'Penrith' is a market town in the county of
Cumbria (historically
Cumberland),
England. It is sited in the Eden Valley just north of the
River Eamont, and lies less than 5km outside the boundaries of the
Lake District National Park. Other local rivers bounding the town are the
River Lowther, and the
River Petteril. The Rivers Petteril and Eamont are connected by a partially man-made watercourse flowing through the centre of the town known as Thacka Beck which, for many centuries, provided the town with its main water supply.
The local authority is
Eden District Council, which is based in the town and was formerly the seat of both Penrith
Urban and
Rural District Councils. Penrith has no
town council of its own, and is the second least populated
unparished area, after
Berwick-upon-Tweed. See below for a short history of the Penrith UDC.
Meaning of the name Penrith
The name Penrith is
Cumbric, the
British language spoken in Cumbria until about the 11th century. However, there is a great deal of debate over the meaning of the name Penrith. There are two main strands of opinion. One is that the name comes from the word for "chief ford"; the other is that it means "red hill". It is much more likely that the second theory is the correct one. The main problem with the "chief ford" theory is twofold; first, the nearest ford is located more than a mile away from the original settlement heart of Penrith. Second, the name does not match known Celtic syntax. Celtic languages nearly always used "reversed word order" in place names. That is, the generic term precedes the specific identifier. For Penrith to mean "chief ford" would require the Cumbrians to have abandoned this naming strategy as the place name elements "pen" and "rhyd" are in the order one would see them in English. (This is incorrect: many Welsh place names begin with "Pen" (chief, head, end), such as Pen-y-bont (Bridgend) and Penarth (head of the promontory). Therefore, "chief ford" in Welsh and other Brythonic languages would be "Penrhyd", although the second theory below is more likely to be correct.)
The second theory of "red hill" is much more likely. First, it respects the syntax - "hill red". Second, it respects the first principal of toponymy. That is, it identifies what is there at the site and not a location some distance away. The name "red hill" also gains support from other evidence. The modern Welsh name for Penrith is Penrhudd. This also means "red hill" and is pronounced almost the same, albeit with the harsh eth (ð) sound. There is a village near to Penrith named Penruddock which is accepted to be a Cumbric name and to mean "little red hill" (pen + rhudd + og), Furthermore, there is an area between Penrith and Penruddock that is still named Redhills.
Architecture & geology
The main church is
St. Andrew, built from 1720 to 1722 in an imposing
Grecian style, abutting an earlier
13th century tower. The church yard has some ancient crosses and hogback tombstones in it known now as "Giant's Grave", and "Giant's Thumb" which is the remains of a Norse cross dated to 920 AD.
[1]
The Giant's Grave in 1835.
The ruins of
Penrith Castle (
1300s-
1500s) can be seen from the adjacent railway station. The castle is run as a visitor attraction by
English Heritage. To the south-east of the town are the more substantial ruins of
Brougham Castle, also under the protection of English Heritage.
To the south of the town are the ancient
henge sites known as "
Mayburgh Henge" and "
King Arthur's Round Table". Both are under the protection of English Heritage.
In the centre of the town is the Clock Tower, erected in
1861 to commemorate
Philip Musgrave of
Edenhall.
Penrith has been noted for the number of
wells in and around the town, and well-dressing ceremonies were commonplace on certain days in the month of May. Three miles south-east of the town, on the River Eamont are the "Giants' caves", where the well was dedicated to
St. Ninian. The caves are enlarged out of
Lower Permian sandstones and their associated breccias and purple
shales.
Just to the north of the town is the wooded signal-beacon hill, naturally named
Beacon Hill. It last use was probably in
1804 in the war against
Napoleon. Traditionally, the Beacon Pike was used to warn of approaching danger from Scotland. Today, although surrounded by a commercial woodland owned by Lowther Estates, the hill still contains some natural woodlands and is a popular local and tourist attraction. On a clear day the majority of the Eden Valley, the local fells, Pennines and parts of the North Lakes can be seen. It is almost certain that the Beacon Hill gave Penrith its name - in Celtic - of "red hill".
