Stanwix is a district of

Carlisle, Cumbria Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve castra, forts along Hadrian's ...

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,4 ...

. 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 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Stanwix became part of the parish, city and

municipal borough A municipal borough was a type of local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of ...

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

. 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 in 1966.

Etymology

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

Old English Old English ( or , or ), 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 developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

and 'veggr' is

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

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 Ancient Rome, Roman castra, fort with associated civilian settlement (''vicus'') in modern-day Carlisle, Cumbria, Carlisle, Cumbria, England. It ...

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). The fort was the largest on

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

, 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.

Notable buildings

Near the church today is a small

parade of shops A shopping parade, also known as a parade of shops, suburban parade, neighbourhood parade, or just a simply a parade is a group of between five and 40 shops in one or more continuous rows, mostly being retail and serving a local customer base; in ...

and other businesses.

Morrisons Wm Morrison Supermarkets Limited, trading as Morrisons, is the List of supermarket chains in the United Kingdom, fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Sco ...

and

Aldi Aldi (German pronunciation: ), stylised as ALDI, is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 12,000 stores in 18 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and ...

supermarkets A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...

and a

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company was the largest UK r ...

Local store are located in the area as well. A little further north at Kingstown is a large

Asda Asda Stores Limited (), trading as Asda and often styled as ASDA, is a British supermarket and petrol station chain. Its headquarters is in Leeds, England. The company was incorporated as Associated Dairies and Farm Stores in 1949. It expanded ...

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 The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

called Austin Friars St Monica's School located at St. Anne's Hill. A single bridge, the

grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

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