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.
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. Cockermouth was the birthplace and childhood home of William Wordsworth - his former home now imaginatively presented to the visitor.
About the area
History & heritage
Historically, Cockermouth had a thriving industrial base, with several mills producing woollen, linen and cotton goods.
Art & culture
This attractive town with its broad, tree-lined main thoroughfare boasts a healthy mix of high quality art and craft galleries.
Natural environment
Around the town, the rolling landscape is divided by hedgerows, and dotted with solitary farmhouses and pockets of attractive villages.
Oddities
Earl Mayo
The marble statue on Main Street is that of Earl Mayo (Richard Southwell Bourke) - Cockermouth's MP for 10 years (1857-1867). He was appointed Viceroy to India in 1869, but three years later was stabbed to death in the Andaman Islands (Indian Ocean) by a convict serving time in the penal colony there.
Coleridge
Coleridge named his son (Derwent) after one of the rivers that flow through Cockermouth. He also based his famous poem, ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' on the adventures of Fletcher Christian (see ‘History' section).Cockermouth accommodation
Using this search
This quick search allows you to search for accommodation within 3 miles of Cockermouth. For more detailed searches click on the advanced option.Visitor information
Eric Robson's Cockermouth
Chair of gardener's question time on BBC radio 4, acclaimed writer and broadcaster Eric Robson gives his own unique introduction to Cockermouth.
