Alston, Cumbria
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Alston is a town in
Westmorland and Furness Westmorland and Furness is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Cumbria, England. The economy is mainly focused on tourism around both the Lake District and Cumbria Coast, shipbuilding and the Royal Port of Barrow, Royal ...
,
Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...
, England, within the civil parish of Alston Moor. It is located at about above sea level in the North Pennines, the River South Tyne, and shares the title of 'highest
market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...
in England', with
Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the High Peak, Derbyshire, Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, in the East Midlands region of England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Alston, Cumbria also claims this, but lacks a regu ...
,
Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...
. Despite its relative isolation, the town has road connections to the Tyne Gap to the north, Weardale and Teesdale to the south-east, and Penrith to the south-west. Much of the town centre is a designated
conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewoo ...
which includes several
listed building 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 ...
s. It was historically within the county of
Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...
. Alston was historically a centre for mining, with
lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...
,
zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...
,
iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...
,
copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...
, and
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...
found in the vicinity.


Geography

Alston lies within the North Pennines
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is one of 46 areas of countryside in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Since 2023, the areas in England an ...
, more than by road from the nearest town, Haltwhistle, and is surrounded by moorland. Nearby villages include Garrigill and Nenthead. It is around west of
Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...
, south east 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 ...
, north east of Penrith, and south west of
Hexham Hexham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden nearby, and close to Hadrian's Wall. Hexham was the administra ...
. Situated at the crossroads/junction of the A686, A689 and B6277, the town lies on the confluence of the River South Tyne and the River Nent. On 18 May 2013 very heavy rain resulted in flooding in seven areas of Alston, affecting thirty-six properties. The Environment Agency records indicate that 51mm of rain fell that day. The landscape of the area is built up from
limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
,
sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
and
shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of Clay mineral, clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g., Kaolinite, kaolin, aluminium, Al2Silicon, Si2Oxygen, O5(hydroxide, OH)4) and tiny f ...
. The area is rich in minerals, in particular
lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...
deposits, and the landscape has been heavily influenced by the effects of varying methods of
mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...
over the centuries.


History


Early settlements

The earliest evidence of population in the area comes from pottery fragments, a gold basket-earring and
flint tools Stone tools have been used throughout human history but are most closely associated with prehistory, prehistoric cultures and in particular those of the Stone Age. Stone tools may be made of either ground stone or Lithic reduction, knapped stone, ...
found in one of two barrows located NNW of Alston at Kirkhaugh. Excavated in 1935, the barrows were dated between 2000 BC and 1700 BC. Evidence of Roman activity in the area comes from the earth ramparts of Whitley Castle, thought to be the Roman fort (
Castra ''Castra'' () is a Latin language, Latin term used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire for a military 'camp', and ''castrum'' () for a 'Fortification, fort'. Either could refer to a building or plot of land, used as a fortified milita ...
) of Epiacum built and rebuilt by the Sixth and Twentieth Legions between the 2nd and 3rd centuries. The fort lies on the
Maiden Way The Maiden Way or Maidenway (Middle English: ''Maydengathe''; ) was a roughly Roman road in northern Britain connecting the Roman fort of Bravoniacum ( Kirkby Thore) near Penrith with that of Magnis (Carvoran) on Hadrian's Wall, via ...
Roman road Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...
which runs north from Kirkby Thore ( Bravoniacum) to
Carvoran Magnis or Magna was a Roman Empire, Roman castra, fort near Hadrian's Wall in northern Roman Britain, Britain. Its ruins are now known as and are located near Carvoran, Northumberland, in northern England. It was built on the Stanegate fronti ...
( Magnae) 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 ...
. Whitley Castle would have guarded this central supply route to Hadrian's Wall, and may also have helped protect lead and
silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...
deposits in the upper reaches of the South Tyne valley. The name of the town is recorded in 1164–71 as Aldeneby and in 1209 as Aldeneston, and seems to mean "the settlement or farmstead belonging to Viking man named Halfdan". By 1841 the town had 1,650 inhabitants.


