introduction to cockermouth...
This handsome Georgian town on the edge of the Lake District has been identified as one of 51 ‘gem towns' in Britain, recommended for preservation as part of our national heritage. Since the town gained its market charter in 1226, Cockermouth has retained its importance as a regional market town and provides everything for the resident and tourist alike in a non-brashy way. This attractive town with its broad, tree-lined main thoroughfare boasts a healthy mix of service shops (butchers, bakers, ironmongers, etc), alongside cafes, pubs and high quality art and craft galleries.
Good roads provide fast and easy access to Bassenthwaite Lake and Keswick, and to Maryport and the sandy coastline towards Allonby. To the north, it is less than an hour's drive to Carlisle, whilst southern routes quickly take the traveller to Loweswater, Buttermere and the heart of the Lake District.
Around the town, the rolling landscape is divided by hedgerows, and dotted with solitary farmhouses and pockets of attractive villages. This is prime agricultural land for the rearing of sheep and cattle, with Cockermouth providing the central market for the buying and selling of livestock. Mitchell's Auction Mart, on the outskirts of Cockermouth, holds regular sales of sheep and cattle, and has done so since 1873.
Historically, Cockermouth had a thriving industrial base, with several mills producing woollen, linen and cotton goods, as well as embroidery silks and threads. The town was also known for its hat and rope making. In 1874, the Jenning Brothers moved their famous brewery to Cockermouth, where fine ales are still brewed today.
Cockermouth was the birthplace and childhood home of William Wordsworth - his former home now imaginatively presented to the visitor.
Surrounding Cockermouth are several attractive villages: Dovenby to the northwest with its old hall (now the headquarters of the Malcolm Wilson rally team) and Tallentire. Nearby Bridekirk is named after a 6th century Irish saint (St Bridget). Blindcrake and Sunderland to the northeast are farming villages with narrow farming strips behind 18th century houses. East of Cockermouth, the scattered houses of Embleton overlook the ancient hamlet of Wythop. To the southwest lies Eaglesfield, a small village that produced two notable figures within a couple of years of each other: Fletcher Christian (of Mutiny on the Bounty) in 1764 (born at nearby Moorland Close) and John Dalton (father of atomic theory) in 1766. Deanscales, Pardshaw, Dean and Mockerkin are quiet hamlets further south. The villages of Greysouthern, Bridgefoot and Brigham cluster to the west of Cockermouth, and lastly, and almost a suburb of the town, is the hill-top village of Papcastle and the site of the Roman fort of Derventio.
