Stanwix is a district of Carlisle, Cumbria in

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of ...

. The ward population (called Stanwix Urban) had a population taken at the 2011 census of 5,934. It is located on the north side of River Eden, across from Carlisle city centre. Although long counted as a suburb it did not officially become part of the city until 1912 when part of the civil parish of Stanwix became part of the parish, city and municipal borough 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 ...

. Further areas were added to the city, which was by then a county borough, in 1934 and 1951. The remaining part of the parish was eventually renamed

Stanwix Rural Stanwix Rural is a civil parish in the City of Carlisle non-metropolitan district, district of Cumbria, England, immediately to the north east of Carlisle, Cumbria, Carlisle itself – parts of the Carlisle urban area are in the parish boundaries ...

in 1966.

Etymology

'Stanwix' means " 'stone wall(s)', v. 'stǣna', 'wag' or 'veggr' 'Stǣna' is

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 ...

and 'veggr' is Old Norse and cognate with

'wag'. Stanwix is built on the site of a Roman fort known as

Uxelodunum Uxelodunum (with the alternative Roman name of Petriana and the modern name of Stanwix Fort) was a Roman fort. It was the largest fort on Hadrian's Wall, and is now buried beneath the suburb of Stanwix, in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. Roman ...

or Petriana, the former meaning "high fort". " Dun" is a Celtic word for fort which is to be found in many place-names.

Location

The former village of Stanwix was centred on its church of St Michael's at the top of a steep bank rising from the river Eden, close to the junction of the main road north (now the A7) with the road to the east (now the B6264). The area around the church is built on the site of the fort of

(a linear earthwork at the southern end of the churchyard appears to reflect the line of the southern defences). St_Michael's_Church,_Carlisle

The fort was the largest on

Hadrian's Wall Hadrian's Wall ( la, Vallum Aelium), also known as the Roman Wall, Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Hadriani'' in Latin, is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. R ...

, which adjoined the northwest edge of the fort. The course of Hadrian's Wall runs through the suburb. Probably most of the Roman masonry was taken to construct other buildings. However, in 2017 a bathhouse was discovered at Carlisle Cricket Club's Edenside ground. This facility is believed to have been for the use of the fort or possibly a

mansio In the Roman Empire, a ''mansio'' (from the Latin word ''mansus,'' the perfect passive participle of ''manere'' "to remain" or "to stay") was an official stopping place on a Roman road, or ''via'', maintained by the central government for the use ...

. In the mid nineteenth century the district grew with many large houses built for Carlisle's expanding middle classes. Today Stanwix includes the areas of Edentown, Whiteclosegate, St Anne's Hill and

Belah Belah is a suburb of Carlisle in the City of Carlisle district, in the county of Cumbria, England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The I ...

Notable buildings

Near the church today is a small parade of shops and other businesses. Morrisons and Aldi

supermarkets A supermarket is a self-service shop offering a wide variety of food, beverages and household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earlier grocery stores, but is smaller and more limit ...

and a Sainsbury's Local store are located in the area as well. A little further north at Kingstown is a large Asda superstore. The University of Cumbria has a campus on Brampton Road (formerly the main campus of the Cumbria Institute of the Arts). There is also a Roman Catholic private school called

Austin Friars St Monica's School Austin Friars is a coeducational Independent school (UK), independent day school located in Carlisle, Cumbria, Carlisle, England. The Senior School provides secondary education for 350 boys and girls aged 11–18. There are 150 children aged 4� ...

located at St. Anne's Hill. A single bridge, the

grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Eden Bridge designed by Robert Smirke, crosses the River Eden to connect Stanwix and other northern reaches of the district to Carlisle city centre. Numerous households in low-lying areas in Stanwix were badly affected by the flooding of the River Eden during the Carlisle Floods of January 2005. The main road running northwards through Stanwix is Scotland Road, and until 2012 had the dubious distinction of carrying the same daily volume of traffic as the nearby M6 motorway. In 2012 the "northern relief road" opened, around the north-west of Carlisle, which should ease congestion.

External links

Cumbria County History Trust: Stanwix
(nb: provisional research only - see Talk page)

References

{{coord, 54, 54, N, 2, 56, W, display=title, region:GB_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Areas of Carlisle, Cumbria Roman sites in Cumbria