Sovereignty

In the 10th century, Alston Moor was part of the Liberty of Tynedale, which was an estate of the Scottish Kings within England, a situation that resulted in many years of confusion over the sovereignty of the area. In 1085, the Barons de Veteriponte became the first recorded
Lords of the Manor Lord of the manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England and Norman England, referred to the landholder of a historical rural estate. The titles date to the English Feudalism, feudal (specifically English feudal barony, baronial) system. The ...
; they held the moor on behalf of the kings of
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
while the kings of England retained the mineral rights. This was confirmed in a hearing during 1279 that concluded that the miners of the area were distinct from the local population, thus paying their dues to the English crown instead of to Scotland. As a result, the miners lived in their own self-regulated communities under English protection. In 1296 John de Balliol, the king of Scotland, invaded the
North of England Northern England, or the North of England, refers to the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmorland and Yorkshire. Officially, it is a gr ...
; as a result
Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...
moved to reclaim the Scottish estates and Tynedale, which included Alston Moor, was taken under direct control of the English crown where it remains. Despite the town being on the Tyne and being historically part of Tynedale, the area has never been part of either Hexhamshire or
Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...
but part of
Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...
and later
Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...
. This was probably because the mines in the area were at one time administered from Carlisle.


Mining

Historically the area has been mined for
lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...
,
zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...
,
iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...
,
copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...
, and
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...
. The nearby Roman fort of Whitley Castle (Epiacum) may in part have been sited to control and protect the lead mines there. In the 13th century, the area was known as the
silver mine Silver mining is the extraction of silver by mining. Silver is a precious metal and holds high economic value. Because silver is often found in intimate combination with other metals, its extraction requires the use of complex technologies. In ...
s 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 ...
— silver was found in a high proportion (up to 40
troy ounce Troy weight is a system of units of mass that originated in the Kingdom of England in the 15th century and is primarily used in the precious metals industry. The troy weight units are the grain, the pennyweight (24 grains), the troy ounce (20 p ...
s per
long ton The long ton, also known as the imperial ton, displacement ton,Dictionary.com - ''"a unit for measuring the displacement of a vessel, equal to a long ton of 2240 pounds (about 1016 kg) or 35 cu. ft. (1 cu. m) of seawater."'' or British ton, is a ...
or 1.2 g/kg of smelted lead) and was used to create coinage in the
Royal Mint The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's official maker of British coins. It is currently located in Llantrisant, Wales, where it moved in 1968. Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly ow ...
established in Carlisle for the purpose. Most mining was very small scale until the mid-18th century, with 119 lead mines in the parish of Alston in 1768. The biggest mine owner in the area was the London Lead Company; this
Religious Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...
(Quakers) organisation with enlightened employment policies established an interest in the area during the early 18th century. In 1745, it began construction of a school, a library, a sanitary house, a surgeon's house, a market hall with clock tower, a laundry and a 'ready-money' shop in Nenthead, away. By the 1840s the mines were producing an average of 7,600 tons of lead a year. Many of the last mines closed in the 1950s. A small drift coal mine ( Ayle Colliery) is still active today.


Governance

Alston is in the
parliamentary constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...
of Penrith and Solway. Markus Campbell-Savours was elected its Labour Member of Parliament (MP) at the 2024 general election. Before the United Kingdom left the European Union, its residents voted to elect
Members of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Comm ...
(MEPs) for the
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 ...
constituency. For
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 a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...
purposes Alston is in the
Westmorland and Furness Westmorland and Furness is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Cumbria, England. The economy is mainly focused on tourism around both the Lake District and Cumbria Coast, shipbuilding and the Royal Port of Barrow, Royal ...
unitary authority. Until 1 April 2023 it was in the ''Alston Moor Ward'' of Eden District Council and the ''Alston and East Fellside Division'' of
Cumbria County Council Cumbria County Council was the county council for the non-metropolitan county of Cumbria in the North West of England. Established in April 1974, following its first elections held the previous year, it was an elected local government body re ...
. Alston does not have its own parish council, instead it is part of Alston Moor Parish Council.


