Sandside is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

near Storth in

Beetham Beetham is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England. It is situated on the border with Lancashire, north of Carnforth. It is part of the Arnside and Silverdale, Arnside and Silverdale ...

parish,

Westmorland and Furness Westmorland and Furness is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Cumbria, England. The economy is mainly focused on tourism around both the Lake District and Cumbria Coast, shipbuilding and the Royal Port of Barrow, Royal ...

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 ...

, England. Historically in

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 ...

, it lies on the south shore of the estuary of the

River Kent The River Kent is a short river in the county of Cumbria in England. It originates in hills surrounding Kentmere, and flows for around 20 miles (32 km) into the north of Morecambe Bay. The upper reaches and the western bank of the estuary ...

, between

Arnside Arnside is a village and civil parish in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England. It is Historic counties of England, historically part of Westmorland, near the border with Lancashire, England. The Lake District National parks of England and ...

and

Milnthorpe Milnthorpe is a village, civil parish, and former market town in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England. It is south of Kendal. Historic counties of England, Historically in the county of Westmorland and on the A6 road (England), A6, the v ...

. There is one pub, The Ship Inn, (closed December 2020) which is believed to date from 1671, one restaurant, The Kingfisher, which closed in September 2021 and several commercial businesses. Sandside lies within the Arnside and Silverdale

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is one of 46 areas of countryside in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Since 2023, the areas in England an ...

. A "Geotrail" leaflet has been published to guide visitors around the geology of the area. Sandside quarry has operated since at least 1901, and is now operated by Lafarge Tarmac, producing aggregate and

asphalt Asphalt most often refers to: * Bitumen, also known as "liquid asphalt cement" or simply "asphalt", a viscous form of petroleum mainly used as a binder in asphalt concrete * Asphalt concrete, a mixture of bitumen with coarse and fine aggregates, u ...

. Sandside railway station, on the Hincaster Branch of the Furness Railway, was built in 1876 by Lancaster architects

Paley and Austin Sharpe, Paley and Austin are the surnames of architects who practised in Lancaster, England, Lancaster, Lancashire, England, between 1835 and 1946, working either alone or in partnership. The full names of the principals in their practice, whi ...

. The line closed to passengers in 1942 and the station has been demolished. Until the building of the Arnside viaduct in 1857, Milnthorpe (upstream of Sandside) was a substantial port, handling cargoes including

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

and

guano Guano (Spanish from ) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. Guano is a highly effective fertiliser due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. Guano was also, to a le ...

. Its customs house was at Sandside, still existing as Crown Cottage with a datestone of 1728. Builders' merchants and other commercial operations occupy sites along the riverside which were previously used by the merchants of the port.

References

Hamlets in Cumbria Beetham {{Cumbria-geo-stub