of volunteer local historians who compiled short parish and township histories for the project website using a checklist of key sources. These have now been edited by Angus J. L. Winchester for publication ensuring accuracy and consistency.

It provides coverage of the modern county of Cumbria, containing an article for each of the 348 civil parishes as they existed in the 1890s. The Gazetteer is an encyclopaedic work of reference and will be of interest to all those concerned with the history of Cumbria.

Softback

Full colour cover, 7 maps

ISBN: 978-1-86220-330-3

339pp

It is priced £9.99 (plus £1.00 postage and packing). Discounts are available for Friends and Patrons of the Regional Heritage Centre and members of the Cumbria County History Trust. A searchable electronic version of the Gazetteer (sold as a PDF file on a USB pen drive) is available for £7.99. Printed and electronic versions may be purchased together as a package for £14.99.

You can order this book through Lancaster University's Online Store

About the Author

Angus J. L. Winchester is Professor Emeritus in the Department of History at Lancaster University. He was the Director of the Victoria County History of Cumbria project from its inception in 2010 until his retirement in 2016.