Egremont, Cumberland

Historical Description

Egremont, a market-town and a parish in Cumberland. The town stands on the river Ehen, and has a station on the L. & N.W. and Furness Joint railway. It is thought by some to date from the times of the Romans, and is supposed to take its name from two Latin words signifying " the mount of sorrow," and it has remains of a Norman castle, believed to occupy the site of some previous fort. Its appearance, as seen from vantage-ground on the E, is picturesque. The castle stands on a rising ground overlooking the Ehen, bears marks of great antiquity, and is supposed to have been built by William de Meschines, first lord of the barony of Copeland, soon after the Norman Conquest. The keep of it is the chief part now standing; the exterior wall shows ten courses of herring-bone work, the gateway arch has the horse-shoe form, and is groined, and three other arches remain, but have the pointed form. A tradition relating to incidents in the history of the castle's proprietors at the time of the Crusades is embodied in Wordsworth's {t Horn of Egremont Castle." The town was anciently a borough, sending members to parliament, but was disfranchised, at its own request, in the time of Edward I. It has a local board of nine members, and a new town-hall and market-hall. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office (S.O.), a railway station, two chief inns, a parish and district church, a Roman Catholic and two dissenting chapels. The church is an old edifice, much modernized, with a circular centre and flat wings. A weekly market is held on Saturday; fairs are held on 17 Feb., 24 April, third Friday in May, and 18 Sept. for horned cattle and sheep, and at Whitsuntide and Martinmas for hiring servants. The inhabitants are employed in corn-mills, tanneries, and mines. The town gave the title of Earl, now extinct, to the family of Wyndham. The parish comprises 2749 acres; population, 6105. There are tumuli and a small Druidical circle. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Carlisle; gross value, £226 with residence. Patron, Lord Leconfield.

Egremont Parliamentary Division or Western Cumberland was formed under the Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885, and returns one member to the House of Commons. Acreage, 180,323; population, 53,604. The division includes the following:-Whitehaven or Allerdale-above-Derwent-Arlecdon, Cleator, Distington, Egremont, Ennerdale and Kinniside, Gosforth, Haile, Harrington, Hensingham, Lamplugh, Low Keekle, Lowside Quarter, Moresby, Nether Wasdale, Parton, Ponsonby, Preston Quarter, Rottington, Sb Bee's, St Bridget's (Beckermet), St John's (Beckermet), Salter and Eskat, Sandwith, Weddicar, Whitehaven; Bootle -Birker and Austhwaithe, Bootle, Corney, Drigg and Carle-ton, Eskdale and Wasdale, Irton and Santon, Millom, Muncaster, Ulpha, Waberthwaite, Whicham, Whitbeck.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Egremont from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Egremont (St. Michael))

Land and Property

The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Cumberland is available to browse.

Maps

Online maps of Egremont are available from a number of sites:

• Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• Google Streetview.
• National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
• OpenStreetMap.
• old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
• Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)

Villages, Hamlets, &c

Visitations Heraldic

The Visitation of Cumberland, 1615 is available on the Heraldry page.