123-734: Silloth (sometimes known as Silloth-on-Solway ) is a port town and civil parish in Cumberland , Cumbria , England. Historically in the county of Cumberland , the town is an example of a Victorian seaside resort in the North of England . Silloth had a population of 2,932 at the 2001 Census, falling slightly to 2,906 at the 2011 Census. It sits on the shoreline of the Solway Firth , 18 + 3 ⁄ 4 miles (30 kilometres) north of Workington and 22 miles (35 kilometres) west of Carlisle . The town of Maryport lies 12 miles (19 kilometres) south, down
246-513: A London borough . (Since the new county was beforehand a mixture of metropolitan boroughs , municipal boroughs and urban districts, no extant parish councils were abolished.) In 1974, the Local Government Act 1972 retained rural parishes, but abolished most urban parishes, as well as the urban districts and boroughs which had administered them. Provision was made for smaller urban districts and boroughs to become successor parishes , with
369-481: A 10 miles (15 kilometres) radius of the town centre, resulting in a large increase in the population during the summer months. Silloth hosts several small annual events held on the town green. These include a beer festival held in September, plus a steam rally, kite and food festivals. Amenities include a golf course. A local 'free' newspaper published monthly entitled The Solway Buzz , distributed to households in
492-592: A 50% grant from the European Union . On Monday 8 December 2007, Saltom Pit was reopened as an historic monument. The pit buildings have been conserved and are now part of the 'Whitehaven Coast' project, a scheme to regenerate the coastal area of Whitehaven. Whitehaven is within the Whitehaven and Workington constituency . As of 2024 , its Member of Parliament (MP) is Josh MacAlister of the Labour Party , who has held
615-515: A Special Expense, to residents of the unparished area to fund those activities. If the district council does not opt to make a Special Expenses charge, there is an element of double taxation of residents of parished areas, because services provided to residents of the unparished area are funded by council tax paid by residents of the whole district, rather than only by residents of the unparished area. Parish councils comprise volunteer councillors who are elected to serve for four years. Decisions of
738-604: A Victorian flour mill, the building was constructed adjacent to the New Dock in 1887. Carr's flour mill is an operating mill which supplies flour to a number of food manufacturers such as United Biscuits , Warburtons and several other leading bakeries and confectioners. Carr's Flour Mill is now owned by Whitworths . In the 1960s two businesses that had outgrown their factory in Whitehaven re-located to Silloth airfield. They were Cumberland Curled Hair and Cheri Foam. They were one of
861-576: A boundary coterminous with an existing urban district or borough or, if divided by a new district boundary, as much as was comprised in a single district. There were 300 such successor parishes established. In urban areas that were considered too large to be single parishes, the parishes were simply abolished, and they became unparished areas . The distinction between types of parish was no longer made; whether parishes continued by virtue of being retained rural parishes or were created as successor parishes, they were all simply termed parishes. The 1972 act allowed
984-472: A city council (though most cities are not parishes but principal areas, or in England specifically metropolitan boroughs or non-metropolitan districts ). The chairman of a town council will have the title "town mayor" and that of a parish council which is a city will usually have the title of mayor . When a city or town has been abolished as a borough, and it is considered desirable to maintain continuity of
1107-456: A city council. According to the Department for Communities and Local Government , in England in 2011 there were 9,946 parishes. Since 1997 around 100 new civil parishes have been created, in some cases by splitting existing civil parishes, but mostly by creating new ones from unparished areas. Parish or town councils have very few statutory duties (things they are required to do by law) but have
1230-548: A city was Hereford , whose city council was merged in 1998 to form a unitary Herefordshire . The area of the city of Hereford remained unparished until 2000 when a parish council was created for the city. As another example, the charter trustees for the City of Bath make up the majority of the councillors on Bath and North East Somerset Council. Civil parishes cover 35% of England's population, with one in Greater London and few in
1353-440: A civil parish is usually an elected parish council (which can decide to call itself a town, village, community or neighbourhood council, or a city council if the parish has city status). Alternatively, in parishes with small populations (typically fewer than 150 electors) governance may be by a parish meeting which all electors may attend; alternatively, parishes with small populations may be grouped with one or more neighbours under
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#17330854574061476-481: A civil parish which has no parish council, the parish meeting may levy a council tax precept for expenditure relating to specific functions, powers and rights which have been conferred on it by legislation. In places where there is no civil parish ( unparished areas ), the administration of the activities normally undertaken by the parish becomes the responsibility of the district or borough council. The district council may make an additional council tax charge, known as
