Cumbria Archive Service was established to serve the English county of

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

. Rather than having just one county record office, Cumbria County Council operated four local record offices, now known as archive centres, in

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town and civil parish (as just "Barrow") in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the county of Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borou ...

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

Kendal Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Westmorland and Furness, England. It lies within the River Kent's dale, from which its name is derived, just outside the boundary of t ...

and Whitehaven. On 1 April 2023, the county council and 6 district councils were abolished. In their place two new councils were created, with local government functions transferred to the two new

unitary authorities A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

: Cumberland Council and Westmorland and Furness Council.

The four archive centres

Carlisle Archive Centre was officially opened in 1962, although archives had been collected before that date and archive staff had been appointed from c.1944 onwards. For many years, it operated from the Alma Block within the grounds of

Carlisle Castle Carlisle Castle is a stone keep medieval fortress located in the city of Carlisle near the ruins of Hadrian's Wall. First built during the reign of William II in 1092 and rebuilt in stone under Henry I in 1122, the castle is over 930 yea ...

. It moved to newly converted premises at Petteril Bank House, on the south side of the city and about two miles from its centre, in 2011. Important collections include family and estate records of the Earls of Lonsdale from the 12th-20th centuries. The staff provide administrative assistance for the Egremont Estate Office at Cockermouth Castle.Janet Foster & Julia Shepherd, ''British Archives: A Guide to Archive Resources in the United'', 3rd edition 1995, . Kendal Archive Centre was also established in 1962 under a joint archives committee for the former counties of Cumberland and

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland''R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref>) is an area of North West England which was Historic counties of England, historically a county. People of the area ...

and the City of Carlisle. Few archives other than local authority records had been collected before this date. As at 2024 the office operates from the County Offices in the town, but the long-term use of this 1930s building is uncertain, as the new unitary authority will close the building on 30 September 2024, and the Centre will then be closed to the public for an indeterminate period. Important collections include Appleby Castle estate records (containing papers relating to Lady Anne Clifford, 1590-1676), and the business records of Thomas Mawson, landscape architect, 19th-20th centuries. Barrow Archive Centre was opened in purpose-built premises in 1979 (following local government reorganisation and the creation of the new county of

). Records had been collected locally in temporary premises at Dalton-in-Furness since 1975 and the new office also absorbed records from the Furness Collection, gathered from 1948 onwards by the Central Library in Barrow. Following building extensions the record office joined with the local studies library in 1998 to provide a unified service within a joint search room. Important collections include records from the Furness estate office of the Duke of Buccleuch.Janet Foster & Julia Shepherd, British Archives, 4th edition 2002, Whitehaven Archive and Local Studies Centre was officially opened within specially converted premises in August 1996. It collects archives mainly from the south and west portions of the former county of Cumberland. All four archive centres are recognised by the

Lord Chancellor The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ra ...

as places of deposit for public records. They are also designated as diocesan record offices by the Bishop of Carlisle. A specialist unit for the conservation and repair of records operates from within the archive centre at Petteril Bank House, Carlisle.

References

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External links

WebsiteCASCAT online catalogue

The four archive centres

References

External links

See also