History of Cumbria

The survival of these objects has been influenced by processes such as the rise in sea levels on the west coast, erosion, deposition practices, industrial and agricultural development, and the changing interests and capabilities of antiquarians and archaeologists.

[2][3] Discussing the Kirkhead Cave finds, Barrowclough quotes an earlier source who says: "Although limited, the Late Upper Paleolithic material from Cumbria is the earliest evidence of settlement in Britain this far north-west and as such is of national importance.

)[24] In the Early Bronze Age, evidence of greatly increased woodland clearing combined with cereal growing has been found in the pollen record for the North Cumbrian Plain, Solway Firth and the coastal areas.

Activity round the Morecambe Bay region seems to have been less than in the West Cumbrian Coastal Plain, although there is evidence for significant settlement on Walney Island, and at Sizergh, Levens Park and Allithwaite where Beaker burials took place.

Ritualistic deposition into Cumbrian grave-sites include: broken artefacts, such as single beads from a necklace (as at Ewanrigg); sherds of Beaker or Collared Urn pottery; bone pins, buttons, jet, slate, clay ornaments; ochre, or red porphyry and quartz crystals (as at Birkrigg, Urswick); knives, daggers and hunting equipment.

There is some sign of copper ore extraction around the Coniston area, but the most notable find is of a tuyère, (a clay pipe connecting the bellows to a furnace), found at Ewanrigg[36] and which is a rare example from the Early Bronze Age.

However, Cumbria appears not to have any of the so-called 'developed hillforts' (enlarged from earlier versions, around 3–7 ha in area, with multiple ditches and complex entrances),[44] suggesting that few, if any, were still being used in the pre-Roman Iron Age, apparently having been abandoned.

Woodland clearing happened, however, combined with signs of increased soil erosion: production capacity may have been seriously affected, with agriculture being forcibly replaced by pastoralism, and with a resultant "population crisis" at the beginning of the Iron Age.

The settlement of Severus, carried forward diplomatically by his son Caracalla, led to a period of relative peace in the north, which may have lasted for most of the 3rd-century (we are severely hampered by the lack of sources concerning the northern frontier for most of the 3rd century, so this may be a false picture).

It is known, from the poetic sources, that under Urien's leadership the kings of the north fought against the encroaching Angles of Bernicia and that he was betrayed by one of his own allies, Morcant Bulc, who arranged his assassination after the battle of Ynys Metcaut (Lindisfarne) around 585 AD.

At least one historian [94] believes that the core, strategically important, area of the Solway and the lower Eden valley, remained essentially 'Celtic', with Carlisle retaining its old Roman 'civitas' status under Northumbrian overlordship, occasionally visited by the King of Northumbria and bishops such as Cuthbert, and overseen by a 'praepositus' (English: 'reeve'), a kind of permanent official.

In Cumbria, there were monasteries at Carlisle, Dacre, and Heversham, known from literary sources; and at Knells, Workington and Beckermet, known from stone inscriptions; and possible sites at Irton, with its early 9th-century cross, Urswick and Addingham without any evidence attached to them.

On 12 July 927, Eamont Bridge (and/or possibly the monastery at Dacre, Cumbria, and/or the site of the old Roman fort at Brougham) was the scene of a gathering of kings from throughout Britain as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the histories of William of Malmesbury and John of Worcester.

The Norman takeover of the Cumbria region took place in two phases: the southern district, covering what were to become the baronies of Millom, Furness, Kendale and Lonsdale, were taken over in 1066 (see below under "Domesday"); the northern sector (the "land of Carlisle") was taken over in 1092 by William Rufus.

[145] The (first) Treaty of Durham (1136) ceded Carlisle and Cumberland to David.David may have been intending to enlarge his control of northern England when he fought at the Battle of the Standard, some of the soldiers of David's force being Cumbrians (from south of the Solway-Esk line, that is).