1599-568: A common parish council. Wales was also divided into civil parishes until 1974, when they were replaced by communities , which are similar to English parishes in the way they operate. Civil parishes in Scotland were abolished for local government purposes by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 ; the Scottish equivalent of English civil parishes are the community council areas established by
1722-566: A community based radio station. The airfield opened in June 1939, just before the start of the Second World War, and closed on 31 December 1960. Originally designed to be used by RAF Maintenance Command, 22MU, the airfield was handed over to Coastal Command during November 1939. No 1 Operational Training Unit (OTU) was then responsible for training pilots and crews from the UK and Allied Countries. Therefore,
1845-517: A forerunner to the Davy Lamp , known as the Spedding Wheel or Steel Mill. This used the sparks generated by a flint against a rotating steel wheel to provide light, on the basis the sparks were not quite hot enough to ignite the gas. On occasions it caused explosions or fires but it was a major improvement over the naked flame. Lowther also supported experimental work on firedamp by William Brownrigg ,
1968-510: A formal apology for Whitehaven's role in the slave trade. Scottish-American naval officer John Paul Jones raided the town in 1778 during the American Revolutionary War , burning some merchant ships in the harbour. During the 19th century the port of Whitehaven was overtaken by Bristol, Liverpool and Glasgow, as they had deep-water dock facilities and were closer to large centres of population and industry. The huge development of
2091-403: A goods-only station and served as the main goods depot for the town. As in other colliery areas, horse-drawn tramways and then locomotive-powered railways were used extensively to move coal. The first steam locomotive made an early appearance in 1816, to a design similar to the noted Steam Elephant built by William Chapman of Newcastle. However this pioneering engine was not too successful and
2214-501: A harbour or landing place at Whitehaven can be traced back to 1517, when quay-dues, otherwise known as wharfage, were recorded. The purchase of the manor of St Bees in 1630 by the Lowther family started the development of Whitehaven harbour primarily to export coal. Sir Christopher Lowther built a stone pier in 1631–1634, and it survives, albeit very modified, as the Old Quay. By the 1660s
2337-438: A large marina and fishing harbour, and refocus the town on a renovated harbour. The harbour has seen much other renovation due to millennium developments, and the rejuvenation project cost an estimated £11.3 million. This has provided 100 more moorings within the marina. Another £5.5 million has been spent on developing a 40 m (130 ft) high crow's nest and a wave light feature that changes colour depending on
2460-521: A local doctor and scientist, and he presented papers by Brownrigg at the Royal Society . Brownrigg had gas piped from a nearby pit to his workshop, which provided light and heat, and bladders of the gas were taken to London to be demonstrated at the Royal Society. Brownrigg was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) for this work. After Sir James, there was a succession of Lowthers who inherited
2583-467: A national railway network had also reduced Whitehaven's 18th century competitive advantage of having coal extracted very close to a harbour for shipment by sea. An 1888 legal case , Bush v Whitehaven Port and Town Trustees , was one of a series of legal cases involved in the development of the doctrine of frustration of contract in English law . Bush, the contractor in this case, had contracted to construct
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#17330854574062706-517: A new code. In either case the code must comply with the Nolan Principles of Public Life . A parish can be granted city status by the Crown . As of 2020 , eight parishes in England have city status, each having a long-established Anglican cathedral: Chichester , Ely , Hereford , Lichfield , Ripon , Salisbury , Truro and Wells . The council of an ungrouped parish may pass a resolution giving
2829-431: A new smaller manor, there was a means of making a chapel which, if generating or endowed with enough funds, would generally justify foundation of a parish, with its own parish priest (and in latter centuries vestry ). This consistency was a result of canon law which prized the status quo in issues between local churches and so made boundary changes and sub-division difficult. The consistency of these boundaries until
2952-675: A parish (a "detached part") was in a different county . In other cases, counties surrounded a whole parish meaning it was in an unconnected, "alien" county. These anomalies resulted in a highly localised difference in applicable representatives on the national level , justices of the peace , sheriffs, bailiffs with inconvenience to the inhabitants. If a parish was split then churchwardens, highway wardens and constables would also spend more time or money travelling large distances. Some parishes straddled two or more counties, such as Todmorden in Lancashire and Yorkshire. Whitehaven Whitehaven
3075-416: A parish council, and instead will only have a parish meeting : an example of direct democracy . Alternatively several small parishes can be grouped together and share a common parish council, or even a common parish meeting. A parish council may decide to call itself a town council, village council, community council, neighbourhood council, or if the parish has city status, the parish council may call itself
