Aspatria is a town and
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...
in the
non-metropolitan district
Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''shire counties'') in a two-tier arrangement. Non ...
of
Allerdale
Allerdale is a non-metropolitan district of Cumbria, England, with borough status. Its council is based in Workington and the borough has a population of 93,492 according to the 2001 census, increasing to 96,422 at the 2011 Census.
The B ...
, and is currently embraced in the
Parliamentary constituency
An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...
of
Workington
Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207.
Loca ...
,
Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. ...
, England. Historically within
Cumberland the town rests on the north side of the Ellen Valley, overlooking a panoramic view of the countryside, with
Skiddaw
Skiddaw is a mountain in the Lake District National Park in England. Its summit is the sixth-highest in England. It lies just north of the town of Keswick, Cumbria, and dominates the skyline in this part of the northern lakes. It is the ...
to the South and the
Solway Firth
The Solway Firth ( gd, Tràchd Romhra) is a firth that forms part of the border between England and Scotland, between Cumbria (including the Solway Plain) and Dumfries and Galloway. It stretches from St Bees Head, just south of Whitehaven ...
to the North. Its developments are aligned approximately east-west along the
A596 Carlisle
Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril. It is the administrative centre of the City ...
to
Workington
Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207.
Loca ...
road and these extend to approximately 2 miles (3 km) in length. It lies about 8 miles (12 km) northeast of
Maryport
Maryport is a town and civil parish in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England, historically in Cumberland.
The town is situated just outside the Lake District National Park, at the northern end of the former Cumberland Coalfield.
Locati ...
, a similar distance to the Southwest of
Wigton
Wigton is a market town in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies just outside the Lake District in the borough of Allerdale. Wigton is at the centre of the Solway Plain, between the Caldbeck Fells a ...
, about 9 miles (14 km) north of
Cockermouth
Cockermouth is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England, so named because it is at the confluence of the River Cocker as it flows into the River Derwent. The mid-2010 census estimates state that Cocke ...
and 5 miles (8 km) from the coast and
Allonby. It comprises the
township
A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...
s of Aspatria and Brayton,
Hayton and Mealo, and
Oughterside and Allerby
Oughterside and Allerby is a civil parish in Allerdale district, Cumbria, England. In the 2011 census it had a population of 619. The north western boundary of the parish is a short stretch of coast, then, working clockwise, the parish is bordere ...
, the united area being ; while the township takes up an area of . In earlier days a
Roman road
Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman R ...
leading from "
Old Carlisle" to
Ellenborough Ellenborough could refer to:
* Ellenborough, Cumbria, England
* Ellenborough, New South Wales, Australia
* Ellenborough Park, Weston-super-Mare, a park in Somerset, England
* Baron Ellenborough
Baron Ellenborough, of Ellenborough in the County ...
passed through the
hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depi ...
.
The population has greatly increased since the mid nineteenth century. In 1801, the village comprised 98 dwellings with a population of 321. By 1851, there were 236 family entities, comprising 1,123 residents; by 1871, the numbers had increased to 1,778; and twenty years later stood at 2,714. By the start of the 20th century, the population had risen to 2,885; twenty years later it peaked at 3,521. Although the population slumped in the 1930s to 3,189, it recovered to 3,500, in 1951; and by 1981, the population appeared stable at 2,745.
It is served by
Aspatria railway station. Aspatria is located on the fringe of the
English Lake District.
The parish church of
St Kentigern
Kentigern ( cy, Cyndeyrn Garthwys; la, Kentigernus), known as Mungo, was a missionary in the Brittonic Kingdom of Strathclyde in the late sixth century, and the founder and patron saint of the city of Glasgow.
Name
In Wales and England, this ...
was completed in 1848. Fragments of masonry and crosses from earlier structures on the same site are preserved there.
History
Pre Norman
Aspatria is an ancient settlement and seems to have been home to a group of
Norsemen
The Norsemen (or Norse people) were a North Germanic ethnolinguistic group of the Early Middle Ages, during which they spoke the Old Norse language. The language belongs to the North Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages and is the ...
who fled to the area from Ireland around 900. In 1789, a surgeon by the name of Rigg employed a group of labourers to level a mound called Beacon Hill, situated close behind his house at Aspatria. After reaching a depth of about one metre they dug into a cavity walled around with large stones and found the
skeleton
A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of an animal. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside ...
of a
Viking
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and s ...
chief almost complete over two metres in length. At the head of the gigantic skeleton lay a
sword
A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed t ...
almost two metres in length, with a remarkably broad blade, ornamented with a gold and silver handle. The
scabbard
A scabbard is a sheath for holding a sword, knife, or other large blade. As well, rifles may be stored in a scabbard by horse riders. Military cavalry and cowboys had scabbards for their saddle ring carbine rifles and lever-action rifles on ...
of the sword was made of wood, lined with cloth. The workmen also unearthed several pieces of
armour
Armour (British English
British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford Dictionaries, "English language, English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specificall ...
