the history of wasdale...

The Gosforth area is extremely rich in archaeological remains from the Bronze Age. Stockdale Moor to the northeast is thickly clustered with burial cairns, as is Mecklin Park cairnfield (NY 125 020) to the southeast. Excavations have revealed jet beads, a flint knife, arrowheads, polished stone axes and pottery, all on display at Tullie House Museum in Carlisle.

Much later, Anglo-Saxons occupied the area, leaving behind elaborately carved stone crosses - the most magnificent being at Irton. Following on their heels Norse settlers arrived, establishing homesteads and enclosures near to water courses, and leaving a legacy of place names in the form of ‘thwaites' (clearings), garths (enclosures), ‘scales' (summer dwellings). Gosforth was settled by the Norse early in the 10th century. St Mary's church contains the finest collection of Norse sculpture in the country - the pièce de résistance being the slender cross in the churchyard with its depiction of Norse myths interlaced with Christian symbolism. Gosforth itself though (its name means ‘goose ford') developed much later with the onset of a mail coach service from Whitehaven. The town became the first stopover to change horses, leading to the establishment of several coaching inns.

Under Norman rule, Cumbria was divided into baronies, with Gosforth and Wasdale held under the Barony of Egremont. St Bees Priory was founded in 1120, followed by Calder Abbey in 1134. St Mary's Church at Gosforth is largely of Norman construction, although it is likely to have been built on an earlier site of worship. The tiny churches at Wasdale Head and Nether Wasdale were built as chapels of ease for St Bees Priory in the 16th century, although the former was not consecrated until 1901. Up to that date, coffins were regularly carried on horseback over Burnmoor for burial at St Catherine's church near Boot.

Farming was (and still is) the main occupation, with Wasdale Head at the frontier of cultivation. Historically, its flat valley floor was the last opportunity to grow crops and fatten livestock before the mountain wilderness took over. The patchwork effect of small irregular fields divided by thick stone walls is testimony to the huge amount of field clearance that has occurred over the centuries. Some walls even incorporate cairns where massive piles of stones are contained within an encircling wall.