The area was caught up in the continuing (and increasing) strife caused by local clans (the border reivers), by the religious reformation initiated by Henry VIII of England, by the subsequent rebellion of Catholic nobles and by war with the Scots.

[171] In Cumbria, the powerful northern families and other, lesser, gentry, who were appointed Warden and deputy-warden included the Dacres, the Cliffords, the Musgraves, the Carletons, the Lowthers, the Ridleys and the Salkelds (many of whom were involved in, or encouraged, reiving themselves).

"[191] Some argue that the notion of Cumbria as a "region" is itself open to challenge,[192] others say that the area (Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire north of the Sands) had a "perceived unity" that "long predated the arrival of tourists to visit the Lakes.

Daniel Defoe may not even have visited the Lakes when, in volume 3 of his A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain (1726), he commented on the 'high and formidable' mountains' and the lack of anything of use or ornamentation to be found there – a pre-Romantic view of landscape prevailing with him.

There was a certain amount of additional irony involved in the 'School's' perception by readers, who were inspired, upon reading the poetry, to visit the area, thus helping to destroy, in the mind of Wordsworth at least, the very thing that made the Lakes special (although he himself ended up writing one of the best guides to the region).

Wordsworth's early radical political ideas led him to his second poetic innovation: the use of 'plain language' and having for his subject the 'common man', as represented by the Dales-folk, (rather than "kings and queens, lords and ladies or gods and goddesses" as was the case up to then).

Despite this reclusive side of his personality, Wordsworth was a strong believer in family and community, and he was much concerned with the effects on (especially poor) people's way of life of social change (for example, due to the enclosure movement) that were taking place.

"[219] Wordsworth's rejection of the poem Christabel, partly written at Greta Hall, for the Lyrical Ballads collection, added to Coleridge's depression over his personal life, his doubts about being able to write as he would have wished and his ill-health which was made worse by the Cumbrian climate.

The landscape realists of the 1850s onwards did detailed studies in front of the subject and were often linked with the Pre-Raphaelite movement and with the newly established National Schools of Art and the increasing patronage of the museums and galleries of Liverpool and Manchester.

But after around 1790, Nicholson argues, these motives became degraded to ones where "the curiosity of the scientist becomes a mere itch for oddities; the artist's careful assessment of the landscape in terms of visual beauty and design becomes a mere taste for prettiness..." The search for thrills by people who were no longer "explorers", but "holiday-makers", took over[243]The writings and paintings of artists added to the desire of people to view the location of their art, and vivid stories such as the one about Mary Robinson, with its Picturesque overtones of a Primitive culture being corrupted by the evil ways of city-based civilisation, caused tourists to flock to Buttermere.

"[246] Fellwalking as a pastime was given a start by artists such as Ann Radcliffe (climbing Skiddaw in 1794), the Wordsworths, Coleridge, and John Wilson, and helped to convert walking in the park or landscaped garden into a desire to ramble in the countryside.

Even later, when planning for a possible new-build villa for himself and his family, the design was of a smaller size than those built by the industrial magnates of the time on the shores of Windermere and Derwentwater (for example, Wray Castle, Belsfield, Brathay Hall).

[252] Nevertheless, Wordsworth's plea, in his Guide, was taken up by future conservationists: he hoped that he would "be joined by persons of pure taste throughout the whole island, who, by their visits (often repeated) to the Lakes in the North of England, testify that they deem the district as a sort of national property, in which every man has a right and interest who has an eye to perceive and a heart to enjoy.

Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley, the future co-founder of the National Trust was undecided : he was a strong advocate of the Lake District's ability to provide recreation, rest and fresh-air, as well as aesthetic pleasure, but also knew just how the big cities of the North needed pure water to prevent disease.

Taxi driver Derrick Bird went on a two-hour shooting spree in the towns of Whitehaven, Egremont, and Seascale, which ultimately claimed the lives of twelve people (which included his twin brother, his family solicitor, and a former colleague; the other fatalities are thought to have been targeted at random).