Cumberland is an area of north-west England and one of the 39 historic counties of England. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 (excluding Carlisle from 1915) and now forms
part of Cumbria.
Early history
At the time of the Domesday Book in 1086 most of the county was part of
Scotland although some villages in the far south west were included in the Yorkshire section with the Furness region.
The historic county boundaries formed by the 12th Century were with Northumberland and
County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south,
the Furness part of Lancashire to the south-west,
Dumfriesshire in Scotland to the north and
Roxburghshire in Scotland to the north-east. Ullswater
formed part of the border with Westmorland.
The highest point of the county is Scafell Pike at 978 m (3,208 ft); it is the highest
mountain in England. Carlisle is the historic
county town of the county.
Division into wards
The county was divided into five wards, rather than the hundreds found in most English counties. The wards were:
Modern history
Cumberland
 |
| Administration |
| Status: |
Administrative county,
Ceremonial county |
| HQ: |
Carlisle |
| History |
| Created: |
1889 |
| Abolished: |
1974 |
| Succeeded by: |
Cumbria |
| Area |
| 1911: |
973,086 acres |
| 1961: |
973,146 acres |
| Population |
| 1901: |
266,933 |
| 1971: |
292,169 |
In 1889, under the Local Government Act 1888, a county council was created
for Cumberland, taking over administrative functions from the Quarter Sessions. The
Local Government Act 1894 further divided the county into urban districts and
rural districts.
Carlisle was created a county borough in 1915 and no longer formed part of the area
under the control of the county council, or administrative county.
In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, the administrative county and
county borough were abolished and their former area was combined with Westmorland and parts
of Lancashire and the West Riding of
Yorkshire to form the new county of Cumbria. The area from Cumberland went on to form the
districts of Carlisle, Allerdale, Copeland and part of Eden.
The distribution of population in 1971 was as follows: [1]
| District |
Population |
| County Borough of Carlisle |
71,580 |
| Cockermouth Urban District |
6,366 |
| Keswick Urban District |
5,184 |
| Maryport Urban District |
11,612 |
| Penrith Urban District |
11,308 |
| Whitehaven Urban District |
26,721 |
| Municipal Borough of Workington |
28,431 |
| Alston with Garrigill Rural District |
1,917 |
| Border Rural District |
29,267 |
| Cockermouth Rural District |
21,520 |
| Ennerdale Rural District |
30,983 |
| Millom Rural District |
14,088 |
| Penrith Rural District |
11,380 |
| Wigton Rural District |
21,830 |
Legacy
The name continues in use as a geographical and cultural term, and survives in Cumberland
sausages, Cumberland County Cricket Club and various organisations
and companies, such as the local newspapers The Cumberland News, and The West Cumberland Times and Star, and the
Cumberland Building Society.
In June 1994, during the 1990s UK local government reform, the Local
Government Commission published draft recommendations, suggesting as one option a North Cumbria unitary authority (also including Appleby, the
historic county town of Westmorland). It also suggested that Cumberland could be reinstated as an independent ceremonial county. The final recommendations, published in October 1994, did not include
such recommendations, apparently due to lack of expression of support for the proposal to the commission.
As part of a 2002 marketing campaign, the plant conservation charity Plantlife chose the
Grass-of-Parnassus as the county flower.
Parnassus flowers had been associated with the county since 1951, when they were included in the
coat of arms granted to the Cumberland County Council. They subsequently featured in the
arms granted to Cumbria County Council and Copeland Borough Council, in both cases to
represent Cumberland.
References
- ^ 1971 Census; Small Area Statistics
External links
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