Cumberland facts for kids

Cumberland
Flag
Cumberland en 1851.svg
Geography
Status	Historic county (current) Administrative county (1889–1974) Ceremonial county (until 1974)
1831 area	969,490 acres (3,923.4 km2)1831 Census cited in Vision of Britain – Ancient county data
1911 area	973,086 acres (3,937.94 km2)
1961 area	973,146 acres (3,938.18 km2)
HQ	Carlisle
Chapman code	CUL
History
Origin	Historic
Created	12th Century
Quick facts for kids Demography
1911 population - 1911 density	265,746 Vision of Britain – Cumberland population (density and area) 0.27/acre (0.67/ha)
1961 population - 1961 density	294,303 0.3/acre (0.74/ha)
Politics
Governance	Cumberland County Council (1889–1974)
Arms of Cumberland County Council
Subdivisions
Type	Wards
Units	Cumberland Eskdale Allerdale Above Derwent Allerdale Below Derwent Leath

Cumberland (/ˈkʌmbərlənd/ KUM-bər-lənd) is an area of Northern England which was historically a county. It is bordered by the historic counties of Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish counties of Dumfriesshire and Roxburghshire to the north. The area includes the city of Carlisle, part of the Lake District and North Pennines, and the Solway Firth coastline.

Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974, when it was subsumed into Cumbria with Westmorland as well as parts of Yorkshire and Lancashire. It gives its name to the unitary authority area of Cumberland, which has similar boundaries but excludes Penrith.

Early history

In the Early Middle Ages, Cumbria was part of the Kingdom of Strathclyde in the Hen Ogledd, or "Old North", and its people spoke a Brittonic language now called Cumbric. The first record of the term 'Cumberland' appears in AD 945, when the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recorded that the area was ceded to Malcolm I, king of Alba (Scotland), by King Edmund I of England. As with 'Cymru', the native Welsh name for Wales, the names 'Cumberland' and 'Cumbria' are derived from kombroges in Common Brittonic, which originally meant "compatriots".

At the time of the Domesday Book (AD 1086) most of the future county was part of Scotland, although some villages around Millom, which were the possessions of the Earl of Northumbria, had been incorporated into Yorkshire.

In AD 1092, King William Rufus of England invaded the Carlisle district, settling it with colonists. He created an Earldom of Carlisle, and granted the territory to Ranulf le Meschin. In 1133, Carlisle was made the see of a new diocese, largely identical with the area of the earldom. However, on the death of King Henry I of England in 1135, the area was regained by King David I of Scotland. He was able to consolidate his power and made Carlisle one of his chief seats of government, while England descended into a lengthy civil war. The Cumbric language is believed to have become extinct in the 12th century.

Hand-drawn map of Westmoreland and Cumberland by Christopher Saxton from 1576

The area returned to the English crown in 1157, when Henry II of England took possession of the area (from Malcolm IV of Scotland). Henry II formed two new counties from the former earldom: Westmorland and Carliol – originally an abbreviation of the Latin Carlioliensis '[bishop] of Carlisle'. Westmorland also included areas formerly part of the Earldom of Lancaster. The lead- and silver-mining area of Alston, previously associated with the Liberty of Tynedale was later also added to the new county of Carliol for financial reasons. By 1177, Carliol had become known as Cumberland. The border between England and Scotland was made permanent by the Treaty of York in 1237.

Geography

The boundaries formed in the 12th century were not changed substantially over the county's existence. There are four English historic counties and two Scottish counties that it borders: Northumberland and County Durham to the east; Westmorland to the south, the Furness part of Lancashire to the southwest; Dumfriesshire to the north and Roxburghshire to the northeast.

To the west the county is bounded by the Solway Firth and the Irish Sea. The northern boundary is formed by the Solway Estuary and the border with Scotland running east to Scotch Knowe at Kershope Burn. The boundary runs south from Scotch Knowe along the Cheviot Hills, then followed a tributary of the River Irthing and crossed Denton Fell to the River Tees. From Tees Head the boundary crosses the Pennines to descend Crowdundale Beck, from where it followed the rivers Eden and Eamont to the centre of Ullswater. The line follows Glencoin Beck to the top of Helvellyn ridge at Wrynose Pass and along the River Duddon (near Millom) to the sea .

The highest point of the county is Scafell Pike, at 3,208 feet (978 m), the highest mountain in England. Carlisle is the county town.

Sub-divisions

Map of Cumberland showing wards, 1824

The Earldom of Carlisle was partitioned into baronies. When the County of Cumberland was created, the baronies were subdivided as wards, a county sub-division also used in Durham, Northumberland and Westmorland. These originated as military subdivisions used to organise the male inhabitants for the county's defence from Scottish troop incursions.

Each ward was composed of a number of parishes, areas originally formed for ecclesiastical administration. In common with other northern England counties, many ancient parishes in Cumberland were very large, often consisting of a number of distinct townships and hamlets. Many of these ancient parishes eventually became civil parishes and form the lowest level of local government.

Allerdale above Derwent

Allerdale below Derwent

Eskdale

Leath

Cumberland Ward

Cumberland Ward included Carlisle and Wigton as well as parts of Inglewood Forest. The parish of Stanwix just to the north of Carlisle was partly in both Eskdale and Cumberland wards.

* Parts or all of these parishes and townships constituted the City of Carlisle, and were largely outside the jurisdiction of Cumberland Ward.

Legacy

The name continues in use as a geographical and cultural term, and it survives in Cumberland sausages; HMS Cumberland; the Cumberland Fell Runners Club; the Cumberland Athletics 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. It is also mentioned in Macbeth as the kingdom given to Prince Malcolm, and is also the initial setting for the Geoffrey Trease historical novel Cue for Treason.

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.

The Grass-of-Parnassus was the county flower. It had been associated with the county since 1951, when it was included in the coat of arms granted to the Cumberland County Council. It subsequently featured in the arms granted to Cumbria County Council and Copeland Borough Council, in both cases to represent Cumberland. The flower was also attributed to Cumbria in 2002 as part of a national County flowers of the United Kingdom campaign by the charity Plantlife. In 2012, a flag based on the arms of the former Cumberland County Council was registered as the flag of Cumberland with the Flag Institute.

In 2013, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles, formally recognised and acknowledged the continued existence of England's 39 historic counties, including Cumberland.

In 2021, it was announced that on 1 April 2023 local government in Cumbria would be reorganised into two unitary authorities, one of which is Cumberland and includes most of the historic county, with the exception of Penrith and the surrounding area. The new authority covers 77% of the area and 90% of the population of the historic county.

See also

In Spanish: Cumberland para niños