Eamont Bridge | |
---|---|
Village | |
Eamont Bridge | |
Location in the former Eden District Location within Cumbria | |
OS grid reference | NY523281 |
Civil parish | |
Unitary authority | |
Ceremonial county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | PENRITH |
Postcode district | CA10 |
Dialling code | 01768 |
Police | Cumbria |
Fire | Cumbria |
Ambulance | North West |
UK Parliament | |
Eamont Bridge is a small village immediately to the south of Penrith, Cumbria, England.
The village is named after the bridge over the River Eamont and straddles the boundary between the historic counties of Cumberland and Westmorland. One of the houses in the village is called the "Welcome Inn" and was at one time the "Welcome into Cumberland Inn".
There are two ancient sites in the village, namely the earthwork known as King Arthur's Round Table and the much better preserved Mayburgh Henge which is situated between the rivers Lowther and Eamont. Mayburgh Henge was built using stones from one or both rivers. The location between the rivers was probably important when it was built 3000 or 4000 years ago, which protected it from invasion. Both sites are under the protection of Historic England. There was another henge close to King Arthur's Round Table, which is now obliterated. A cup was reputed to have been found at the centre of the King Arthur's Round Table Henge. The gateway from Mayburgh Henge points in the direction of King Arthur's Round Table, which was probably a convenient meeting place for millennia. There are several more henges in the area, with at least two towards the north-east, towards Brougham, visible. There is a splendid example of vernacular architecture in the centre of the village.
The southern or Westmorland half of the village lies within the civil parish of Yanwath and Eamont Bridge, and the northern part (Skirsgill Lane and Kemplay Bank) is within the civil parish of Penrith. For other local government matters, Eamont Bridge lies within the Eden District wards of Eamont, Penrith South and Penrith Pategill and the Cumbria county council electoral divisions of Penrith Rural, Penrith West and Penrith East.
There are two pubs opposite each other at the southern end of the village.
A nearby cave called Giant's Cave is associated with several legends. It is variously said to have been the home of a giant named Isir, or an evil knight named Tarquin, who imprisoned 64 men in the cave, or Uther Pendragon. [1]
The village lies on the A6 road. Until the opening of the M6 motorway, it was a notorious bottleneck because of the narrow bridge over the River Eamont which is still today controlled by traffic lights.
The Grade I listed bridge crosses the old county boundary between Cumberland and Westmorland and is one of the oldest bridges in the country still in daily use. It probably dates from the 15th century but was widened in the 19th and the 20th centuries. [2]
On 12 July 927, Eamont Bridge 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. Present were Æthelstan, Constantín mac Áeda, Owain ap Dyfnwal, Hywel Dda, and Ealdred I of Bamburgh. This is generally seen as the date of the foundation of the Kingdom of England. [3] [4]
Cumbria is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Carlisle, which is also its county town.
Cumberland is an area of Northern England which was historically a county and is now fully part of Cumbria. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish counties of Dumfriesshire and Roxburghshire to the north. The area includes the city of Carlisle, part of the Lake District and North Pennines, and the Solway Firth coastline.
Penrith is a market town and civil parish in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. It is less than 3 miles (5 km) outside the Lake District National Park and about 17 miles (27 km) south of Carlisle. It is between the Rivers Petteril and Eamont and just north of the River Lowther. The town had a population of 15,181 at the 2011 census. It is part of historic Cumberland.
King Arthur's Round Table is a Neolithic henge in the village of Eamont Bridge in the English county of Cumbria, around 2 kilometres (1 mi) south east of Penrith. It is 400 metres from Mayburgh Henge. The site is free to visitors and is under the control of English Heritage.
The River Eden is a river that flows through Cumbria, England. It rises on Black Fell Moss, near the village of Outhgill, and runs in a generally north-westerly direction through the Vale of Eden and Solway Plain before reaching the sea at the Solway Firth.
