Cartmel Priory, geograph.jpg
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Cartmel is a village in Cumbria, England, northwest of Grange-over-Sands close to the
River Eea The River Eea () is a small river in the Lake District, Cumbria, England running through the Furness region, which until 1974 was part of Lancashire. It is a relatively short system that arises from numerous small becks and streams throughout th ...
. The village takes its name from the Cartmel Peninsula, and was historically known as Kirkby in Cartmel. The village is the location of the 12th-century Cartmel Priory, around which it initially grew.
Historically History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
in Lancashire, since 1974 it has been in the administrative county of Cumbria. Whilst its history has been in its ecclesiastical and agricultural communities, Cartmel has since the mid-twentieth century developed as a minor tourist destination, being just outside 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 ...
National Park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...
. Several attractions in the village, including Cartmel Racecourse and a Michelin-starred restaurant, cater to this tourist trade.


History

The name Cartmel means ‘sandbank by rocky ground’, from the Old Norse (rocky ground) and . The place-name is first attested in 677, when the Cartmel Peninsula was granted to
St Cuthbert Cuthbert of Lindisfarne ( – 20 March 687) was an Anglo-Saxon saint of the early Northumbrian church in the Celtic tradition. He was a monk, bishop and hermit, associated with the monasteries of Melrose and Lindisfarne in the Kingdom of Nor ...
, whose influence may explain why by the Norman Conquest the village was known as Kirkby, a name indicating the location of a church. Cartmel Priory was founded in the village in 1190 by William Marshal, created 1st Earl of Pembroke, intended for a community of the
Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...
Canons regular and was dedicated to
Saint Mary the Virgin Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...
and Saint Michael. To support the new house, William granted it the whole fief of the district of Cartmel. Following the dissolution of the monasteries, much of the local land fell into the ownership of the Preston family at nearby Holker Hall. Through marriage Holker became part of the estate of the Cavendish Family, and today is the home of Lord Cavendish. As well as the estate around Holker, the Cavendish family still owns much of the land of the Peninsula. Agriculture was the chief industry of the area until the mid-twentieth century, dominated by the lands of the Cavendishes, and remains an important part of the village. Nearby Grange-over-Sands eclipsed Cartmel as the biggest settlement on the peninsula in the nineteenth century, growing as a
Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...
seaside resort when the Furness Railway was built across the peninsula. Cartmel village was, and remains, served by a station in nearby Cark, open in 1857 and called Cark and Cartmel.


