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Cockermouth in Cumberland County England History and GeographyCOCKERMOUTH, an unincorporated borough, market town, and parochial chapelry in the parish of BRIGHAM, ALLERDALE ward above Darwent, county of CUMBERLAND, 25 miles (S. W.) from Carlisle, and 305 (N. W. by N.) from London, containing 3790 inhabitants. The name is derived from the situation of the town at the mouth of the river Cocker, which here unites with the Darwent. The barony, now called the Honour of Cockermouth, was assigned, soon after the Conquest, by William de Meschines to Waldeof, Lord of Allerdale, son of Gospatrick, Earl of Northumberland, from whom it descended to Fitz-Duncan, nephew to Malcolm, King of Scotland; and his co-heiresses, one of whom married into the family of Albemarle, and the other into that of Lucy, shared it in moieties. On the death of William de Fortibus, Earl of Albemarle, and his countess Isabel, without issue, their moiety of the castle and honour lapsed to the crown, and was bestowed upon Piers Gavestone, in whose possession it continued for some time; but, in 1323, it was granted by Edward II. to Anthony, Lord Lucy, proprietor of the other moiety by inheritance: after his death, which took place in 1369, Maud, his sister and heiress, settled the castle and honour of Cockermouth on her second husband, Percy, Earl of Northumberland: they next passed to Charles Seymour, Duke of Somerset, by marriage with the only daughter of Josceline, the last earl of Northumberland, and ultimately, in like manner, came into the possession of the earls of Egremont, the present earl being lord paramount of the honour. The castle, formerly the baronial seat of the lords of Allerdale, stands on the edge of a precipitous eminence, on the northern side of the town, opposite the confluence of the two rivers: it is supposed to have been erected by Waldeof, soon after the Conquest, (although the remains are not, apparently, of earlier date than the fourteenth century, and to have been constructed with the materials of an older castle, called Papcastle, the former residence of Waldeof, a Roman fortress, about a mile and a half distant, on the other side of the Darwent: it was originally an extensive and very strong building, and was garrisoned for the royal cause, but reduced and dismantled in 1645, after a month's siege, by the parliamentarians, who are stated to have destroyed part of the town also. The only perfect and habitable parts are the gate-house, with two rooms adjoining, and the court-house at the eastern angle of the area: underneath the ruins of the great tower is a spacious vault, thirty feet square, the roof of which is formed of groined and interseeting arches, and supported by an octagonal central pillar, with pilasters at the corners and sides; this vault, from being called Mary Kirk, is supposed to have been the chapel dedicated to St. Mary. On each side of the entrance gate-way is a dungeon, capable of containing fifty prisoners, who probably entered through a small aperture visible in the corner of the arch. Mary. Queen of Scots, after her escape from the castle of Dunbar, rested some time at Cockermonth, on her way from Workington to Carlisle, and was also hospitably entertained at Hutton Hall, then belonging to the Fletchers. In 1647, the plague swept off nearly two hundred of the inhabitants. The town is situated in a narrow valley, amid scenery richly diversified with hill and dale: the Darwent flows on the northern side of it, and is crossed by a handsome stone bridge of two arches, connecting the town with the hamlet of Goat, two hundred and seventy feet in length, and completed in 1822, at an expense to the county of £3000: on the margin of this river is an agrecable promenade, about one mile in length, terminated at one extremity by lofty well-wooded cliffs, and at the other by the ruins of the castle, and the elevated bowling-green. The river Cocker divides the town into two parts, and is crossed by a bridge of one arch, rebuilt on a wider and improved plan in 1828, at an expense of £2,600. The streets, with the exception of the High-street, a fine broad street, are but indifferently paved, and not lighted: there is an ample supply of water from the rivers Derwent and Cocker, from some streams which flow through the town, and from pumps connected with most of the dwellings: the houses are in general built of stone, roofed with blue slate, and of respectable appearance. Considerable improvement has lately been effected, particularly in the erection and widening of the bridges, and in the market-place, above the bridge over the Cocker. There is a small subscription library; also a parochial library over the grammar school, containing upwards of five hundred volumes, founded by Dr. Bray and his associates, to which Dr. Keene, Bishop of Chester, was a great benefactor. Cockermouth is a town of considerable trading importance, enjoying, within a very limited distance, the advantage of three sea-ports. A great trade is carried on in cotton, linen, and woollen articles, for which there are some extensive manufactories; also in the tanning and dressing of leather, and