Long Meg and Her Daughters is a Neolithic stone circle situated north-east of Penrith near Little Salkeld in Cumbria, North West England. One of around 1,300 stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany, it was constructed as a part of a megalithic tradition that emerged during Neolithic, and continued into the Early Bronze Age. The stone circle is the second widest in England, behind Avebury in Wiltshire. It consists of 59 stones set in an east/west oval configuration measuring 380 ft (120 m) on its long axis. There may originally have been as many as 70 stones. Long Meg herself is a 12 ft (3.7 m) high monolith of red sandstone 80 ft (24 m) to the southwest of the circle. The stone is marked with examples of megalithic art including a cup and ring mark, a spiral, and rings of concentric circles. This art mirrors examples from Neolithic Ireland, including the contemporary Newgrange.
The Vale of Eden is formed by the course of the River Eden, one of the major rivers of Northwest England. It is however of much greater extent than the actual valley of the river, lying between the Cumbrian Mountains, and the northern part of the Pennine Range. It lies entirely within the county of Cumbria. The river has its source in the peat bogs below Hugh Seat, in the dale of Mallerstang. At first it heads off south before turning back north for the rest of its course – except just before its outlet into the sea which it enters from the east.
Clifton is a small linear village and civil parish in Cumbria, England. Historically part of Westmorland, it lies 3 miles (4.8 km) south east of Penrith.
Yanwath and Eamont Bridge is a civil parish in the Eden District of Cumbria, England, consisting of the small village of Yanwath and most of the neighbouring village of Eamont Bridge. In the 2001 census it had a population of 457, increasing to 535 at the 2011 Census.
Dacre is a small village, civil parish and electoral ward in the Lake District National Park in the Eden District of Cumbria, England, and historically in Cumberland. In the 2001 census, the parish, which includes Newbiggin and Stainton, had a population of 1,326, increasing to 1,438 at the 2011 Census.
Little Meg is a small circle of large kerb stones which probably surrounded a Bronze Age kerb cairn. It is close to the village of Langwathby to the north-east of Penrith in the English county of Cumbria and is 650 metres north-east of the more famous stone circle of Long Meg and Her Daughters. It forms part of a complex of stone circles and cairns around the Long Meg site that includes the circle at Glassonby, Old Parks, and other sites since lost.
The River Lowther is a small river which flows through limestone rock in Cumbria, England. It is a tributary of the River Eamont which in turn is a tributary of the River Eden which flows into the Solway Firth near Carlisle. The Lowther begins with the confluence of the Keld Gill and the Keld Dub near the village of Keld. It flows north-west until it passes between Bampton and Bampton Grange, before turning north until it flows into the River Eamont close to Penrith.
Mayburgh Henge is a large prehistoric monument in the county of Cumbria in northern England. The henge is in the care of English Heritage and is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. It is 400 metres from King Arthur's Round Table Henge.
Yanwath is a village in the Westmorland and Furness District of Cumbria, England, 1 mile south of Penrith.
Cliburn is a village and civil parish in the Westmorland and Furness Unitary Authority of Cumbria, England. The civil parish includes the hamlet of Town Head. In 2001 the population was 204, increasing to 274 at the 2011 Census.
Rey Cross is the remains of a stone cross at Stainmore. It is also known as Rere Cross and is a Grade II* listed structure and a scheduled monument. It is located towards the western edge of County Durham, approximately 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) east of the border with Cumbria along the A66 road.
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, Strathclyde Brythons, Picts, Normans, Scots and English; and the emergence of the modern county is also worthy of study.
Eamont Bridge is a road bridge over the River Eamont, at the village of the same name, immediately to the south of Penrith, Cumbria, England. It is a scheduled monument and a grade I listed building.
Prehistoric Cumbria describes the English county of Cumbria prior to the Romans Period. This includes the Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age, and Iron Age. As of 2010, 443 stone tools, 187 metal objects and 134 ceramic pots, have been unearthed in Cumbria. Likewise, various monuments, such as henges and stone circles, are widespread in the region. The survival of these monuments and 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.
Richard Dudley of Yanwath (1518–1593) was an English landowner involved in copper and silver mines in the north of England from 1570 onwards.