Hensingham is a suburb of

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It is th ...

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 authority ...

, now in the parish of Whitehaven, in the Copeland district, in the county of

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. Cumb ...

, England. The ward population taken at the 2011 census was 4,145. In 1931 the parish had a population of 2116.

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 ...

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

, the village is located to the south-east of Whitehaven on the

A595 road The A595 is a primary route in Cumbria, in Northern England that starts in Carlisle, passes through Whitehaven and goes close to Workington, Cockermouth and Wigton. It passes Sellafield and Ravenglass before ending at the Dalton-in-Furness by ...

, close to the Mirehouse Housing Estate and Moresby Parks. It has a

Spar SPAR, originally DESPAR, styled as DE SPAR, is a Dutch multinational that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, by Adriaan van Well, ...

convenience store A convenience store, convenience shop, corner store or corner shop is a small retail business that stocks a range of everyday items such as coffee, groceries, snack foods, confectionery, soft drinks, ice creams, tobacco products, lottery ticket ...

and several pubs – including the ''Distressed Sailor'', the ''Lowther Arms'' and the ''Richmond''. It is close to Whitehaven

Fire Station __NOTOC__ A fire station (also called a fire house, fire hall, firemen's hall, or engine house) is a structure or other area for storing firefighting apparatuses such as fire engines and related vehicles, personal protective equipment, fire h ...

and to three schools; Hensingham Primary School, St Benedict's Roman Catholic High School and Whitehaven Academy. In Hensingham is the

West Cumberland Hospital West Cumberland Hospital is a hospital in Hensingham, a suburb of Whitehaven in Cumbria, England, and was the first district general hospital to be built in England following the creation of the National Health Service. It is managed by the Nort ...

, the first hospital built in England after the creation of the National Health Service. It was officially opened on 21 October 1964 by

Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was the l ...

. St John's Church is an evangelical Anglican church in this suburb.

Sport

Hensingham Hensingham is a suburb of Whitehaven and former civil parish, now in the parish of Whitehaven, in the Copeland district, in the county of Cumbria, England. The ward population taken at the 2011 census was 4,145. In 1931 the parish had a popula ...

have one of the oldest rugby clubs in the country.

Hensingham ARLFC Hensingham ARLFC is an amateur Rugby league club based in Whitehaven. Founded in 1900, It wasn't until 1920 that the Club changed its allegiances to Rugby League. Hensingham are one of the oldest rugby clubs in the country. They now play their rug ...

are an 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 112 ...

based in

. Founded in 1900 It wasn't until 1920 that the Club changed its allegiances to

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 ...

. They now play their rugby in the

National Conference League The National Conference League (known as the Kingstone Press National Conference League for sponsorship reasons) is the top English amateur rugby league competition in the Rugby Football League pyramid, and as such is the leading amateur rugby l ...

Division 3.

History

Hensingham was formerly a

chapelry A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. Status It had a similar status to a township but was so named as it had a chapel of ease (chapel) which was the communi ...

St. Bees St Bees is a coastal village, civil parish and electoral ward in the Copeland district of Cumbria, England, on the Irish Sea. Within the parish is St Bees Head which is the only Heritage Coast between Wales and Scotland and a Site of Speci ...

parish, from 1866 Hensingham was a civil parish in its own right until it was abolished on 1 April 1934 and merged with

Weddicar Weddicar is a civil parish in Copeland, Cumbria, England. At the 2011 census it had a population of 451. The parish has an area of . It lies east of Whitehaven and west of Cleator Moor; the main settlement is the hamlet of Keekle. The northwe ...

and Whitehaven.

References

External links

Cumbria County History Trust: Hensingham
(nb: provisional research only – see Talk page)
St John's Church, Hensingham
{{authority control Villages in Cumbria Former civil parishes in Cumbria Whitehaven