history & heritage of cumbria...

Whether you want to delve into our deep, sometimes dark past or simply enjoy some stunning surroundings, there's plenty of local history and heritage to keep you interested.

There are some 50 stone circles in Cumbria including the well-known Castlerigg, near Keswick

and Britain's third largest, Long Meg and Her Daughters, near Penrith, also one of the earliest relics in Cumbria dating back to around 1500BC.

Cumbria's boundaries contain 608 ancient monuments, from Hadrian's Wall and the fort at Birdoswald
read more

A wealth of history waiting to be explored

Historic sites & buildings

From Hadrian's Wall in the north to Furness Abbey in the south, delve into in the history of the region.

historic sites & buildings

Industrial heritage

Visit a 19thC mining village, take a steam train ride to the foot of England's highest mountain. Cumbria has a wealth of industrial heritage for you to experience.
industrial heritage

Oddities

Halifax bomber

In October 1944 a Halifax Bomber crashed into Great Carrs, a steep mountain side behind Wetherlam. All on board were killed. One of the engines can be seen outside the Ruskin Museum.

Bank's ironmongers

Bank's Ironmongers on Market Place is worth a visit - even if just to stand and marvel at the workings of a traditional 170-year-old shop with its rows of wooden drawers behind the counter and an ornate vintage till. Old lamps hang from the ceiling and, at the back of the shop, there is a display of swords and firearms collected together from the 1930s.

Baddeley clock

The Baddeley Clock (SD 410 979) on the main road (A5074) marks the division between Windermere and Bowness. It was built as a memorial to M J B Baddeley (1843-1906) who wrote a series of well-regarded guidebooks.

Claife station

Claife Station (SD 388 955) is one of Thomas West's classic viewpoints - a ‘station' where visitors could best appreciate the aesthetic qualities of the Lakeland landscape. This listed building (built in the 1790s) became a fashionable destination in the 1830s and 40s and was mentioned in guidebooks of the time. Although now in ruins, its windows once contained different coloured glass to enhance the lighting effects on the landscape: yellow glass for summer effects, orange for autumn, light green for spring and light blue for winter. In addition there was dark blue for moonlight and lilac to enhance thundery conditions.

Browse history and heritage by map

Using the map

The sandy coloured areas on the map indicate the location of the history and heritage features listed on this website. The darker the colour the more features there are in that area.

This text is replaced by the Heximap.