Blencathra and Caldbeck Fells, West of Penrith, viewed from B6412 Road at Culgaith.
Transport & travel
The town is on the
M6, and also the junction of the
A66,
A6, and
A686.
Penrith is also a stop on the
West Coast Main Line, with the town's
station (dating from
1846) officially known as 'Penrith North Lakes'. Today it is served by regular express trains from
London,
Birmingham,
Stoke-on-Trent,
Manchester,
Glasgow and
Edinburgh.
The
National Cycle Network's major National Route 7 runs through the town, and National Route 71 stops just short of the southern edge of the town.
Famous people
Penrith was the home town of
William Wordsworth's mother, and the poet spent some of his childhood in the town, attending the local school with
Mary Hutchinson his later wife.
The
MP and social reformer
Samuel Plimsoll spent part of his childhood living at Page Hall in Foster Street. The row of houses at Townhead called Plimsoll Close is named after him.
Mary, the wife of the
British Prime Minister,
Harold Wilson lived in Penrith for part of her life whilst her father was minister at the
Congregational Church in Duke Street.
The feature film ''
Withnail and I'' features the real Penrith very briefly, but most of the filming locations were actually in and around nearby
Shap. The famous "Penrith Tea Rooms" scene was filmed in
Stony Stratford,
Milton Keynes.
Charlie Hunnam, British actor, attended Queen Elizabeth
Grammar School (QEGS) Penrith and lived locally in the area during his teenage years. He was not well-liked at the time by people in the town, and has since been very critical of local people during his time spent in the area. It is not known if his unpopularity amongst Penrithians caused his criticisms or whether his criticisms caused his unpopularity.
The
Victorian novelist Anthony Trollope's mother lived for a while at a house called Carleton Hill (not be confused with Carleton Hall) just outside the town on the Alston road.
The
Scottish road-builder and enigneer
John Loudon Macadam the inventor of "Macadamized" roads (not Tarmacadam as that came later) lived for a while at Cockell House in Townhead. Close by Cockell House today are the streets ''Macadam Way'' and ''Macadam Gardens''.
see http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&z=17&ll=54.669972,-2.756785&spn=0.004517,0.009978&om=1
Paul Nixon, Leicestershire wicket keeper and current
England cricket international was born in Carlisle but grew up in the Penrith area.
Penrith Urban District Council
Penrith Urban District Council was the local authority for the town between 1894 and 1974 when it was replaced by Eden District Council.
The authority's area was coterminous with the
civil parish of Penrith although when the council was abolished Penrith became an unparished area.
The area had previously been an
urban sanitary district presided over by the Local Board of Health.
As well as the town of itself the district also contained the hamlets of Carleton (now a suburb of Penrith), Bowscar, Plumpton Head and part of the village of Eamont Bridge.
The district was divided into 4
wards namely: North, South, East and West whose boundaries remained the basis of local government divisions in the town until the 1990s.
From 1906 the council was based at Penrith Town Hall which had previously been 2 houses believed to have been designed by
Robert Adam.
In the 1920s the council came into the possession of
Penrith Castle, the grounds of which it turned into a fine public park and also built the Castle Hill or Tyne Close Housing Estate nearby. Further pre-war
council housing was built at Fair Hill and Castletown and after
World War II at Scaws, Townhead and Pategill.
The district was surrounded on 3 sides by the
Penrith Rural District, the fourth boundary was with
Westmorland marked by the River Eamont.
Nightlife
As it is a small town relying heavily on agriculture and associated trades, the nightlife in Penrith is not especially notable. Like other rural towns of its size, Penrith relies on
public houses to form the basis of social entertainment, and was once famous for the sheer number of pubs in the town and at one time the town had 4 working
breweries. There were once many more pubs in the town than there are now, and the trend of pub closure is still continuing. Despite this, there are still a considerable number of pubs in the town. These range from traditional, small pubs that have a loyal clientele to the bigger bars which form part of the "circuit". Chief among these is 'The Warehouse' which is a large late-license pub which has a slightly more upmarket appearance, and has taken some of the older clientele from the nightclubs. In addition, there are two nightclubs, 'Blues' and 'Toppers'. Both have a reputation for underage drinking and are seen as an essential finish to the evening amongst a certain spectrum of consumer. Of the two, 'Toppers' has the slightly better - among adults - reputation and attracts an older clientele.
