|
|
Cockermouth
Historical information about Cockermouth focused on the history relevant to the Farndale family genealogy
|
|
Dates are in red.
Hyperlinks to other pages are in dark blue.
Headlines of the history of the Cockermouth
are in brown.
References and citations are in turquoise.
Contextual history is in purple.
The Farndales of Cockermouth
The following
Farndales are associated with Cockermouth:
Charles
Masterman Farndale (FAR00429)
of the Kilton 1 Line
John William Farndale (FAR00454)
of the Great Ayton 2 Line
Mary Ann Farndale (FAR00465) of
the Great Ayton 2 Line
You can best see the association through
the Great Ayton 2 Line.
Cockermouth
Cockermouth is an ancient market town and civil parish in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria,
so named because it is at the confluence of the River Cocker as it flows into
the River Derwent. In 1823, it was described
as a considerable borough and market town, about 13 miles from Whitehaven,
26˝ from Carlisle, and 314 from London (Magna
Britannia: Volume 4, Cumberland. Originally published by T Cadell and W Davies,
London, 1816).
1868
Historically a part of Cumberland,
Cockermouth is situated outside the English Lake District on
its northwest fringe. Much of the architectural core of the town remains
unchanged since the basic medieval layout was filled in the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries.
The Romans built
a fort at Derventio Carvetiorum,
now the adjoining village of Papcastle,
to protect the river crossing on a major route for troops heading towards Hadrian's
Wall.
The Normans occupied the former Roman
fort, and built Cockermouth Castle closer to the river
crossing.
Cockermouth Castle
The market town developed its
distinctive medieval layout, of a broad main street of burgesses' houses, each
with a burgage plot stretching to a "back lane": the Derwent bank on
the north and Back Lane (now South Street), on the south.
The town market pre-dates
1221, when the market day was changed from Saturday to Monday. Market charters
were granted in 1221 and 1227 by King Henry III, although this does not
preclude the much earlier existence of a market in the town.
By 1670s, Sir Daniel Fleming called Cockermouth
‘the best Market Towne in this part of the county’, with many fine
buildings and ‘no small reputation’.
Water power led Cockermouth’s transformation into
industrial centre in eighteenth and ninenteenthh
centuries, adding mills and factories to its market function.
There was a paper mill at Simonscales by 1760s, which became a flax mill in mid-nineteenth
century; a corn mill at Rubby Banks, which became textile mill by mid-19th
century.
By the later nineteenth century, the mainstays
of town were flax and woollen mills and agricultural service industries.
Prosperity and industrial growth were
reflected in increase in population to 2,652 in 1785 and 2,865 in 1801, with
doubling to 5,775 in 1851.
In first half of nineteenth century
there were over 40 industrial sites: 5 corn millers, 7 tanners, 14 textile
manufacturers, 2 dyers, 4 hat manufacturers, 5 nail makers, 3 brick makers, 4
brewers and maltsters, as well as spectrum of smaller businesses typical of a
market town, from clog makers to clockmakers and tinsmiths to tailors.
The arrival of railways from Workington in
1847; and from Penrith and Keswick in 1864 saw the town expand to the south of
its medieval confines, with new housing on The Moor.
The population levelled at around 5,300
from 1861 to 1951.