Newtown is a hamlet in the

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 ...

Holme St Cuthbert Holme St Cuthbert (occasionally Holme St Cuthberts; pronounced and occasionally written Holme Saint Cuthbert) is a small village and civil parish in the borough of Allerdale, in the county of Cumbria, United Kingdom. The village is located appro ...

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 ...

, United Kingdom. It is located approximately two miles north-east of the village of

Mawbray Mawbray is a village in the civil parish of Holme St Cuthbert in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. Historically part of Cumberland. It is located on the Solway Plain, south west of Silloth, north of Maryport, and west of Carlisle. T ...

, a little over half-a-mile as the crow flies to the south-east of

Beckfoot Beckfoot is a hamlet in the civil parish of Holme St Cuthbert in Cumbria, England. It is located on the B5300 coast road, three miles south of Silloth-on-Solway and two miles north of the village of Mawbray. The county town of Carlisle is ...

, and twenty-five miles west of the city of

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

. The B5300 coast road runs approximately three-quarters of a mile to the west of the hamlet, which goes to

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. Locatio ...

, nine-and-a-quarter miles to the south-west, and

Silloth-on-Solway Silloth (sometimes known as Silloth-on-Solway) is a port town and civil parish in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the county of Cumberland, the town is an example of a Victorian era, Vict ...

, approximately four miles to the north.

History and etymology

Newtown was first recorded in a 1538 survey of the Manor of Holm Cultram, and in the past has been known as New Mawbray. The name "Mawbray" comes from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

''mæge-burh'', meaning "the maidens' stronghold", or "maidens' castle", and the "New" prefix was added to distinguish the settlement from its namesake. Additional variant spellings include New Mawbrough, Newton, Newtowne, and Newtowene. The hamlet was created after the sea shifted sands near

in the 16th century. This resulted in many residents having to leave their homes (or their homes being destroyed by the encroaching sea). Defence against Scottish incursions across the Solway was a concern of the Lord and Steward of Holm Cultram when planning the new settlement. Residents of Newtown in this era would have been expected to take part in the "seawake", a night watch to guard the Solway coast against Scottish raids. In 1828, a farmer named John Ostle was born at Newtown. His diaries recorded farming life on the Solway Plain in the 19th century, and have given local historians a great deal of information about Newtown and surrounding communities during that period.

The hamlet today

The hamlet itself has no public transportation links or amenities. The nearest primary school is at

Holme St. Cuthbert Holme St Cuthbert (occasionally Holme St Cuthberts; pronounced and occasionally written Holme Saint Cuthbert) is a small village and civil parish in the borough of Allerdale, in the county of Cumbria, United Kingdom. The village is located approx ...

, one-and-a-quarter miles to the south-east, as is the parish church. There is a pub, the Lowther, in Mawbray, but perhaps the closest attraction to Newtown is a farm park and tea room called the Gincase. The nearest railway station is Aspatria, and the nearest bus stops are at Beckfoot and Mawbray, on the B5300 coast road. Newtown is situated very near to the

Solway Coast The Solway Coast is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in northern Cumbria, United Kingdom. It incorporates two areas of coastline along the Solway Firth, the first running from just north of the city of Carlisle, at the estuary ...

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of thei ...

, which encompasses much of the shoreline to the west of the hamlet. Also along this section of the shoreline, Mawbray and

Wolsty Wolsty is a small hamlet in the civil parish of Holme Low in Cumbria, England. It is located three-and-a-quarter miles south of Silloth-on-Solway, five miles west of Abbeytown, three-and-a-quarter miles north of the village of Mawbray, and twent ...

banks are designated as a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

. The hamlet is within the civil parish of Holme St. Cuthbert, and the

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

of Allerdale. The parliamentary constituency is

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 ...

, and the MP as of the 2019 general election is

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 ...

of 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 ...

References

{{Reflist Hamlets in Cumbria Populated coastal places in Cumbria Holme St Cuthbert

History and etymology

The hamlet today

See also

References