Cumbria is predominantly rural, with an area of 6,769 km2 (2,614 sq mi) and a population of 500,012; this makes it the third-largest ceremonial county in England by area but the eighth-smallest by population. Carlisle is located in the north; the towns of Workington and Whitehaven lie on the west coast, Barrow-in-Furness on the south coast, and Penrith and Kendal in the east of the county. For local government purposes the county comprises two unitary authority areas, Westmorland and Furness and Cumberland. Cumbria was created in 1974 from the historic counties of Cumberland and Westmorland, the Furness area of Lancashire, and a small part of Yorkshire.
The history of medieval Cumbria has several points of interest. The region's status as a borderland coping with 400 years of warfare is one. The attitude of the English central government, at once uninterested and deeply interested, is another. As a border region, of geopolitical importance, Cumbria changed hands between the Angles, Norse (Norwegians, Danes and Hiberno-Norse), Strathclyde Brythons, Picts, Normans, Scots and English; and the emergence of the modern county is also worthy of study. (Full article...)
Image 2St Laurence's Church, Morland : with "the only tower of Anglo-Saxon character in the NW counties", according to Pevsner. Tower possibly built by order of Siward, Earl of Northumbria, sometime between 1042 and 1055; nave possibly later (1120) (from History of Cumbria)
Image 6Claife Station on the western shore of Windermere – built in the 1790s with tinted windows angled to take in all the aesthetically pleasing views (from History of Cumbria)
Image 11'Giants Grave', St. Andrew's churchyard, Penrith, an unusual arrangement of two Viking-age cross-shafts with four hogbacks (in the foreground). In addition, there is a smaller, Viking-age, wheel-headed cross just visible in the background (from History of Cumbria)
Image 12The Stanegate line is marked in red, to the south of the later Hadrian's Wall. (n.b. Brocavum is Brougham, not Kirkby Thore as given in the map) (from History of Cumbria)
Image 22So-called "Saint's tomb" (left), and "Warrior's tomb" (right), two hogbacks in St. Mary's church, Gosforth. Typically high and narrow Cumbrian style, in the shape of a building with a roof, eaves and walls. The Saint's tomb has a crucifixion on the end, the Warrior's tomb has a procession of armed men (from History of Cumbria)
Image 23The Staffordshire Moorlands Pan – an enamelled cooking and serving vessel, engraved with the names of four Hadrian's Wall forts sited in Cumbria (2nd century AD). See also the article on the Rudge Cup and Amiens skillet. (from History of Cumbria)
Image 31Wetheral Priory Gatehouse – all that remains of Wetheral Priory, founded by Ranulf le Meschin in 1106 (from History of Cumbria)
Image 32Swarthy Hill, near Crosscanonby on the Solway coast – possible site of Iron Age hillfort, later the site of mile-fortlet 21 in Roman times (from History of Cumbria)
Image 34Carlisle Castle – begun by William Rufus in 1092; rebuilt in stone under Henry I, 1122–35, and David I of Scotland, 1136–1153 (from History of Cumbria)
Image 35The Gosforth Cross, 10th-century Viking-age sculpture. (A replica of 1887, with clearer depictions of the decoration, may be found in the churchyard at Aspatria, along with a replica of another cross, the original of which is at Dearham) (from History of Cumbria)
Image 44Dove Cottage (Town End, Grasmere) – home of William and Dorothy Wordsworth, 1799–1808; home of Thomas De Quincey, 1809–1820 (from History of Cumbria)
Image 46A Tesco store underwater in Carlisle during the January 2005 floods (from History of Cumbria)
Image 47Workington Hall, the Curwens' family seat (from History of Cumbria)
Image 48This map of cities and towns of Northern England shows the relative lack of urbanisation in Cumbria (shown here as the historic counties of Cumberland and Westmorland) compared to the rest of the region (from Cumbria)
Image 49The Ormside bowl, probably late 8th century and made in Northumbria; possibly looted from York by a Viking warrior and buried with him at Great Ormside (from History of Cumbria)
Image 50St Mary's Church, Abbeytown : all that is left of Holmcultram Abbey, founded by David I, King of Scots, and his son, Earl Henry, in 1150 (from History of Cumbria)
Image 54Yanwath hall – a semi-fortified house near Penrith (from History of Cumbria)
Image 55Approximate extent of Domesday coverage : the district of Hougun, if indeed it was a district, may have covered the three peninsulas at the left of the pink area (from History of Cumbria)
Image 56Wray Castle – built by a Liverpool doctor who had married a rich wife. Constructed in 1840 at the head of Windermere. Associated with two key players of the National Trust : Canon Rawnsley and Beatrix Potter (from History of Cumbria)
Image 57Greystoke Castle. Held by the Greystoke family, then by the Dacres and inherited by the Howard family during Elizabeth I's reign. Photo:Simon Ledingham (from History of Cumbria)
Image 58The historic counties shown within Cumbria
Image 59Brantwood, overlooking Coniston Water, viewed from the steam yacht 'Gondola' – note the angled, corner windows designed to take in the views (from History of Cumbria)
Image 61The Eden Valley between Appleby and Penrith, an area referred to affectionately as the heartland of Rheged in the praise poems of Taliesin (from History of Cumbria)
Image 69The Fish Hotel, Buttermere – where Mary Robinson worked (from History of Cumbria)
Image 70Loki stone, Kirkby Stephen parish church, part of a 10th-century Viking-age cross-shaft. But does it show Loki or Satan? (from History of Cumbria)
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