Modern economy

The area is no longer actively mined for precious metals although the mining history has been exploited for
tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...
purposes. There are few jobs in the immediate area, hence the fall in population from 1,650 in 1841 to 1,128 today.


Farming

The surrounding
moorland Moorland or moor is a type of Habitat (ecology), habitat found in upland (geology), upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and the biomes of montane grasslands and shrublands, characterised by low-growing vegetation on So ...
is mainly used for sheep farming; however many farmers also have other enterprises, such as
bed and breakfast A bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. In addition, a B&B sometimes has the hosts living in the house. ''Bed and breakfast'' is also used to ...
accommodation. During winter months farming can be tough, due to the severe weather in the area.


Tourism

Tourism is now an important source of income for the area. The largest attraction is a narrow-gauge railway and heritage centre at South Tynedale Railway. Alston and the surrounding area is part of the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and European Geopark. Alston is noted for its cobbled streets and 17th-century stone buildings. The area's mining heritage has been referenced for tourism purposes across the North Pennines. Nenthead Mines, at the nearby village of Nenthead, is a
Scheduled Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...
managed by volunteers. The Nenthead Mines Conservation Society hold regular open days where visitors can learn about the history of lead mining and take an underground tour of Carrs Mine. The
Pennine Way The Pennine Way is a National Trail in England, with a small section in Scotland. The trail stretches for from Edale, in the northern Derbyshire Peak District, north through the Yorkshire Dales and Northumberland National Park and ends at Kir ...
, the UK's first
National Trail National Trails are long distance footpaths and bridleways in England and Wales. They are administered by Natural England, an agency of the Government of the United Kingdom, UK government, and Natural Resources Wales, a Welsh Government, Welsh ...
, passes by the edge of Alston and the
Sea to Sea Cycle Route The Coast to Coast or Sea to Sea Cycle Route (C2C) is a cycle route opened in 1994. Combining sections of National Cycle Route 7, 14, 71 and 72; it runs from Whitehaven or Workington on the west coast of Cumbria, and then crosses the Lak ...
(C2C) passes through the town.


Shops and facilities

Shops include a whole foods shop, a Co-op supermarket, a Spar convenience store, a shop selling hardware, a post office, an outdoor clothing shop, an organic
bakery A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based baked goods made in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, doughnuts, bagels, Pastry, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as Coffeehouse, cafés, servi ...
, a charity shop and a number of
craft A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale pr ...
, gift and
antique shop An antique shop (or antiques shop) is a retail store specializing in the selling of antiques. Antiques shops generally have a physical presence in a shop where the wares are stored and displayed, but some antique shops are online, with no phy ...
s. There are four pubs in Alston, and the town also has a number of cafés, a food take-away, a specialist engraving company, two hotels, numerous B&Bs, two petrol stations, a gym, an estate agent and a hairdressers. A once-popular fish and chip shop closed down in November 2022. The last remaining bank,
Barclays Barclays PLC (, occasionally ) is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services ...
, closed in December 2015. Steam trains on the narrow-gauge South Tynedale Railway run from April to October, offering a short journey through pleasant scenery.


Metal working

For much of the 20th century, between 1940 and its closure in 1980, a
foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...
employed around 200 people. The closure of this foundry increased unemployment in the area from 8.9% to over 25%. Currently the area's main employer is Bonds Precision Castings Limited, a company that took over Precision Products in 2008. Precision Products was started in 1947 by William George Ball. Bonds Precision Casting Ltd. produces
stainless steel Stainless steel, also known as inox, corrosion-resistant steel (CRES), or rustless steel, is an iron-based alloy that contains chromium, making it resistant to rust and corrosion. Stainless steel's resistance to corrosion comes from its chromi ...
and super-alloy castings.