, a
dirk with a silver studded handle, a golden buckled belt, and a breast plate. The artefacts remain the property of the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docume ...
. Further finds were made on the same site in 1997 when a mobile phone mast was being constructed.
The Manor
The manor of Aspatria is part of the ancient barony of Allerdale below Derwent. Awarded by
Ranulph de Meschines, grantee of the whole of Cumberland from
William the Conqueror
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England
The monarchy of the United Kingdom, ...
, to Waltheof, son of Gospatrick, Earl of Dunbar, from whom the obsolete name of Aspatrick, may have been derived. Upon the division of the estates of William Fitz Duncan, and his wife Alice de Romney, among their three daughters, the manor passed to Alice the youngest. However Alice died without issue and the estates passed to an elder sister who had married into the Lucy family. The latter family terminated in a female heir Maud de Lucy. She married Henry Percy, the first Earl of Northumberland, who received the whole of her estates. It remained in this family through eleven generations before passing by the marriage of Lady Elizabeth, sole daughter and heiress of Josceline Percy to
Charles Seymour, sixth Earl of Somerset. In recent times it again passed by a female heir to the Wyndham family, from whom it has descended to Lord Leconfield and now Lord Egremont.
The village stands at the northern end of the
West Cumberland Coalfield and there have been mines in the area since the 16th century. The opening of the
Maryport and Carlisle Railway, in 1842, led to a rapid expansion of the industry. The Brayton Domain Collieries sank five different pits around the town at various times and there were also mines near
Mealsgate,
Baggrow and
Fletchertown
Fletchertown is a small village in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. It was historically within Cumberland.
The village was originally built to house workers in a nearby coal mine, since abandoned. The site of the mine and its spoil h ...
. In 1902, a new mine was sunk at Oughterside. The last pit in the town, Brayton Domain No.5, closed in 1940.
In 1870, one of England's first farmers' co-operatives, the
Aspatria Agricultural Cooperative Society The Aspatria Agricultural Cooperative Society was established in Aspatria, Cumberland, England in 1870, after a group of local farmers combined to deal in artificial manures, feeding stuffs, seeds, and agricultural implements. Although formed in a s ...
was established here with offices in the market square, facing the
Aspatria Agricultural College
The Aspatria Agricultural College was a seat of learning located in Aspatria, Cumberland, England. Established in 1874, it was the second educational institution of its kind in the United Kingdom. It was unique in many respects, being devised, co ...
which flourished from 1874 until 1925.
[J Rose & M Dunglinson: Aspatria, a Cumbrian Town (Phillimore, 1987)]
Sir Wilfrid Lawson MP (1829–1906) lived at
Brayton Hall
Brayton Hall is a ruined former mansion in Cumbria, England. Once the ancestral seat of the Lawson family, it stood in a large park, with views of the surrounding countryside and the mountains of the Lake District in the background. Located 1.5 m ...
just outside the town. He was a committed
nonconformist and a leader of the
Temperance Movement
The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...
. His memorial stands in the market square, topped by a bronze
effigy
An effigy is an often life-size sculptural representation of a specific person, or a prototypical figure. The term is mostly used for the makeshift dummies used for symbolic punishment in political protests and for the figures burned in certai ...
of St George slaying the dragon – said to represent the demon drink.
Brayton Hall was destroyed by fire in 1918.
Toponymy
According to one source the origins of the name of Aspatria lie in
Old Scandinavian and
Celtic. It translates as "Ash-tree of St Patrick", and is composed of the elements ''askr'' (Old Scandinavian for "ash-tree") and the Celtic saint's name. The order of the elements of the name, with the ash-tree coming before the name of the saint, is particular to Celtic place-names. The following forms of the name have been found in various charters:- Estpatrick in 1224, Asepatrick 1230, Aspatric 1233, Askpatrik 1291, Assepatrick 1303, Aspatrick 1357, Aspatre 1491. The first entry in the
parish register
A parish register in an ecclesiastical parish is a handwritten volume, normally kept in the parish church in which certain details of religious ceremonies marking major events such as baptisms (together with the dates and names of the parents), ma ...
referring to the town as Aspatria in preference to the name Aspatrick or Aspatricke appears in 1712. It appears in the handwriting of the then vicar David Bell. For the next fifty years the spelling fluctuated until eventually Aspatria became the dominant name. When
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
and
Wilkie Collins passed through the town in 1857 they referred to the name Spatter which is not too dissimilar to 'Speatrie' the name locals prefer. William Brough, a railway porter, discharging third class passengers after their arrival at Aspatria from the Bolton Loop railway connection would cry 'Speatrie Loup Oot'. Second class passengers would detect "Speatrie change ere for Measyat", while first class passengers heard a polite invitation, "Aspatriah, change heah for
Mealsgate."
