Gosforth is a village,

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 authorit ...

and electoral ward in the Lake District, in the Borough of Copeland 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. C ...

, England.

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 Cumberland, it is situated on the

A595 road The A595 is a primary route in Cumbria, in Northern England that starts in Carlisle, passes through Whitehaven and goes close to Workington, Cockermouth and Wigton. It passes Sellafield and Ravenglass before ending at the Dalton-in-Furness ...

between

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It i ...

and

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of B ...

. It had a population of 1,230 at the 2001 Census. At the 2011 census Gosforth was grouped with Ponsonby and

Wasdale Wasdale () is a valley and civil parish in the western part of the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. The River Irt flows through the valley to its estuary at Ravenglass. A large part of the main valley floor is occupied by Wastw ...

giving a total population of 1,396. Adjacent settlements include Whitehaven, Egremont,

Ravenglass Ravenglass is a coastal village in the Copeland District in Cumbria, England. It is between Barrow-in-Furness and Whitehaven. Historically in Cumberland, it is the only coastal village in the Lake District National Park. It is located at the est ...

and

. It is close to

Wast Water Wast Water or Wastwater () is a lake located in Wasdale, a valley in the western part of the Lake District National Park, England. The lake is almost long and more than wide. It is a glacial lake, formed in a glacially 'over-deepened' valle ...

, the deepest lake in England, and just a 7-minute drive from

Seascale Seascale is a village and civil parish on the Irish Sea coast of Cumbria, England, historically within Cumberland. The parish had a population of 1,747 in 2001, barely increasing by 0.4 % in 2011. History The place-name indicates that it was i ...

village and beach. The Cumbrian Coast railway can be accessed at Seascale.

Viking heritage

Gosforth contains a unique collection of Norse artefacts in and around St. Mary's Church. This includes the

Gosforth cross The Gosforth Cross is a large stone monument in St Mary's churchyard at Gosforth in the English county of Cumbria, dating to the first half of the 10th century AD. Formerly part of the kingdom of Northumbria, the area was settled by Scandinavia ...

, which is the tallest and oldest

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

cross in England. Another high cross was cut down in 1789 to make a sundial base, though the "fishing stone" panel from this survives in the church. There are also two large " hogback" tombs in the church.

Gosforth Hall

Work began on Gosforth Hall, now a hotel and restaurant near St. Mary's Church, in 1658, by a local gentleman called Robert Copley. The date of completion is not clear, although the date on the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

situated in the bar is 1673. Copley had previously refused to pay the royal herald for his own coat of arms and instead, made one up himself. In his history of ''The Gosforth District'', Dr. C.A. Parker states that Robert Copley in 1658 built "a large handsome house with orchards and gardens suitable", and Parker states that henceforth the house was named Gosforth Hall. With the hall being within the precinct of the church, it was likely that evidence of earlier occupation might be discovered. In 2005, the present owners of Gosforth Hall commissioned a small archaeological excavation within the grounds. This turned up some interesting finds indicating previous occupation on the site. This preliminary work was followed up in 2008 with an archaeological desk-based assessment and field evaluation.

Events

Gosforth is the base for two major athletic events each year, a ten-mile run and associated fun run in June, and a ten-kilometre race on the first Tuesday in September. There is a thriving art scene in the village, and the Gosforth and District Arts Society (GADAS) holds weekly meetings as well as a very popular art exhibition every year, over the August bank holiday in the village hall.

Gallery

File:Gosforth_-_geograph.org.uk_-_41275.jpg, The Lion and the Lamb pub at the junction. File:Gosforth Cross.jpg, The

Gosforth Cross The Gosforth Cross is a large stone monument in St Mary's churchyard at Gosforth in the English county of Cumbria, dating to the first half of the 10th century AD. Formerly part of the kingdom of Northumbria, the area was settled by Scandinavia ...

beside St Mary's Church, Gosforth. It is over fourteen feet high. File:Gosforth hogsback tombs.jpg, The two hogsback tomb markers now in the parish church, thought to be stylised "houses of the dead" with tiled roofs.

References

External links