Penrith also has numerous dining places and restaurants. There are two traditional Italian
Sardinian restaurants in the town; Giannis Pizzeria is situated close to the monument and the Villa Bianca (Glen Cottage) is close to the town hall. Penrith also has another Italian style restaurant (Dolce Vita), a Spanish restaurant (Costa's), 3 Indian restaurants, a Mexican and two Chinese. There are also numerous pubs serving traditional foods such as
Cumberland Sausage and
Lamb Henry as well as take away restaurants (including Indian and Chinese) situated within the vicinity of the town centre.
The Alhambra in Middlegate is a
cinema with 2 screens, and is one of the last cinemas in the country to have ice creams served from trays in the auditorium and intervals during long films. The Alhambra also has an adjoining
bingo hall.
Amateur dramatics and musicals are staged at the Penrith Players Theatre, Ullswater Community College and
Queen Elizabeth Grammar School
Penrith Dialect
The Penrith dialect known as Penrithian, is a diasystem of the
Cumbrian dialect spoken around the Penrith and Eden district area.
Media
The local newspaper, the
Cumberland and Westmorland Herald, goes on sale every Saturday. Sections of the Herald are updated every following Tuesday on their website. The Herald is independently owned, with offices on King Street, but is printed at the
CN Group's printing works in
Carlisle, where the weekly
Cumberland News and daily evening paper the
News and Star which also cover news items from Penrith are printed.
A separate edition of the Herald is published for the
Keswick area, and is known as the Lake District Herald.
Penrith lies with the
ITV Border region and the
BBC's North East and Cumbria region.
There are two local radio stations serving the Penrith area, both based in Carlisle. These are
BBC Radio Cumbria and the
independent station
CFM.
Education
Penrith has the following educational establishments:
'PRIMARY'
★ Brunswick
Infants (formerly County Infants), Brunswick Road
★ Beaconside
C.E. Infants (formerly Scaws Infants School, Brent Road
★ Beaconside
C.E. Junior, Eden Mount
★ North Lakes Junior (formerly Wetheriggs Junior; was at first a girls only school)
[2], Huntley Avenue
★ St Catherines
Roman Catholic Primary, Drovers Lane
★ Hunter Hall (
independent preparatory school), Frenchfield
'SECONDARY'
★
Ullswater Community College (formerly Ullswater High School), Wetheriggs Lane
★
Queen Elizabeth Grammar School (QEGS) (selective), Ullswater Road
'FURTHER AND HIGHER EDUCATION'
★ The
University of Cumbria has a campus just outside the town at Newton Rigg.
★ Ullswater Community College has a large further or adult education centre
'Former schools in the town include:'
★ Girls National School (building now housing school replaced by Beaconside Juniors), Drovers Lane
★ Boys National School or St Andrews School for Boys (building now demolished school replaced by Beaconside Juniors), Benson Row
★ National Infants School (now Penrith Playgroup
Nursery School), Meeting House Lane
★ Robinsons School (infants) (building now part of the towns museum and tourist information centre), Middlegate
★ County Girls School (building now part of Brunswick Infants the school was replaced by Wetheriggs school), Brunswick Road
★ County Boys School (the building now QEGS Sixth Form Centre, also was for a while an annexe to Wetheriggs. School meged with Wetheriggs Girls to form Wetheriggs Junior), Ullswater Road
★ Tynefield
Secondary Modern (originally
co-educational but later girls only), Wetheriggs Lane
★ Ullswater Secondary Modern (boys only), Wetheriggs Lane
Ullswater & Tynefield schools and buildings merged to create Ullswater High in 1980.
