| Westmorland | |
|---|---|
| Historic county | |
 Flag | |
 Ancient extent of Westmorland | |
| Area | |
| • 1831 | 485,990 acres (1,966.7 km2)[1] |
| • 1911 | 505,330 acres (2,045.0 km2)[2] |
| • 1961 | 504,917 acres (2,043.33 km2)[2] |
| Population | |
| • 1911 | 63,575[2] |
| • 1961 | 67,180[2] |
| History | |
| • Origin | Barony of Kendal, Barony of Westmorland |
| • Created | 13th century |
| • Succeeded by | Cumbria |
| Status | Historic county (current)[3][4][5] Ceremonial county (until 1974) Administrative county (1889–1974) |
| Chapman code | WES |
| Government | Westmorland County Council (1889–1974) |
| • HQ | Appleby (historic county town) County Hall,Kendal (1889–1974) |
 Arms of Westmorland County Council | |
| Subdivisions | |
| • Type | Baronies andWards |
| • Units | Westmorland: •East •West Kendal: •Kendal •Lonsdale |
 | |
Westmorland (/ˈwɛstmərlənd/, formerly also speltWestmoreland[6]) is an area ofNorth West England which washistorically a county. The area included part of theLake District and the southernVale of Eden, and its inhabitants were known as Westmerians.[7]
The county had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974, when it was subsumed intoCumbria together withCumberland, theSedbergh area ofYorkshire, and the Furness area ofLancashire. It gives its name to theWestmorland and Furness unitary authority area, which covers a larger area than the historic county.[8]
At the beginning of the10th century a large part of modern dayCumbria was part of theKingdom of Strathclyde, and was known as"Scottish Cumberland".TheRere Cross was ordered byEdmund I (r.939–946) to serve as a boundary marker between England and Scotland ("Scottish Cumberland").[c]
At the time ofDomesday Book in 1086, the county did not exist; half was considered to form part ofYorkshire and the other half part ofScotland. Before 1226, theBarony of Kendal was part of theHonour of Lancaster while theBarony of Westmorland was part of theEarldom of Carlisle, the latter became Cumberland and was part of Scotland at times.
Both baronies became a single county of Westmorland in 1226/7. NeighbouringLancashire was also formed at this time.[10]Appleby was the historic county town, having been chartered in 1179. It was aparliamentary borough from 1295–1832, and incorporated by letters patent in 1574.
Westmorland borderedCumberland to the north,County Durham andYorkshire to the east, andLancashire to the south and west.Windermere formed part of the western border withLancashire north of the sands, andUllswater part of the border with Cumberland. The highest point of the county isHelvellyn, at 3,117 feet (950 metres). According to the 1831 census the county covered an area of 485,990 acres (196,670 hectares).[1]
Westmorland was subdivided into the twobaronies ofWestmorland (or sometimes Appleby) andKendal. As with Cumberland, Durham and Northumberland it was divided intowards. The baronies were each further subdivided into two wards:
In 1889, under theLocal Government Act 1888, acounty council was created for Westmorland, taking functions from thequarter sessions. The county council was based at theCounty Hall inKendal, although theassizes were held in theShire Hall in the historic county town ofAppleby.[15][16] Kendal had been chartered as a municipal borough in 1835, Appleby in 1885. The county had nocounty boroughs throughout its history, so theadministrative county, the area under the control of the county council, was coterminous with the geographic county.
Aside from the two municipal boroughs of Kendal and Appleby, theLocal Government Act 1894 divided the county intourban districts andrural districts:
In 1905, a newShap urban district was formed, while Windermere absorbed the neighbouring Bowness UD.
ACounty Review Order in 1935 reduced the number of districts in the county:
Despite their title, many of Westmorland's urban districts, such as Lakes, Grasmere, and Shap, were quite rural in character.
According to the 1971 census, Westmorland was the second least populated administrative county in England, afterRutland. The distribution of population was as follows:[17]
| District | Population |
|---|---|
| Municipal Borough of Appleby | 1,944 |
| Municipal Borough of Kendal | 21,602 |
| Lakes Urban District | 5,815 |
| Windermere Urban District | 8,065 |
| North Westmorland Rural District | 14,778 |
| South Westmorland Rural District | 20,633 |
In 1974, under theLocal Government Act 1972, the county council was abolished and its former area was combined withCumberland and parts ofLancashire andYorkshire to form the new county ofCumbria, administered by a newCumbria County Council.[18] The area formed parts of the districts ofSouth Lakeland andEden from 1974 to 2023.
In July 2021, Robert Jenrick, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government announced the dissolution of Cumbria County Council and its six district councils and their replacement in April 2023 by two unitary authorities:Cumberland, andWestmorland and Furness. The latter re-united and re-established historic Westmorland within a single administrative unit, along with the Furness (Lancs), Penrith (Cumberland) and Sedbergh (Yorks) areas.[19]
J. E. Marr explains the name "Westmorland" thus:
The name applied to the district by theAnglo-Saxons was originally Westmoringaland, 'the land of the people of the western moors,' in distinction from that of the people of the eastern moors, on the east side of the Pennine chain. The present name has not, however, been derived from that of Westmoringaland, but from Westmarieland or Westmerieland, used in the twelfth century, hence Westmerland. The meaning of this is land of the westernmeres, and notmoors. Mere means boundary as well as a lake, and it is doubtful whether the word as used here refers to lakes or boundaries. There is no doubt that Westmerland is the more correct spelling [...].[20]
TheCollege of Arms granted Westmorland County Council acoat of arms in 1926. The design of the shield referred to the two components of the county: on two red bars (from the arms of the de Lancaster family, Barons of Kendal) was placed a gold apple tree (from the seal of the borough of Appleby, for the Barony of Westmorland). The crest above the shield was the head of a ram of the local Herdwick breed. On the ram's forehead was ashearman's hook, a tool used in the handling of wool. The hook was part of the insignia of the borough of Kendal, the administrative centre of the county council.[21]
in April 2023, Westmorland reappeared on national maps as part ofWestmorland and Furness unitary authority. During the intervening 1974–2023 period, Westmorland has still been used as a place name by organisations and businesses in the area such as:
Most of the historic county lies within theWestmorland and Lonsdale parliamentary constituency.
In June 1994, during the1990s UK local government reform, the Local Government Commission published draft recommendations suggesting that Westmorland's border with Yorkshire and Lancashire be restored forceremonial purposes. The final recommendations, published in October 1994, did not include such recommendations, apparently due to lack of expression of support for the proposal to the commission.
In September 2011, the Westmorland Association, a local society which promotes the county's identity, successfully registered theFlag of Westmorland with theFlag Institute.
In 2013, theSecretary of State for Communities and Local Government,Eric Pickles, formally recognised and acknowledged the continued existence of England's 39 historic counties, including Westmorland.[3][4][5]
In April 2023, local government in Cumbria was reorganised into two unitary authority areas, one of which is namedWestmorland and Furness and covers all of the historic county along with parts of historic Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumberland.[22]
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