Hospitality and Tourism

Tourism has grown in the village since the middle of the twentieth century. In 1923
Cartmel Priory Gatehouse Cartmel Priory Gatehouse is a medieval building located at Cartmel, Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria, England. It is listed Grade II* and is part of a scheduled monument. It belongs to the National Trust. upright=1.2, The gatehouse seen from the villa ...
became a museum for the Priory, and was used for exhibitions and meetings, before being presented to the National Trust in 1946. By 2011 it was mainly in private residential use, although the Great Room is opened to the public on several days a year. The Priory itself is still the local parish church, but is open to visitors outside of service times. Cartmel Racecourse dates back to at least the nineteenth century, but grew in popularity when it became a National Hunt course after the Second World War. It started to attract major professionals in the 1960s, and now hosts popular meetings two or three times a year, with its biggest meeting traditionally in
Whit Week Whitsun (also Whitsunday or Whit Sunday) is the name used in Britain, and other countries among Anglicans and Methodists, for the Christian High Holy Day of Pentecost. It is the seventh Sunday after Easter, which commemorates the descent of the H ...
. Writers who encouraged the growth of tourism to Cartmel include Lancashire dialect writer and BBC broadcaster, Thomas Thompson, who authored sixteen books on Lancashire people and their communities and was fond of Cartmel. The frontispiece in his 1937 book ''Lancashire Brew'' is 'Cartmel from an etching by Joseph Knight', the founder of the
Manchester School of Painters The Manchester School of Painters was formed by a number of disgruntled young vanguard painters in the 1870s. They were deeply influenced by the artist Joseph Knight, who was a successful painter, etcher and photographer. He was the founder membe ...
. Later Alfred Wainwright dedicated a chapter to
Cartmel Fell Cartmel Fell is a hamlet and a civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 309, increasing at the 2011 census to 329. The village of Cartmel and Cartmel Priory are not in th ...
, about north of Cartmel, in his 1974 book'' The Outlying Fells of Lakeland''. More recently Cartmel has emerged as a foodie destination. Cartmel
sticky toffee pudding Sticky toffee pudding, also known as sticky date pudding in Australia and New Zealand, is a British dessert consisting of a moist sponge cake, made with finely chopped dates (optional), covered in a toffee sauce and often served with a vanilla ...
was first sold at the village shop in 1984 and grew in popularity: it is now sold in supermarkets around the UK. The Cartmel Sticky Toffee Company, who make it, moved to a larger factory in nearby Flookburgh in the 2000s but still operate and sell from the village shop in Cartmel. In 2002, chef
Simon Rogan L'Enclume (, French for "the anvil") is a restaurant opened in 2002 in Cartmel, Cumbria, England, run by chef Simon Rogan and his partner Penny Tapsell. L'Enclume received a rating of 10 out of 10 five times in the ''Good Food Guide'' and name ...
opened ''
L'Enclume L'Enclume (, French for "the anvil") is a restaurant opened in 2002 in Cartmel, Cumbria, England, run by chef Simon Rogan and his partner Penny Tapsell. L'Enclume received a rating of 10 out of 10 five times in the ''Good Food Guide'' and name ...
'' restaurant in the village. The restaurant quickly became one of the UK's most popular, and held top spot as the UK's best restaurant in ''The Good Food Guide'' from 2014-2017, returning to the top in 2020. In 2022 it became the first restaurant in the UK outside London and the South-East to gain 3 Michelin stars. Rogan makes use of the agricultural hinterland of Cartmel and most of the produce supplied to the restaurant is grown on the peninsula, including Rogan's nearby twelve-acre (5 hectare) farm. Rogan's second restaurant in Cartmel, Rogan & Co, is also Michelin-starred, and the village also hosts Unsworth's Yard, a collection of artisan-food retailers who use local produce.


Transport

Cartmel is from the nearest town, Grange-over-Sands, and about from the A590 road, which connects it to the M6 Motorway.
Cark and Cartmel railway station Cark & Cartmel is a railway station on the Furness line, which runs between and . The station, situated north-east of Barrow-in-Furness, serves the villages of Allithwaite, Cark, Cartmel and Flookburgh in Cumbria. It is owned by Network Rail ...
has a roughly hourly service between Barrow-in-Furness and Lancaster, with some services continuing north 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 ...
and others south to Manchester.


Education

Cartmel Church of England Primary School is the village primary school.
Cartmel Priory School Cartmel Priory CofE School is a mixed 11-16 secondary school and academy in Cartmel, Cumbria, England. History The school was opened in 1958 on land given by Lord Richard Cavendish built with money from the Church and the local community. T ...
takes pupils aged between 11 and 16 from around the Cartmel Peninsula.


Governance

Cartmel is part of the
Westmorland and Lonsdale Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...
parliamentary constituency, of which Tim Farron is the current Member of parliament representing the Liberal Democrats. For Local Government purposes it is in the ''Cartmel Ward'' of
South Lakeland District Council South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...
and the '' Cartmel Division'' of Cumbria County Council. The village also has its own Parish council, ''Lower Allithwaite Parish Council''.


References


External links


Cumbria County History Trust: Allithwaite, Lower
(nb: provisional research only - see Talk page)
Cumbria County History Trust: Upper Holker
(nb: provisional research only - see Talk page)
Cartmel Village WebsiteCartmel SchoolWalks in South CumbriaCartmel Racecourse
{{authority control Villages in Cumbria South Lakeland District