Churches
===
Church of England (
Diocese of Carlisle)===
★
St Andrew's parish church of the United
Parish of Penrith, St Andrews Churchyard
★ Christ Church (formerly a separate parish but now part of United Parish of Penrith), Drovers Lane/Stricklandgate
===
Roman Catholic Church (
Diocese of Lancaster)===
★
St Catherine's, Drovers Lane
===
Methodist Church of Great Britain
★ Penrith Methodist Church, Wordsworth Street
Others===
★
United Reformed Church, Lowther Street
★
Society of Friends, Quaker Meeting House, Meeting House Lane
★ Gospel Hall Evangelical Church, Albert Street/Queen Street
Shopping in Penrith
As a small market town relying quite heavily on the tourist trade Penrith benefits from a mix of some high street chain stores and many small local specialist shops. Though as has happened with many towns of a similar size a lot of shops have given way to business such as
banks,
building societies and
travel agents
Market days are Tuesday and Saturday. On Tuesdays there is a small outdoor market in Great Dockray and Cornmarket, once a month this is expanded to include a
Farmers' Market in the Market Square as well. On Saturdays at the Auction Mart alongside the
M6 motorway Junction 40 takes place Cumbria's largest outdoor market. A free bus service is provided between the Auction Mart and the town centre on Saturdays.
The main shopping areas in the town centre are Middlegate, Little Dockray, Devonshire Street/Market Square, Cornmarket, Angel Lane and the Devonshire Arcade and Angel Square precincts with some shops in Burrowgate, Brunswick Road, Great Dockray and King Street.
Some of the more widely known of the small specialist shops are J & J Graham Grocers and Delicatessen, Sportscraft, Arragons Cycle Centre, Harpers Cycles & Toymaster, Arnisons Ladies and Gents Outfitters, Confectioners The Toffee Shop and Cranstons Butchers who have a shop in King Street and also operate the Cumbrian Food Hall on Ullswater Road on the outskirts of the town.
In Middlegate are branches of
Woolworths,
Argos,
Superdrug and
Burtons. While
Clinton Cards,
Boots the Chemist,
W H Smith and
Dorothy Perkins are in Angel Square. There are 2 branches of
Greggs the baker who also own a large bakery in the town.
The
Penrith Co-operative Society has a large
department store and
supermarket in Burrowgate close to the
bus station. Other supermarkets in the town are
Morrisons (formerly
Safeway), just outside the town centre on Brunswick Road,
Aldi on Ullswater Road and
Somerfield (formerly
Kwik Save) in King Street; there is also a branch of
Spar opposite the Co-op store.
Next to Aldi are branches of
Halfords and
Focus DIY. The town's branch of
B&Q is on Bridge Lane oppisite the hospital and health centre.
Past and present national or regional retailers who at one time had shops in Penrith include
Fine Fare,
Dewhursts,
Gateway,
Iceland,
Presto Foodmarkets,
Greenwoods Menswear,
Fosters Menswear,
Liptons,
Norweb,
British Gas,
Walter Wilson,
Freeman, Hardy and Willis and
Currys.
Penrith New Squares
For the past few years controversial plans have been proposed to expand the town centre of Penrith southwards into the Southend Road area which is currently used as car park and sports fields including ones used by Penrith and Penrith United Football Clubs. The first stage of this development has been achieved with the expansion of the swimming pool into a modern leisure centre complex.
The plans for the rest of the scheme have been developed by the property company Lowther Mannelli and include a new
Sainsbury's supermarket (though previously it was thought that it was going to be a branch of
Tesco), new shopping streets, car parking and housing. The name of the scheme is 'Penrith New Squares' as the new shops will be centred around 2 squares which will provide parking and places for public entertainment.
If the plans are approved the developers hope to see the first shops open in 2010. Retailers
Next,
HMV,
Waterstones and
New Look are believed to be interested in renting units within the scheme.
Areas of Penrith
Castletown
Castletown is the area to the west of the
railway line and includes the Gilwilly
Industrial Estate and part of the Penrith or Myers Industrial Estate. The area - which was originally built to house workers on the railway line - mostly consists of late 19th and early 20th century housing (mainly
terraced) including some council housing but in recent years modern housing developments such as Greystoke Park, Castletown Drive and Castle Park have sprung up.
