Flimby is an English coastal village and former

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

in the Allerdale district in

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. C ...

. It was

historically History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

in Cumberland. It currently forms part of the parish 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. Location ...

and the Flimby ward of Allerdale Council. It is included in the Maryport South county division of Cumbria County Council. In 1951 the parish had a population of 2066.

Governance

The village 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 ...

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. Locat ...

. 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 ed ...

, overturned a 9.4 per cent Labour majority from the 2017 election to eject shadow environment secretary Sue Hayman 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 The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, at the 1976 by-election. Flimby historically has been a Labour-supporting area. On 1 April 1974 the parish was abolished and merged with Maryport.

Geography and flooding

Flimby is located on Cumbria's coast between the towns of Maryport to the north and

to the south. It is drained by streams from nearby hillsides, some of which pass under the village in culverts. These have caused period flooding. However, woody debris dams, as a form of natural flood management, have been built in the Penny Gill forest by the West Cumbria Rivers Trust, as a way of storing water temporarily upstream and reducing what the culverts need to carry.

Amenities

Flimby railway station Flimby railway station serves the coastal village of Flimby in Cumbria, England. It is on the Cumbrian Coast Line, which runs between and . It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains. History Flimby railway station was opened ...

on the

Cumbrian Coast Line The Cumbrian Coast line is a rail route in North West England, running from Carlisle railway station, Carlisle to Barrow-in-Furness via Workington and Whitehaven. The line forms part of Network Rail route NW 4033, which continues (as the Furnes ...

has served the village since 1846. Trains stop only by request. The village is also served by regular buses between Maryport,

and beyond. The Anglican church of St Nicholas is in the

Diocese of Carlisle The Diocese of Carlisle was created in 11 April 1132 by Henry I out of part of the Diocese of Durham, although many people of Cumbric descent in the area looked to Glasgow for spiritual leadership. The first bishop was Æthelwold, who was the k ...

. It holds services on the second and fourth Sundays of the month. The site of the successive former Flimby Methodist churches in West Lane (built in 1862 and about 1929) is now occupied by a house. The village has a primary school with about 150 pupils. There is a convenience store and also a working men's social club. Flimby's amateur

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 11 ...

club, the Vikings, plays in the Iggesund Cumberland League. The shoe manufacturer

New Balance New Balance Athletics, Inc. (NB), best known as simply New Balance, is one of the world's major sports footwear and apparel manufacturers. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, the multinational corporation was founded in 1906 as the New Balance Arch ...

has a factory on the outskirts of the village. Flimby Wind Farm opened in June 2013.

Heritage

The name of the village was recorded as ''Flinbi'' in 1056 and ''Flemyngeby'' in the 12th century, and seems to come from

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

''Flæminga bý'', meaning "the village of the

Flemings The Flemish or Flemings ( nl, Vlamingen ) are a Germanic peoples, Germanic ethnic group native to Flanders, Belgium, who speak Dutch language, Dutch. Flemish people make up the majority of Belgians, at about 60%. "''Flemish''" was historically ...

". Flimby has three Grade II historic buildings listed by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

. Flimby Cottage in Main Road is an early 19th-century pebble dash lodge in Gothic Revival style. Flimby Hall is a three-storey country house completed in 1766. Flimby Lodge is a mansion dating from the late 18th or early 19th century, derelict at the time it was listed in 1977.British Listed Building
Retrieved 12 February 2016.
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Notable people

*The Scottish novelist and poet

Helen Craik Helen Craik (c. 1751 – 11 June 1825) was a Scottish poet and novelist, and a correspondent of Robert Burns. She praised him for being a "native genius, gay, unique and strong" in an introductory poem to his Glenriddell Manuscripts. Early life ...

lived at Flimby Hall from 1792 until her death in 1825 and has a memorial in the parish church. *

Dick Huddart Richard Huddart (22 June 1936 – 11 August 2021) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. A Great Britain and England international representative forward, he played at club level in England ...

(1936–2021), a professional rugby league player, was born in Flimby. *The birth of John McKeown, the professional rugby league international, was registered in Flimby in 1926.

References

External links

*
Cumbria County History Trust: Flimby
(nb: provisional research only - see Talk page) {{authority control Villages in Cumbria Former civil parishes in Cumbria Maryport