There is a legend that the name comes from the ash tree that grew up when St. Patrick's staff, the
Bachal Isu, took root in the ground because it took so long for him to manage to convert the people from this area to Christianity.
Governance
The town is in the
parliamentary constituency
An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...
of
Workington
Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207.
Loca ...
. In the
December 2019 general election, the
Tory
A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...
candidate for Workington,
Mark Jenkinson
Mark Ian Jenkinson (born 28 January 1982) is a British Conservative Party politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Workington since 2019.
Early life and career
Jenkinson was born in Whitehaven and raised in Workington. He was e ...
, was elected the
MP, overturning a 9.4 per cent Labour majority from the 2017 election to eject shadow environment secretary
Sue Hayman
Susan Mary Hayman, Baroness Hayman of Ullock (''née'' Bentley; born 28 July 1962) is a British politician and life peer who served as Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2017 to 2019. A member of the Labour ...
by a margin of 4,136 votes. Until the December 2019 general election the Labour Party had won the seat in the constituency in every general election since 1979. The
Conservative Party had previously only been elected once in Workington since
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, at the 1976 by-election.
Prior to
Brexit
Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAE ...
for the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adop ...
residents in Aspatria voted to elect
MEP MEP may refer to:
Organisations and politics
* Mahajana Eksath Peramuna, a political party in Sri Lanka
* Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (1956), a former political alliance in Sri Lanka
* Maison européenne de la photographie, a photography centre ...
's for the
North West England
North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of ...
constituency.
An
electoral ward exists with the same name. This ward stretches east to
Allhallows with a total population taken at the 2011 Census of 3,380.
Religious worship
Prior to the opening of the Brayton Domain Collieries the people of Aspatria had two places of
worship
Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. It may involve one or more of activities such as veneration, adoration, praise, and praying. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recognitio ...
, the long established
Anglican parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...
of
St. Kentigern's and a
non-conformist chapel of the
Congregationalist persuasion, built by
Sir Wilfrid Lawson, in 1826. The latter is now a
café
A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-ca ...
with dwelling behind. However, with the influx of new workers came a demand for new institutions. In 1864, the
Primitive Methodists
The Primitive Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination with the holiness movement. It began in England in the early 19th century, with the influence of American evangelist Lorenzo Dow (1777–1834).
In the United States, the Primiti ...
built a chapel in the lower end of Lawson Street. Twenty years later, to cater for their expanding congregation they built a new chapel, with adjoining
manse
A manse () is a clergy house inhabited by, or formerly inhabited by, a minister, usually used in the context of Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist and other Christian traditions.
Ultimately derived from the Latin ''mansus'', "dwelling", from ''m ...
for the
minister
Minister may refer to:
* Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric
** Minister (Catholic Church)
* Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department)
** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...
, at the junction of Queen Street and Brayton Road, while retaining the original building for use as a
Sunday school
A Sunday school is an educational institution, usually (but not always) Christian in character. Other religions including Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism have also organised Sunday schools in their temples and mosques, particularly in the West.
S ...
. In the 1980s they sold the property, which the new owner demolished and replaced with a private house. In 1874, a group of
Bible Christians, originally from
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlan ...
built a chapel at the bottom of Richmond Hill. This is also now the site of a private house. The
Wesleyan Methodists built their first chapel on the corner of North Road and Queen Street in 1898. This proved too small and was replaced by the existing building in 1921. Although the small numbers of
Roman Catholics
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
have had a variety of meeting places over the years, they have never built a church.
Education
There are two
primary school
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...
s in the town: Oughterside Primary School and Richmond Hill School.
Beacon Hill Community School
Beacon Hill Community School is a coeducational secondary school located in Aspatria is the English county of Cumbria.
It is a community school administered by Cumbria County Council, and is the feeder school for Oughterside Primary School ...
is a
secondary school in Aspatria. The school serves the town and neighbouring villages.
Neighbouring parishes
The parish is bounded on the North by the parishes of
Bromfield and
Westnewton; on the West by
Gilcrux
Gilcrux is a small village and civil parish in the ceremonial county of Cumbria, England, and historically part of Cumberland. It is situated just outside the Lake District National Park.
The village is on the south bank of the River Ellen arou ...
and
Crosscanonby; on the South by
Plumbland and
Torpenhow; and on the East by Bromfield and
Allhallows.