There is one pub in the suburb, The Castle Inn and in previous years there was a sub-postoffice,
Co-op store and other shops all now closed. Until the 1970s Castletown had its own
church, St Saviour's in Brougham Street which acted as a
chapel of ease to Penrith's
parish church of St Andrew.
The suburb has a community centre on the
recreation ground at Gilwilly and did until recently hold an annual gala day and parade throughout Penrith. At one time in the mid 20th century elections were held amongst regulars at the Castle pub to find a ''Mayor of Castletown''. There is a long standing rivalry between the Castletown and Townhead districts.
Townhead
Townhead is the general name for the northern area of the town which also includes the Fair Hill district and the Voreda Park or Anchor
housing estate.
The main part of area is built along both sides of the
A6 road heading up the hill in the direction of Carlisle. The road is streetnamed as Stricklandgate and Scotland Road but on maps dating before the mid nineteenth century was just marked as Town Head.
Town Head was one of the 8
townships or
constablewicks that the ancient parish of Penrith was divided into the others were Middlegate, Burrowgate, Sandgate, Dockray and Netherend within the town proper and Plumpton Head and Carleton outside the town.
There are various small businesses in the area including one pub - The Grey Bull, a fish and chip shop, an Indian restaurant and two petrol filling stations one incorporating a sub-postoffice.
The "New Streets"
The New Streets is a name for the area between Townhead and Scaws on the side of the Beacon Fell which consists of steep streets of some terraced housing but mainly large detached and semi detached houses mostly laid out in the late 19th century going up the hill. The streets are - from north to south - Graham Street, Wordsworth Street, Lowther Street, and Arthur Street. The term is sometimes extended to include Fell Lane (which is actually the ancient east road from Penrith town centre leading to
Langwathby), and Croft Avenue and Croft Terrace (dating from c.1930). However, the late date of the development of the latter streets place them outwith the traditional definition of the term. At the foot of the streets is Drovers Lane which is sub-divided along its entire length into Wordsworth Terrace, Lowther Terrace, Bath Terrace, Arthur Terrace, Lonsdale Terrace and finally Meeting House Lane. Running along the top of the streets is Beacon Edge from which spectacular views can be seen over the town and towards the Lake District. Until about the turn of the twentieth century, Beacon Edge was known as Beacon Road. As well as the streets going up the fellside there are some that connect the streets such as Beacon Street and smaller housing developments in the gaps between the individual streets. The fellside is known to have been used as a burial ground for victims of the many attacks of plague which struck Penrith down the centuries, and there are also areas which still bear the names of the farming which took place in the area. For example, a now wooded enclosed area on Fell Lane is still known as 'the Pinfold' (or Pinny) and was used to house stray animals until their owner paid a fine to release them. Also, a lane off Beacon Edge is still known as 'Intack Lane' (that is, the lane to farmed land). Most of the land that formed the "intack" itself was used to form Penrith Cemetery.
Scaws
The Scaws Estate was first built by Penrith Urban District Council almost immediately after
World War II on land previously known as The Flatt Field and Scaws Farm which formed part of the
Lowther Estates. Scaws Farm is now known as Coldsprings Farm. The name was changed following a murder which took place at the farm.
In later years some private housing was built on the higher parts of the estate.
Beaconside Infants and Junior Schools are located in the centre of the estate and there were at one time 3
corner shops and a
launderette in the area.
Adjoining Scaws are the privately owned Barcohill and Meadow Croft housing estates.
Carleton
Carleton, once a separate settlement, is the area of Penrith that has seen the most growth of housing in the past 30 years.
Carleton Village itself is a small line of houses along one side of the
A686 road that forms part of the boundary of the town's built up area; at the junction of the A686 and Carleton Road (formerly the
A66 road) is a building that until 2004 was the Cross Keys Inn.