Population

The population census figures show that at its peak during 1831 the population of the parish of Alston Moor was 6,858 people. Today that figure is about 1,200. The population of the town of Alston was 1,128 according to the 2001 Census. The community has its own website which is a result of the Cybermoor Project (cybermoor.org), which has brought the
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...
to almost every home on Alston Moor, and
broadband In telecommunications, broadband or high speed is the wide-bandwidth (signal processing), bandwidth data transmission that exploits signals at a wide spread of frequencies or several different simultaneous frequencies, and is used in fast Inter ...
to many. This allowed people with little or no education access to online courses and training. The problem of the area's relative remoteness compared to other areas of England was solved by utilising
IEEE 802.11 IEEE 802.11 is part of the IEEE 802 set of local area network (LAN) technical standards, and specifies the set of medium access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) protocols for implementing wireless local area network (WLAN) computer com ...
technology to construct the network infrastructure.


Notable residents

* Nicholas Ridley, politician and government minister.


Landmarks and buildings of note


Town hall

Alston Town Hall is a focal point for the community, being a venue for many local social events. It also contains the
tourist information centre A visitor center or centre (see American and British English spelling differences), visitor information center or tourist information centre is a physical location that provides information to tourists. Types A visitor center may be a Civic ce ...
and the
public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...
. The Gothic Revival style building, which was commissioned by the local metallurgist and businessman Hugh Lee Pattinson, was completed in 1858.


Alston High Mill

High Mill in the Cumbrian town of Alston was built in 1767 as a water-driven corn mill by the renowned engineer
John Smeaton John Smeaton (8 June 1724 – 28 October 1792) was an English civil engineer responsible for the design of bridges, canals, harbours and lighthouses. He was also a capable mechanical engineer and an eminent scholar, who introduced various ...
; Smeaton is famously known for his
Eddystone Lighthouse The Eddystone Lighthouse is a lighthouse on the Eddystone Rocks, south of Rame Head in Cornwall, England. The rocks are submerged below the surface of the sea and are composed of Precambrian gneiss. View at 1:50000 scale The current structu ...
. The grade II listed High Mill has been through a number of alterations through the ages, but the original Smeaton design is still easily recognisable. Internally there is little left of the original building besides the water wheel and the pit wheel. In July 2023, the High Mill and the adjoining factory building (once occupied by Bonds Precision Casting) was purchased by a private owner, and work is now underway to refurbish and restore the mill for use as an arts and crafts workshop. The building and mill wheel are Grade II listed, and part of the mill may be given over to a small museum showcasing the wheel and some of the artefacts associated with how it was used.
The Water Wheel at Alston High Mill360 animation of the history of Alston High Mill


Market cross

Although the town does not hold a regular market it still maintains the legal right to do so. The
market cross A market cross, or in Scots, a mercat cross, is a structure used to mark a market square in market towns, where historically the right to hold a regular market or fair was granted by the monarch, a bishop or a baron. History Market crosses ...
, which acts as a focal point in the centre of town, was constructed in 1981 to replace one which was demolished by a wagon in January 1980. That earlier cross had itself replaced a cross of 1883 which was knocked down by a lorry in 1968. A regular producers' market now takes place in the town hall from April to September selling food and crafts produced in
Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...
,
Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...
and
County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...
, celebrating Alston's position at the crux of these three counties.


St Augustine of Canterbury Church

The parish church was built in 1869 on the site of two earlier churches. Despite being in Cumbria the church is in the Diocese of Newcastle rather than the Diocese of Carlisle. The church spire was only completed in 1886. A unique item in the church is a clock which belonged to
James Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater James Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater (26 June 1689 – 24 February 1716) was an English peer who participated in the Jacobite rising of 1715 and was executed for treason. Life Radclyffe was the son of Edward Radclyffe, 2nd Earl of Derwen ...
, who was beheaded for treason. It is believed to be of 16th-century origin, and was restored in 1978. One of the church bells which was cast in 1714 also belonged to the Earl of Derwentwater. It was installed in the previous church of 1770. Four of the bells were installed in memory of Andrew Graham Stavert Steele, churchwarden from 1943 until his murder in the
Midland Bank Midland Bank plc was one of the Big Four (banks)#United Kingdom, Big Four banking groups in the United Kingdom for most of the 20th century. It is now part of HSBC. The bank was founded as the Birmingham and Midland Bank in Union Street, Birming ...
on 13 September 1949. The bells cannot be pealed as the tower is not strong enough, but they are struck by a clapper.


