Cumwhitton
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Cumwhitton is a small village and
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 ...
close to
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 ...
in
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. It lies just east of the M6 and the nearest train station is located in
Wetheral Wetheral is a village, civil parish and electoral ward in Cumbria, England. At the 2001 census, the population of the Wetheral Ward was 4,039, The civil parish of Wetheral is slightly larger, with a population of 5,203. being counted as 4,541 ...
, 3 miles away. Cumwhitton is often confused with the nearby village of
Cumwhinton Cumwhinton is a small village in Cumbria, England. It is around one mile away from both Scotby and Wetheral, and four miles from Carlisle. The village lies in Wetheral civil parish. History and facilities A hamlet was established at Cumwhinton ...
in Wetheral parish. The population of the civil parish as taken at the 2011 Census was 310.


The village

The current
population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...
of Cumwhitton, according to the 2001
census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
, is 293. There is a roughly even split of males to females, with 152 males and 141 females. There are 111
households A household consists of two or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is impo ...
within the small village.


Location

Cumwhitton is located in the north of Cumbria, in the
North West of England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,052,000 in 2011. It is the th ...
. Cumwhitton is approximately 8.8 miles South East of Carlisle. The A69 is the main road that links Cumwhitton to Carlisle. The village is located on the East side of the River Eden which runs through Cumwhitton to
Solway Firth The Solway Firth ( gd, Tràchd Romhra) is a firth that forms part of the border between England and Scotland, between Cumbria (including the Solway Plain) and Dumfries and Galloway. It stretches from St Bees Head, just south of Whitehaven in ...
.


St. Mary's Church

St. Mary's Church is a grade 2
listed building 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 ...
. It dates back to, at least, the 12th century and was extensively rebuilt in the 19th century. St. Mary's Church is an ancient
edifice A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and funct ...
. There are a variety of stained glass windows, most by unknown artists. The east window is probably
Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
; the South wall is
Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...
; and the north arcade of three bays was built around 1200.


Leisure

The Pheasant Inn is a local
public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
located in Cumwhitton. It offers a wide range of food and local
Real Ale Real ale is the name coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) for beer that is "brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous car ...
The pub has won numerous awards that acknowledge their Cask Ales including
CAMRA The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, England, which promotes real ale, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. With just under 155,000 members, it is the ...
and
Cask Marque Real ale is the name coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) for beer that is "brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous car ...
. The Pheasant Inn can also be found in The Good Beer Guide. Cumwhitton also has a caravan park (Cairndale Caravan Park) which is open from 1 March through to 31 October. The park has caravans to hire, and also has tent and caravan pitches


History


Viking burial ground

In March 2004, a Cumbrian metal detectorist, Peter Adams, working found a brooch in the ploughsoil on farmland belonging to Townfoot Farm, on the western edge of Cumwhitton. This was identified as a rare Viking oval brooch of ninth- or tenth-century date. These are almost always found in pairs and in a burial context. They therefore returned to the site and subsequently found a second brooch. Given the rarity of these brooches in England, funding was secured for an evaluation of the findspot to ascertain whether they came from a grave. A grave was located and found to be furnished; the grave goods included the remains of a wooden box, laid at the feet of the deceased. Several more artefacts, including part of a sword, were found in the surrounding ploughsoil during the evaluation, suggesting that the grave had formed part of a cemetery. A major excavation to record this important site was then funded by
English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...
, as it was under immediate threat from plough damage. In total, six burials were found, dating to the early tenth century, though almost no skeletal material survived as a result of the acidic nature of the soil. While osteological sexing was not possible, the grave goods suggested these were the burials of two women and four men, the first grave being separated from the rest by about 10 m. The group of five was carefully organised into two closely spaced rows, the central grave of the eastern row being surrounded by a shallow ditch, which suggests that it was once marked by a mound. All the graves were orientated broadly east-west, although how significant this was remains unclear. All the burials were richly furnished, and contained a wide range of artefacts, including swords, spearheads, spurs, knives, and numerous beads and other
grave goods Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are the items buried along with the body. They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into the afterlife or offerings to the gods. Grave goods may be classed as a ...
, implying that they were not Christian. Some of the metalwork from the burials is clearly linked to Scandinavia, and in particular cases, like that of the oval brooches, is highly likely to have been made there. However, other artefacts, such as some of the textiles, seax, folding blades, and spurs, are of probable Insular manufacture. Many of the objects suggest a complexity in their manufacture, with elements derived from a multiplicity of sources. However other items, such as the buckle sets, suggest regional manufacture and provide the first evidence for either an individual craftman or workshop in the local area. The excavations were published in 2014 by
Oxford Archaeology North Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
in their Lancaster Imprints series: Shadows in the Sand: Excavation of a Viking-age cemetery at Cumwhitton, Cumbria, by Caroline Paterson, Adam J Parsons, Rachel M Newman, Nick Johnson, and Christine Howard Davis, Lancaster. It is intended that an exhibition of various artifacts will take place at the
Tullie House Museum Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery is a museum in Carlisle, England. Opened by the Carlisle Corporation in 1893, the original building is a converted Jacobean mansion, with extensions added when it was converted. At first the building conta ...
in Carlisle.


William James Blacklock

The
landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...
artist and
lithographer Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...
William James Blacklock William James Blacklock (3 March 1816 – 12 March 1858) was an English landscape painter, painting scenery in Cumbria, the Lake District and the Scottish Borders. Biography Blacklock was born in Shoreditch, London, the second of five children ...
lived in Cumwhitton from 1818 to 1836 and from 1850 to 1854. He painted scenery in Cumbria, the
Lake District The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or ''fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...
, and the Scottish Borders. In 1818 Blacklock moved from
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
to Cumwhitton.William Blacklock's Biography
Retrieved 26/04/2012
He is believed to have lived in Cumwhitton House with his family. Blacklock moved back to London in 1836; but in 1850 his health deteriorated and he moved back to Cumwhitton. William James Blacklock died on 12 March 1858, and was buried on 16 March 1858 in Cumwhitton. Thirty-three pieces of Blacklock's work are on display at the Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, Carlisle.Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery
, Retrieved 26/04/2012


See also

*
Listed buildings in Cumwhitton Cumwhitton is a civil parish in the Carlisle district of Cumbria, England. It contains four listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official datab ...


References


External links


Cumbria County History Trust: Cumwhitton
(nb: provisional research only – see Talk page) {{authority control Villages in Cumbria Civil parishes in Cumbria City of Carlisle