3198-606: A pit had been sunk in any part of Europe) to a three-yard thick coal seam (the Main Band) in twenty-three months, using thirty barrels of gunpowder, and without any loss of life or limb by the workforce'. Saltom Pit ceased working coal in 1848, and is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument (SM 27801) and is the best known surviving example of an 18th-century colliery layout. Evidence of the shaft, horse gin, stable, winding engine house, boiler house and chimney, cottages, cart roads and retaining walls, all survives. Coal excavated from Saltom Pit
3321-503: A population of between 100 and 300 could request their county council to establish a parish council. Provision was also made for a grouped parish council to be established covering two or more rural parishes. In such groups, each parish retained its own parish meeting which could vote to leave the group, but otherwise the grouped parish council acted across the combined area of the parishes included. Urban civil parishes were not given their own parish councils, but were directly administered by
3444-1079: A range of discretionary powers which they may exercise voluntarily. These powers have been defined by various pieces of legislation. The role they play can vary significantly depending on the size, resources and ability of the council, but their activities can include any of the following: Parish councils have powers to provide and manage various local facilities; these can include allotments , cemeteries, parks, playgrounds, playing fields and village greens , village halls or community centres , bus shelters, street lighting, roadside verges, car parks, footpaths, litter bins and war memorials. Larger parish councils may also be involved in running markets , public toilets and public clocks, museums and leisure centres . Parish councils may spend money on various things they deem to be beneficial to their communities, such as providing grants to local community groups or local projects, or fund things such as public events, crime prevention measures, community transport schemes, traffic calming or tourism promotion. Parish councils have
3567-409: A role in the planning system; they have a statutory right to be consulted on any planning applications in their areas. They may also produce a neighbourhood plan to influence local development. The Localism Act 2011 allowed eligible parish councils to be granted a " general power of competence " which allows them within certain limits the freedom to do anything an individual can do provided it
3690-589: A set number of guardians for each parish, hence a final purpose of urban civil parishes. With the abolition of the Poor Law system in 1930, urban parishes became a geographical division only with no administrative power; that was exercised at the urban district or borough council level. In 1965 civil parishes in London were formally abolished when Greater London was created, as the legislative framework for Greater London did not make provision for any local government body below
3813-938: A small village or town ward to a large tract of mostly uninhabited moorland in the Cheviots, Pennines or Dartmoor. The two largest as at December 2023 are Stanhope (County Durham) at 98.6 square miles (255 km ), and Dartmoor Forest (Devon) at 79.07 square miles (204.8 km ). The two smallest are parcels of shared rural land: Lands Common to Axminster and Kilmington (Devon) at 0.012 square miles (0.031 km ; 3.1 ha; 7.7 acres), and Lands Common to Brancepeth and Brandon and Byshottles (County Durham) at 0.0165 square miles (0.043 km ; 4.3 ha; 10.6 acres). The next two smallest are parishes in built up areas: Chester Castle (Cheshire) at 0.0168 square miles (0.044 km ; 4.4 ha; 10.8 acres) (no recorded population) and Hamilton Lea (Leicestershire) at 0.07 square miles (0.18 km ; 18 ha; 45 acres) (1,021 residents at
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3936-514: A spur to the creation of new parishes in some larger towns which were previously unparished, in order to retain a local tier of government; examples include Shrewsbury (2009), Salisbury (2009), Crewe (2013) and Weymouth (2019). In 2003 seven new parish councils were set up for Burton upon Trent , and in 2001 the Milton Keynes urban area became entirely parished, with ten new parishes being created. Parishes can also be abolished where there
4059-440: A water-main for a "slump sum" [ sic ]. His tender was submitted in June, and he was "given to understand" that he could begin the work at once, but part of the land was not available until October. This meant the work took place during the winter, when operations are more difficult and more costly. The jury in this case decided that the timing issue substantially affected the contract, and awarded damages to be paid to
4182-504: A year. Whitehaven's growing prosperity was also based on tobacco. By 1685 there were ships regularly bringing tobacco from the British colonies of Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania in America, and by the early 18th century about 10% of England's tobacco imports passed through Whitehaven. By the middle of the 18th century it was the second or third port in England for tobacco imports. The tobacco
4305-469: Is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumberland , Cumbria , England. It lies by road 38 miles (61 km) south-west of Carlisle and 45 miles (72 km) to the north of Barrow-in-Furness . It was the administrative seat of the former Borough of Copeland , and has a town council for the parish of Whitehaven. The population of
4428-507: Is at present the only part of England where civil parishes cannot be created. If enough electors in the area of a proposed new parish (ranging from 50% in an area with less than 500 electors to 10% in one with more than 2,500) sign a petition demanding its creation, then the local district council or unitary authority must consider the proposal. Since the beginning of the 21st century, numerous parish councils have been created, including some relatively large urban ones. The main driver has been