Clarghyll Hall

Clarghyll Hall, north of Alston, is a Grade II* listed fortified manor house dating back to the 16th century. It was formerly the home of the Whitfield family and from 1847 to 1889 the home of Rev. Octavius James, who extended the building to add a chapel and study. This new wing burned down in a fire in 1889 in which Rev James died.


Nent Force level

During the area's peak of prosperity in 1776
John Smeaton John Smeaton (8 June 1724 – 28 October 1792) was an English civil engineer responsible for the design of bridges, canals, harbours and lighthouses. He was also a capable mechanical engineer and an eminent scholar, who introduced various ...
began construction of an underground drain (the ''"Nent Force Level"'') to de-water the mines of the Nent Valley and assist with the transport of extracted materials as well as to locate new mineral seams. The canal took 66 years to construct at a cost of £80,000, and became known as "Smeaton's Folly". In the 1830s mine manager and engineer said that it could be visited "in boats 30 feet in length, which are propelled in four feet of water by means of sticks projecting from the sides of the level; and thus may be enjoyed the singular novelty of sailing a few miles underground". It was intended to be 9 feet square but in the softer terrain was extended to 9'×16', dead level for to allow boat use, with a rise of 35
fathom A fathom is a unit of length in the imperial and the U.S. customary systems equal to , used especially for measuring the depth of water. The fathom is neither an international standard (SI) unit, nor an internationally accepted non-SI unit. H ...
s ( at Lovelady Shield and then driven into the Nenthead ground. The amount of ore found was disappointing, though not insignificant. Access to the Nent Force Level is currently extremely difficult although efforts have been made to develop a
heritage centre A heritage centre, center, or museum, is a public facility – typically a museum, monument, visitor centre, or park – that is primarily dedicated to the presentation of Historical preservation, historical and Cultural heritage, cultural infor ...
to make this extraordinary piece of engineering accessible to the public.


Samuel King's School

As well as having a
primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...
, the town is host to England's smallest
secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...
(an 11–16 comprehensive),
Samuel King's School Samuel King's School is a mixed secondary school located in Alston in the English county of Cumbria. As of 2017 it had 73 students on roll. It is a comprehensive foundation school administered by Westmorland and Furness Council. The schools ...
. Samuel King's serves the local communities such as Nenthead and Garrigill. Alston Moor has a second small primary school at Nenthead.


Media

Local TV coverage is provided by BBC North East and Cumbria and ITV Tyne Tees. Television signals are received from the local relay transmitter which is transmitted via the Pontop Pike transmitter, it is situated north east of the town. Local radio stations are BBC Radio Cumbria, Greatest Hits Radio Cumbria & South West Scotland, and community based station Eden FM Radio which broadcast from its studios in Penrith. The town's local newspapers are '' Cumberland and Westmorland Herald'' and ''
The Westmorland Gazette ''The Westmorland Gazette'' is a weekly newspaper published in Kendal, England, covering "South Lakeland and surrounding areas", including Barrow and North Lancashire. Its name refers to the historic county of Westmorland. The paper is now owned ...
''.


Other Media


Filming locations

Front Street and the Market Cross of the town were used as filming locations in a 1997 adaptation of ''
Jane Eyre ''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The firs ...
''. The town was also adapted to resemble a seaside village where Oliver is born for the 1999 ITV mini series ''
Oliver Twist ''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', is the second novel by English author Charles Dickens. It was originally published as a serial from 1837 to 1839 and as a three-volume book in 1838. The story follows the titular orphan, who, ...
''.


The League of Gentlemen

The fictional town of Royston Vasey, the setting of the TV comedy series ''
The League of Gentlemen ''The League of Gentlemen'' is a British surreal comedy horror series that premiered on BBC Two in 1999. The programme is set in Royston Vasey, a fictional town in northern England originally based on Alston, Cumbria, and follows the lives ...
'', is based on Alston.