Industry
There is a small industrial area next to the railway station where:-
*
Mattress
A mattress is a large, usually rectangular pad for supporting a lying person. It is designed to be used as a bed, or on a bed frame as part of a bed. Mattresses may consist of a quilted or similarly fastened case, usually of heavy cloth, con ...
manufacturer
Sealy have maintained their British head office since 1974. It was announced in May 2020 that the factory will close.
*
First Milk creamery
A creamery is a place where milk and cream are processed and where butter and cheese is produced. Cream is separated from whole milk; pasteurization is done to the skimmed milk and cream separately. Whole milk for sale has had some cream ret ...
(formerly owned by the
Milk Marketing Board), a farmers' co-operative which produces ''Lake District Cheese'', now the third best-selling Cheddar Brand in the UK. 60 tonnes of cheese are produced daily, using 800,000 litres of milk.
* Aspatria Farmers Limited, (formerly the
Aspatria Agricultural Cooperative Society The Aspatria Agricultural Cooperative Society was established in Aspatria, Cumberland, England in 1870, after a group of local farmers combined to deal in artificial manures, feeding stuffs, seeds, and agricultural implements. Although formed in a s ...
) is based.
Sport
Aspatria Hornets are the local
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
team. Aspatria is also home to
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...
club
Aspatria RUFC
Aspatria Rugby Union Football Club is based in Aspatria, Cumbria (formerly Cumberland) in north west England, not far from the Scottish Border. They are nicknamed the "Black Reds", and have a red cockerel as their logo.
They currently play in N ...
, currently playing in the
RFU's North Lancashire/Cumbria Division. The 'Aspatria Eagles' are the club's second team, and the 'Aspatria Sinners' are the women's team. Aspatria FC are the town's football club who compete in the Tesco Cumberland County Premier League.
Notable people
*
Sheila Fell, artist, born in Aspatria
*
Jenny Cowern
Jenny Cowern (1943–2005) was a visual, multi-media artist, who took inspiration from the natural surroundings of her adopted county, Cumbria, to produce some of the most dramatic and lasting images of nature. An acute observer of the continual ...
, artist, lived at
Langrigg, Aspatria
*
Thomas Holliday, rugby international, had a drapery and ironmonger's business in Queen Street
*
Sir Wilfrid Lawson, 2nd Baronet of Brayton, temperance campaigner and Liberal Party politician
*
Henry Thompson MRCVS
Henry Thompson (MRCVS) (Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, 1836–1920) was a founder member of the Aspatria Agricultural Society, the Aspatria Agricultural Cooperative Society and the Aspatria Agricultural College.
Early life ...
, veterinary surgeon, pioneer agriculturalist and author
*
Greg Ridley
Alfred Gregory Ridley (23 October 1941 – 19 November 2003) was an English bassist who was the bassist and a founding member of the rock band Humble Pie and Spooky Tooth.
Career
Ridley was born in Carlisle, Cumberland, England. Early in his ...
, Rock musician
*
William Thompson Casson, coach designer and manufacturer
*
Rev. William Slater Calverley, antiquarian
*
Thomas Farrall Thomas Farral (1837 – 19 August 1894) was a Cumbrian teacher, author and agricultural authority, who today, is most remembered for his Cumberland dialect poems and stories published in ''Betty Wilson's Cummerland Teals''.
Education
Thomas Farra ...
, author, teacher and agriculturalist
*
Henry J. Webb
Henry John Webb (1846–1893) was an English scholar, who became a trained botanist before moving into medicine. However, it was eventually agriculture and the training of scientific, practical agriculturalists that eventually caught his imagi ...
, principal of Aspatria Agricultural College
*
Roland Stobbart
Roland Stobbart, (26 December 1909 - 6 March 1981) was an English motorcycle speedway, speedway rider and promoter. He earned two international caps for the England national speedway team.
Biography Early days
Roland Stobbart was born at Aspatr ...
, Speedway rider
*
Maurice Stobbart
Maurice Stobbart (22 December 1915 – 27 February 2001) was an English motorcycle speedway rider and promoter who started his career with York in 1931. He was the younger brother to Roland Stobbart.
Biography Pre-war events
Observers generall ...
, Speedway rider
*
Dr William Perry Briggs
William Perry Briggs (1856-1928) was the Medical Officer of Health for both the Wigton Rural District Sanitary Board and the Aspatria Urban District Council from the early 1880s until the time of his death in 1928.
Early life
William Perry Bri ...
, Medical Officer of Health to Aspatria Urban District Council (1892–1928)
See also
*
Listed buildings in Aspatria
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Cumbria County History Trust: Aspatria and Brayton(nb: provisional research only – see Talk page)
{{authority control
Towns in Cumbria
Civil parishes in Cumbria
Allerdale