4551-539: Is evidence that this is in response to "justified, clear and sustained local support" from the area's inhabitants. Examples are Birtley , which was abolished in 2006, and Southsea , abolished in 2010. Every civil parish has a parish meeting, which all the electors of the parish are entitled to attend. Generally a meeting is held once a year. A civil parish may have a parish council which exercises various local responsibilities prescribed by statute. Parishes with fewer than 200 electors are usually deemed too small to have
4674-405: Is not prohibited by other legislation, as opposed to being limited to the powers explicitly granted to them by law. To be eligible for this, a parish council must meet certain conditions such as having a clerk with suitable qualifications. Parish councils receive funding by levying a " precept " on the council tax paid by the residents of the parish (or parishes) served by the parish council. In
4797-400: Is represented by Markus Campbell-Savours of the Labour Party , who unseated former Conservative MP Mark Jenkinson at the 2024 General Election . For local government purposes, it is in the Cumberland unitary authority . Silloth has its own Parish Council : Silloth-on-Solway Town Council . Silloth's largest church is Christ Church, situated in a complete rectangular plot which
4920-504: The 'Standards Board regime' with local monitoring by district, unitary or equivalent authorities. Under new regulations which came into effect in 2012 all parish councils in England are required to adopt a code of conduct with which parish councillors must comply, and to promote and maintain high standards. A new criminal offence of failing to comply with statutory requirements was introduced. More than one 'model code' has been published, and councils are free to modify an existing code or adopt
5043-461: The American Colonies , with which there were strong trade links. Although Sir Christopher Lowther initially purchased Whitehaven it was his son, Sir John Lowther, 2nd Baronet, who was responsible for its growth and development. Sir John acquired a market charter in 1660 for the town, but the urban expansion did not start until the 1680s when he laid out a spacious rectangular grid of streets to
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5166-567: The B5300 coast road which also passes through the villages of Blitterlees , Beckfoot , Mawbray , and Allonby . Wigton is 12 miles (19 kilometres) east, along the B5302 road , which also passes through the village of Abbeytown , 5 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles (9 kilometres) southeast. Silloth developed in the 1860s onwards around the terminus of the railway from Carlisle and the associated docks, which were constructed from 1855 to replace Port Carlisle as
5289-544: The Beeching cuts in 1964. Silloth is on the B5302 road, which leads to the A596 and the town of Wigton , and the B5300 which connects the town to Maryport . [REDACTED] Media related to Silloth at Wikimedia Commons Civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government . It is a territorial designation which is
5412-742: The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 , which have fewer powers than their English and Welsh counterparts. There are no equivalent units in Northern Ireland . The parish system in Europe was established between the 8th and 12th centuries, and an early form was long established in England by the time of the Norman Conquest . These areas were originally based on the territory of manors , which, in some cases, derived their bounds from Roman or Iron Age estates; some large manors were sub-divided into several parishes. Initially, churches and their priests were
5535-1010: The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) to become the smallest geographical area for local government in rural areas. The act abolished the civil (non-ecclesiastical) duties of vestries . Parishes which straddled county boundaries or sanitary districts had to be split so that the part in each urban or rural sanitary district became a separate parish (see List of county exclaves in England and Wales 1844–1974 ). The sanitary districts were then reconstituted as urban districts and rural districts , with parishes that fell within urban districts classed as urban parishes, and parishes that fell within rural districts were classed as rural parishes. The 1894 act established elected civil parish councils as to all rural parishes with more than 300 electors, and established annual parish meetings in all rural parishes. Civil parishes were grouped to form either rural or urban districts which are thereafter classified as either type. The parish meetings for parishes with
5658-411: The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73), which established elected parish councils to take on the secular functions of the parish vestry . A civil parish can range in size from a sparsely populated rural area with fewer than a hundred inhabitants, to a large town with a population in excess of 100,000 . This scope is similar to that of municipalities in continental Europe, such as
5781-472: The break with Rome , parishes managed ecclesiastical matters, while the manor was the principal unit of local administration and justice. Later, the church replaced the manor court as the rural administrative centre, and levied a local tax on produce known as a tithe . In the medieval period, responsibilities such as relief of the poor passed increasingly from the lord of the manor to the parish's rector , who in practice would delegate tasks among his vestry or