Demographic imbalance

In August 2005, Alston made news regarding the town's apparent lack of women, with a claimed ratio of 10 men to every woman in the town. A group of young men from Alston, led by Vince Peart, set up the "Alston Moor Regeneration Society" to persuade women to come to Alston. Articles appeared in ''
the Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'', ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' and the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
. A
documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
was shown on
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
on 11 October 2006. More than two years later, the ''Guardian'' reported that Alston shared first position with Bere Alston in
Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...
in the top 10 list of places in Britain where the imbalance was at its worst.


Transport

The area is stationed on a number of routes including the long−distance footpath the
Pennine Way The Pennine Way is a National Trail in England, with a small section in Scotland. The trail stretches for from Edale, in the northern Derbyshire Peak District, north through the Yorkshire Dales and Northumberland National Park and ends at Kir ...
, and the Sea to Sea (C2C) Cycle Route. Alston railway station was formerly the terminus of a branch line from Haltwhistle. The town's rail link to Haltwhistle was completed in 1852 by the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway Company. The closure of the line was decided in the
Beeching Report Beeching is an English surname. It is either a derivative of the old English ''bece'', ''bæce'' "stream", hence "dweller by the stream" or of the old English ''bece'' "beech-tree" hence "dweller by the beech tree".''Oxford Dictionary of English Sur ...
in 1963, but closure was rejected due to lack of a direct road link. After a road was built, closure was again proposed in 1973 and the line closed on 1 May 1976. It was the last enacted closures of the Beeching Report (another being the Bridport branch line from Bridport to Maiden Newton in
Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...
which closed in 1975). Part of the route, between Alston and Slaggyford, five miles in length, is now operated as the
narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...
South Tynedale Railway. The railway is particularly popular with tourists and passenger trains operate between April and October, with Santa Special trains operating on certain dates in December each year. Go North East operates two buses a day between Alston and Haltwhistle, where connections can be made to buses and trains to Carlisle and Newcastle. Wright Brothers Coaches operates an bus route linking Newcastle with Keswick via
Hexham Hexham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden nearby, and close to Hadrian's Wall. Hexham was the administra ...
,
Haydon Bridge Haydon Bridge is a village in Northumberland, England, which had a population of 2,184 in the 2011 census. Its most distinctive features are the two bridges crossing the River Tyne, River South Tyne: the picturesque original bridge after which ...
, Alston and Penrith from July to September each year. There are term-time bus services to Carlisle primarily for college students.


Climate

This town has a cool and relatively rainy
oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...
(''Cfb'', according to the
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
), with mild summers and chilly winters, with
snow Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...
falls. It is one of the coldest inhabited places in England. There are some ski-tows on the northwest slopes of Burnhope Seat, a hill situated away from Alston. This forms the Yad Moss ski facility, which has been upgraded by
Sport England Sport England is a non-departmental public body under the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Its role is to build the foundations of a community sport system by working with national governing bodies of sport, and other funded partners, ...
. Alston holds the record for the lowest temperature reported in
Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...
. The temperature fell to on 17 January 1881. Additionally, the town also holds the record for the lowest temperature ever reported on 7 March in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, at in 1886. This was also the coldest temperature reported anywhere in the United Kingdom in 1886. The town also reported the coldest temperature in the UK in 1883, at on 15 March of that year. Furthermore, Alston also holds the record for highest temperature reported in the UK on 8 November, at in 1881.


See also

* Listed buildings in Alston Moor


References


Further reading

''A history of Alston Moor'' by Alastair Robertson ''Old Alston'' by Peter Wilkinson ''The Nent Force Level and Brewery Shaft'' by Peter Wilkinson ''Alston Moor, Cumbria: Buildings in a North Pennines landscape'' by Lucy Jessop and Matthew Whitfield, with Andrew Davison (English Heritage) 2013


External links


Cumbria County History Trust: Alston Moor
(nb: provisional research only – see Talk page) {{authority control Market towns in Cumbria Towns in Cumbria Westmorland and Furness