the manufacture of hats, stockings, paper, &c.: in the vicinity are considerable coal mines. The moor, containing about twelve hundred acres, was enclosed and divided under an act obtained in 1813. The market is held on Monday, at which a considerable quantity of grain is pitched in the market-place; and there is an inferior market on Saturday, for provisions, &c. Fairs for cattle are held on every alternate Wednesday from the beginning of May till the end of September, and there is a great fair for horses and horned cattle on the 10th of October; there are also two annual fairs, or statutes for hiring servants, on the Mondays at Whitsuntide and Martinmas. This town has no separate jurisdiction: the chief officer is a bailiff, who is chosen annually at Michaelmas, at the court leet for the manor, from among the burghers, by a jury of burghers, which is a special jury appointed for regulating the internal affairs of the town; he acts as clerk of the market, but exercises no magisterial functions, and has no local authority, the county magistrates having jurisdiction in the borough, and holding a petty session every Monday, to transact the business of the borough and regulate the police. The steward of the manor holds a court every three weeks, for the recovery of debts under 40s., and a court leet at Michaelmas and Easter: he also, aided by commissioners appointed for the government of the several manors comprised within the honour, holds a court of dimissions at Christmas, in the castle. The Epiphany quarter session for the county is held here in January. The moot-hall, formerly an old dilapidated structure inconveniently situated in the market-place, has been recently rebuilt in a more commodious manner, and on a more eligible site. There is a small house of correction in St. Helen's street. In the 23rd of Edward I. this borough returned members to parliament, but from that date till the 16th of Charles I. the elective franchise was suspended; it was then restored by a resolution of the House of Commons, determining, ';That the borough of Cockermouth be restored to the ancient privilege of sending burgesses to parliament;' and has from that period regularly returned two members, who are elected by the burgage tenants, about three hundred in number, chiefly in the interest of the Earl of Lonsdale: the bailiff is the returning officer. The election of knights for the shire takes place here. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the archdeaconry of Richmond, and diocese of Chester, endowed with £800 private benefaction, £200 royal bounty, and £1900 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage of the Earl of Lonsdale. The old church or chapel, erected in the reign of Edward III., was taken down, with the exception of the tower, and the present edifice of free-stone built by means of a brief in 1711, and dedicated to All Saints: it was enlarged and beautified in 1825, towards defraying the expense of which, the Incorporated Society for building new churches contributed £175; it contains one thousand free sittings. There are places of worship for the Society of Friends, Independents, and Wesleyan Methodists. The free grammar school was founded in 1676, by Lord Wharton, Sir Richard Graham, and others; it was further endowed with £10 annually, charged upon the great tithes, and paid by the Earl of Lonsdale, who also contributes £10 annually as a gratuity, the whole income being not more than £24 per annum; the children pay a quarterage. A charity school, founded in 1784, is supported by voluntary contributions, and contains at present sixty-three scholars. There is a free school, supported in a similar manner, for thirty girls, who are admitted from the age of eight to fourteen, and taught reading, writing, and needle-work. In 1785, a Sunday school was founded by subscription, for the instruction of one hundred children. In 1760, the Rev. Thomas Leathes gave a house in Kirk-gate, and the interest of £100, to which his daughter added £50, for the maintenance of six poor widows, or unmarried women, above sixty years of age. The interest of about £800, the amount of several benefactions, is distributed by the churchwardens among the poor inhabitants weekly, in bread and money. A dispensary, established in 1785, is liberally supported; and there are four friendly societies, comprising in the whole about five hundred members. In addition to these, there are different benevolent societies, established at various periods. A savings bank was opened in May, 1818, which, in November, 1827, contained deposits to the amount of £17,167. 15. 5. The hills on each side of the Darwent are interesting to the naturalist, consisting of calcareous stone, almost entirely composed of shells of the genus ammoni'. On the north side of the town is a tumulus, called Toot-hill; and one mile westward are the rampart and ditch of a fort, or encampment, triangular in form, and nearly seven hundred and fifty feet in circumference. The Honour of Cockermouth confers the title of baron on the family of Wyndham, earls of Egremont. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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