History

Across Lake District National Park you can find remnants of the earliest people here.

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History Details

The county of Cumbria is formed from the older counties of Cumberland, Westmorland, and parts of North Lancashire, and North Yorkshire. The northern ranges of the Lake District consist of Ordovician slate, about 500 million years old; the central ranges of younger volcanic rock; and a southern range of limestone and other Silurian rock about 440 million years old. These highlands are dissected by U-shaped valleys, known as dales, containing the lakes, some of which are artificial and all but one of which do not have the word 'lake' in their names, being known instead as 'meres' (Windermere, Grasmere, Thirlmere) or "waters" (Ullswater, Wastwater, Coniston Water); the exception is Bassenthwaite Lake. **Early Settlers** The last great Ice Age ended some 12,000 years ago and the people here eked out an existence in a terribly harsh place. As millennia passed and the climate tempered, these early residents began to move, hunting and fishing and gathering across the region, then, around 7,000 years ago, they began to establish more permanent homes, clearing forest for fuel and building materials and opening up land for easier hunting and the planting of crops. At least 5,000 years ago, Pike o'Stickle and other mountains in Langdale became the source of stone for axes and the sites of stone circles at Castlerigg, Long Meg, and elsewhere. Later inhabitants dug parts of the Lake District for copper, iron-ore, graphite, and green slate. In Neolithic times, the Lake District was a major source of stone axes, examples of which have been found all over Britain. The primary site, on the slopes of the Langdale Pikes, is sometimes described as a 'stone axe factory'. Fast-forward to 100 A.D. and you find Romans here. Across Southern England they built complex roads and buildings, but here, along the frontier, their need was protection so they built forts and camps, constructing supply roads as they came. Relics from this period are buried beneath present day farmland and villages, but every so often evidence of the Roman occupation surfaces with the most prominent sites including Hardknott Fort at the head of Eskdale, Galava Fort in Ambleside and High Street, the Roman road across the high fells between Ambleside and Penrith. It isn't until the 10th century that we find the next foreign invader: Vikings. These Norsemen came to reive and rage, but some stayed behind, even migrated to Ireland, but that was further south. They and their descendants fled Ireland for the Lake District and left evidence of their presence in earthworks and stone monuments. Celts, Romans, Angles, and Vikings in succession settled among the lakes, and it was the last of these who provided such place-name elements as "-thwaite" (clearing), "fell" (mountain with grazing), "gill" (ravine), "force" (waterfall), and also introduced the local Herdwick sheep, which are born black and become white.Cumbria still has evidence of these settlers in Hadrian's Wall, and its Forts, and Viking crosses. The Norman invaders made their way to Cumbria by 1092, and then land was divided among lords and monasteries. Parts of some forests were cleared to create grazing land for livestock while others were left for hunting. At monasteries monks worked with iron and wool, plying their living selling their goods in local villages. As the population grew so did the need for farms and tenant farmers. When the 11th century came around much of the land here was under crop or used for grazing. By the time the 15th century came, the population was much larger and so too the need for more food. By the time Henry VII closed the monasteries in the 16th century things were changing, land was exchanging hands and the lords began to sell parcels to their tenants. Numerous Tower Houses and Pele Towers were built in the 15-16th centuries, when "Border Reivers" were a constant menace, rustling livestock, pillaging, kidnapping and extorting protection money. In 1551, the "Debateable Land" was divided between the two countries England and Scotland, and the boundary was defined by a shallow ditch which became known as the Scot's Dike. Jump ahead to the Industrial Revolution and you see a major change in the Lake District as mines began to operate on larger and larger scales, forcing the growth of villages and towns, the improvement of roads, and the influx of workers and their families. **Mining** As early as the 12th Century there is evidence of mining and quarrying in Cumbria, and it probably dates back to Roman times. Everywhere in Cumbria there is physical evidence of this industry to be seen lead, copper, zinc, baryte, haematite, tungsten, graphite, fluorite, and coal were being mined and quarried. The Threlkeld Quarrying and Mining Museum is a great place to find out more. - **Slate** Some mining still takes place today - for example slate mining continues at the Honister Mine, which is also open to the public, at the top of Honister Pass. Abandoned mine-workings can be found on fell-sides throughout the district, including the impressive Hodge Close Quarry in Langdale. - **Graphite** The locally-mined graphite led to the development of the pencil industry, especially around Keswick. The Keswick Pencil Museum makes for a facinating journey back into the history of the industry - **Haematite** It was known in earlier times that West Cumbria was rich in iron ore but it was not until the 1830's that this valuable mineral was mined here on a significant scale. The best quality iron ore to be found anywhere in the world is called haematite and it is this rich mineral which is can be found in the limestone layers of West Cumbria. The rich haematite deposits are found in a variety of different forms penetrating faults in the Carboniferous limestone strata of West Cumbria. The Florence Mine Heritage Centre at Egremont, West Cumbria has a heritage centre, and underground mine trips. - **Coal** Coal mining in West Cumbria dates back to the 13th Century when the monks from St Bees Abbey supervised the opening of coal mines at Arrowthwaite. This long history ended in March 1986, when Haig Pit, Cumbria's last deep coal mine, finally closed. Over 1200 men, women, and children have been killed in the Whitehaven pits while winning coal in workings up to four miles out beneath the Solway Firth. - **Granite and Limestone** Shap has built up around its quarrying activities. As well as limestone, there is the Shap blue granite, and the more famous Shap pink granite, seen throughout Britain in kerbstones and building frontages, and both quarried about two miles south from the village, near Shap Summit. Lime kilns were used from medieval periods right through to the 18th and 19th centuries. They were used in earlier times for the production of mortar for building purposes, and sometimes, as during the 18th and 19th centuries, for the production of lime for agricultural purposes. There are remains of hundreds of lime kilns - both large and small around Cumbria. In July 2009 the Greenside Lime Kiln in Kendal, a scheduled ancient monument, was preserved to prevent dereliction, and to show visitors the link between the lime burning industry and the Kendal canal, by which the town prospered in the 9th century. **Milling** In the middle of the 19th century, half the world textile industry's bobbin supply came from the Lake District area. Stott Park Bobbin Mill, now owned by English Heritage, is still in working order. **Railways** During the heyday of coal mining, iron ore mining, and steelmaking, many railways were built to service these industries. Due to the decline in the industries that they serviced so well many have now closed. Some have been adopted as heritage steam railways, some have been converted to foot and cycle paths, others have just faded away. **Tourism and the beginning of the Conservation movement** William Wordsworth wrote his Guide to the Lakes in 1810, describing the area as "a sort of national property, in which every man has a right and interest who has an eye to perceive and a heart to enjoy." People became interested in the Lake District as a place of recreation as an alternative to the European Grand Tour, and, in 1847, the Windermere railway line came bringing more visitors. But John Ruskin, a prominent social thinker, whose home is at Brantwood overlooking Coniston Water, objected to it, saying too many visitors would destroy the tranquility of the area. His views on this and other matters became popular among writers and politicians, leading to the creation of the National Trust at the end of the 19th century and much that has followed in protecting our most precious countryside from the worst excesses of development. The largest single owner of land within the Lake District is now the National Trust. Its first members included Beatrix Potter, an artist and writer of children's books who became a sheep farmer in the Lake District and left many of her farms to the National Trust. In 1951 Lake District National Park was established, making it the second national park to be designated in the United Kingdom. The UK Government has nominated the Lake District as a candidate for World Heritage Site inscription as a cultural landscape in 2017.

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