On the other side of the road and to the west of Carleton Road is the large High Carleton housing estate which was started in the 1960s and is still growing. The estate is subdivided into the Frenchfield Way/Gardens area, the original High Carleton area, Carleton Park or Parklands, Carleton Meadows and Carleton Heights most of the streets in this area are named after trees or other plants eg: Oak Road, Sycamore Drive, Juniper Way. A small stream runs through the estate. Oak Road connects Carleton with Meadow Croft and Scaws.
To the west of High Carleton is Winters Park where Penrith
Rugby Union Football Club has its ground and the Carleton Hall Gardens estate.
Carleton Hall is the headquarters of the
Cumbria Constabulary.
At Frenchfield just south of Carleton Village towards
Brougham Castle is the Hunter Hall Private
Preparatory School and new Eden District Council-owned sports pitches.
Pategill
Adjoining Carleton is the Pategill Estate which started as a council estate in the 1960s and is still mostly owned by
housing associations. Two streets on the estate namely Prince Charles Close and Jubilee Close were opened by
HRH The Prince of Wales in 1977.
The centre of the estate is accessible by foot only and there is a small
convenience store here.
Several properties are run as
sheltered accommodation for the elderly.
Wetheriggs
The Wetheriggs, Skirsgill and Castle Hill or Tyne Close areas were first developed in the 1920s by the Penrith UDC on land formerly known as Scumscaw and the first private housing to be developed was Holme Riggs Avenue and Skirsgill Gardens just prior to World War 2.
Further development did not start until the 1960s and 1970s when land between Wetheriggs Lane and Ullswater Road was built on though it was not until the late 1980s that the two roads were connected after the building of the Clifford Road extension which saw the Skirsgill area developed.
Within the area are 3 schools: Ullswater Community College. North Lakes Junior and QEGS. The Crescent on Clifford Road is a block of elderly sheltered accommodation. There was formerly a shop at the junction of Huntley Avenue and Clifford Road next to North Lakes School.
The large North Lakes
Hotel and Spa stands at the junction of Clifford and Ullswater Roads overlooking the Skirsgill Junction 40 Interchange of the
M6 motorway, A66 and
A592 roads.
Local Government Divisions
For the purposes of electing
councilors to Eden District Council the unparished area of Penrith is divided into 6
wards:
'Penrith West' which includes Castletown and parts of the town centre and Townhead.
'Penrith North': part of the town centre, the New Streets, most of Townhead and the outlying settlements of Roundthorn, Bowscar and Plumpton Head.
'Penrith South': Wetheriggs, Castle Hill, a small part of the town centre, part of
Eamont Bridge and part of the Bridge Lane/Victoria Road area.
'Penrith East': part of the town centre, Scaws, Carleton Park and Barco
'Penrith Carleton' (formerly part of Penrith East): Carleton Village, High Carleton, Carleton Heights, Carleton Hall Gardens
'Penrith Pategill' (also formerly part of Penrith East): Pategill, Carleton Drive/Place, Tynefield Drive/Court and part of
Eamont Bridge.
Penrith West and South wards make up the Penrith West Electoral Division of Cumbria County Council whereas East, Carleton and Pategill combine in the Penrith East division and Penrith North along with the rural Lazonby and Great Salkeld wards make up the Penrith North division.
Penrith Sport
Penrith is home to Penrith Rugby Union Football Club. Penrith RUFC currently play in the
Powergen North League 1. Home games are played at Winters Park in Penrith.
Penrith F.C. currently play in the
Arngrove Northern League 2.
Location of Penrith
Further reading
★ "Ewanion". ''History of Penrith''. Carlisle, 1993. ISBN 0-9519920-3-1.
★ ECCP. ''
Country Walks Around Penrith''.
External links
★
Eden District Council
★
Illustrated Guide to Penrith
★
Area profile based on 2001 Census Details
★
Local Tourist Information
★
Old Photos of Penrith made by the photographer
Francis Frith in
1893.
'See also:'
★
Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith Railway
★
Penrith and The Border (UK Parliament constituency)
★
Penrith Castle
★
Penrith railway station
★
Penrith Mountain Rescue Team
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