This article needs additional citations for verification .(June 2009) |
Gosforth | |
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Location within Cumbria | |
Population | 1,396 (2011 including Ponsonby and Wasdale) [1] |
OS grid reference | NY0603 |
Civil parish |
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District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | SEASCALE |
Postcode district | CA20 |
Dialling code | 019467 |
Police | Cumbria |
Fire | Cumbria |
Ambulance | North West |
UK Parliament | |
Gosforth is a village, civil parish and electoral ward in the Lake District, in Cumberland, England. It is situated on the A595 road between Whitehaven and Barrow-in-Furness. It had a population of 1,230 at the 2001 Census. [2] At the 2011 census Gosforth was grouped with Ponsonby and Wasdale giving a total population of 1,396. [1]
Adjacent settlements include Whitehaven, Egremont, Ravenglass and Wasdale. It is close to Wast Water, the deepest lake in England, and just a 7-minute drive from Seascale village and beach. [3] The Cumbrian Coast railway can be accessed at Seascale.
Gosforth contains a unique collection of Norse artefacts in and around St. Mary's Church. This includes the Gosforth cross, which is the tallest and oldest Viking cross in England. Another high cross was cut down in 1789 to make a sundial base, though the "fishing stone" panel from this survives in the church. There are also two large "hogback" tombs in the church.
Work began on Gosforth Hall, now a hotel and restaurant near St. Mary's Church, in 1658, by a local gentleman called Robert Copley. The date of completion is not clear, although the date on the coat of arms situated in the bar is 1673. Copley had previously refused to pay the royal herald for his own coat of arms and instead, made one up himself. In his history of The Gosforth District, Dr. C.A. Parker states that Robert Copley in 1658 built "a large handsome house with orchards and gardens suitable", and Parker states that henceforth the house was named Gosforth Hall. [4] [5] With the hall being within the precinct of the church, it was likely that evidence of earlier occupation might be discovered. In 2005, the present owners of Gosforth Hall commissioned a small archaeological excavation within the grounds. This turned up some interesting finds indicating previous occupation on the site. This preliminary work was followed up in 2008 with an archaeological desk-based assessment and field evaluation. [4]
Gosforth is the base for two major athletic events each year, a ten-mile run and associated fun run in June, and a ten-kilometre race on the first Tuesday in September.
There is a thriving art scene in the village, and the Gosforth and District Arts Society (GADAS) holds weekly meetings as well as a very popular art exhibition every year, over the August bank holiday in the village hall.
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.
The Borough of Copeland was a local government district with borough status in western Cumbria, England. Its council was based in Whitehaven. It was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the Borough of Whitehaven, Ennerdale Rural District and Millom Rural District. The population of the Non-Metropolitan district was 69,318 according to the 2001 census, increasing to 70,603 at the 2011 Census.
Wasdale is a valley and civil parish in the western part of the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. The River Irt flows through the valley to its estuary at Ravenglass. A large part of the main valley floor is occupied by Wastwater, the deepest lake in England.
St Olaf's Church in Wasdale Head, Cumbria, is England's smallest parish church. The earliest record of a church on this site is from 1550, though it is likely that there was an earlier church on this site.
St Bees is a coastal village, civil parish and electoral ward in the Copeland district of Cumbria, England, on the Irish Sea.
Egremont is a market town, civil parish and two electoral wards in Cumbria, England, and historically part of Cumberland. It is situated just outside the Lake District National Park, five miles south of Whitehaven and on the River Ehen.
The Gosforth Cross is a large stone monument in St Mary's churchyard at Gosforth in the English county of Cumbria, dating to the first half of the 10th century AD. Formerly part of the kingdom of Northumbria, the area was settled by Scandinavians some time in either the 9th or 10th century. It has gained reputation for its combination of Christian symbols with Nordic symbols, being a tangible piece of evidence of the impact of the Christianization of Scandinavia.
Seascale is a village and civil parish on the Irish Sea coast of Cumbria, England, historically within Cumberland. The parish had a population of 1,754 in 2011, barely decreasing by 0.4% in 2021.
Waberthwaite is a small, former rural civil parish on the south bank of the estuary of the River Esk, in Copeland, Cumbria, England. Since 1934 it has been part of the combined parish of Waberthwaite and Corney, which covers 10 square miles and has a population of 246. It is located opposite Muncaster Castle and the village of Ravenglass which lie on the north bank of the Esk. It is well known for its Cumberland sausages, and lists among its other assets a granite quarry that is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI); the Esk estuary, which forms part of the Drigg Coast Special Area of Conservation (SAC) - a designation for areas of European importance; the 800-year-old St. John's Church, and the remains of two Anglian/Norse crosses of an earlier period. Archeological finds within 3 kilometres of Waberthwaite indicate that the area has been continuously inhabited since Mesolithic times.
Beckermet is a village and civil parish in Cumbria, England, between Egremont and Seascale. The parish had a population of 1,619 in the 2011 census.
Hensingham is a suburb of Whitehaven and former civil parish, now in the parish of Whitehaven, in the Cumberland district, in the ceremonial county of Cumbria, England. The ward population taken at the 2011 census was 4,145.
Crosscanonby is a village and civil parish in Cumbria, England, historically part of Cumberland, near the Lake District National Park in England. It is situated within the Solway Coast, designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
St Bees Priory is the parish church of St Bees, Cumbria, in England. There is evidence for a pre-Norman religious site, and on this a Benedictine priory was founded by the first Norman Lord of Egremont William Meschin, and was dedicated by Archbishop Thurstan of York, sometime between 1120 and 1135.
Nether Wasdale is a village in Cumbria, England, located in the valley and civil parish of Wasdale, near the River Irt and just over a mile to the west of the Wastwater lake.
Haile is a small village and civil parish in Copeland district, in the county of Cumbria, England. It had a population of 617 at the 2011 census.
Ponsonby is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Copeland of the county of Cumbria, England. Ponsonby has a church which was constructed in 1840 and had further additions in 1874. Ponsonby is located along and just off the A595. It has a population of 205 according to the 2011 Census Data.
The Rev. William Slater Calverley (1847–1898) was an unassuming rural English vicar who through diligent study and painstaking scrutiny became an extraordinary amateur antiquarian. Although born in Leicestershire, Calverley claimed his fame through interpreting the carved sculptured relics that he and others found in Cumberland churchyards. He made intricate drawings, corresponded with academic authorities, and gave his own interpretations, which he then relayed to a wider audience. Calverley later produced in intricate detail a life-sized reproduction of the famous Gosforth Cross, which now stands in Aspatria churchyard.
St Mary's Church in the village of Gosforth, Cumbria, England, is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Calder, the archdeaconry of West Cumberland, and the diocese of Carlisle. Its benefice is united with those of St Olaf, Wasdale Head, and St Michael, Nether Wasdale. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building. It is associated with "a unique Viking-age assemblage" of carved stones.