5904-637: The communes of France . However, unlike their continental European counterparts, parish councils are not principal authorities , and in most cases have a relatively minor role in local government. As of September 2023 , there are 10,464 parishes in England, and in 2020 they covered approximately 40% of the English population. For historical reasons, civil parishes predominantly cover rural areas and smaller urban areas, with most larger urban areas being wholly or partly unparished ; but since 1997 it has been possible for civil parishes to be created within unparished areas if demanded by local residents . In 2007
6027-415: The miners' strike in 1984–85 , contributed to problems at the colliery. The workforce attempted to open a new face, but a decision had been taken to close, and after two years of recovery work, Haig finally ceased mining on 31 March 1986. Today there is no mining carried out in Whitehaven though there is a proposal to sink a new mine out under the sea for coking coal. In November 2019 the UK government gave
6150-463: The (often well-endowed) monasteries. After the dissolution of the monasteries , the power to levy a rate to fund relief of the poor was conferred on the parish authorities by the Poor Relief Act 1601 . Both before and after this optional social change, local (vestry-administered) charities are well-documented. The parish authorities were known as vestries and consisted of all the ratepayers of
6273-408: The 17th century. Whitehaven was a township within the "Preston Quarter" of the parish of St Bees , and the town's churches were chapels-of-ease of St Bees until 1835 when three ecclesiastical districts were created in Whitehaven. The modern growth of Whitehaven started with the purchase by Sir Christopher Lowther of the Whitehaven estate in 1630 and the subsequent development of the port and
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#17330854574066396-564: The 19th century is useful to historians, and is also of cultural significance in terms of shaping local identities; reinforced by the use of grouped parish boundaries, often, by successive local authority areas; and in a very rough, operations-geared way by most postcode districts. There was (and is) wide disparity in parish size. Writtle , Essex traditionally measures 13,568 acres (21 sq mi) – two parishes neighbouring are Shellow Bowells at 469 acres (0.7 sq mi), and Chignall Smealy at 476 acres (0.7 sq mi) Until
6519-584: The 2011 census, Newland with Woodhouse Moor and Beaumont Chase reported inhabitants, and there were no new deserted parishes recorded. Nearly all instances of detached parts of civil parishes (areas not contiguous with the main part of the parish) and of those straddling counties have been ended. 14 examples remain in England as at 2022, including Barnby Moor and Wallingwells , both in Nottinghamshire. Direct predecessors of civil parishes are most often known as "ancient parishes", although many date only from
6642-505: The 2021 census). The 2001 census recorded several parishes with no inhabitants. These were Chester Castle (in the middle of Chester city centre), Newland with Woodhouse Moor , Beaumont Chase , Martinsthorpe , Meering , Stanground North (subsequently abolished), Sturston , Tottington , and Tyneham (subsequently merged). The lands of the last three were taken over by the Armed Forces during World War II and remain deserted. In
6765-520: The Customs Collector did not mention tobacco in his report on Whitehaven. Whitehaven Town Hall , which started life as a private house built for a merchant, was completed in 1710. Daniel Defoe visited Whitehaven in the 1720s and wrote that the town had grown up from a small place to be very considerable by the coal trade, that it is now the most eminent port in England for shipping off of coals, except Newcastle and Sunderland and even beyond
6888-469: The Lowther holdings in the area, and considerably improved the drainage of his pits; thus allowing mining at greater depths. Sir James Lowther, 4th Baronet FRS (1673–1755) continued the work of his father and reputedly became the richest commoner in England. Between 1709 and 1754, over £46,000 was spent to extend the Lowther holdings of land and coal royalties in West Cumberland. By the 1740s Lowther
7011-724: The administration of the poor laws was the main civil function of parishes, the Poor Law Amendment Act 1866 , which received royal assent on 10 August 1866, declared all areas that levied a separate rate or had their own overseer of the poor to be parishes. This included the Church of England parishes (until then simply known as "parishes"), extra-parochial areas , townships and chapelries . To have collected rates this means these beforehand had their own vestries, boards or equivalent bodies. Parishes using this definition subsequently became known as "civil parishes" to distinguish them from
7134-410: The aerodrome had twin responsibilities, the maintenance and repair of planes for use in the war effort and the training of crews from allied countries to fly planes. The railway to Silloth opened in 1856. The line passed through the villages of Kirkbride and Abbeytown to Carlisle . The railway carried both passengers and freight from the port, and tourists visiting the town. It was closed as part of
7257-611: The area by a team of volunteers, covers news and events in Silloth and the surrounding area. The town is also served by the regional newspaper the News & Star . Local TV coverage is provided by BBC North East and Cumbria and ITV Border . Television signals are received from the Caldbeck TV transmitter. Local radio stations are BBC Radio Cumbria on 95.6 FM, Greatest Hits Radio Cumbria & South West Scotland on 96.4 FM and Solway Radio,
7380-417: The area was in 1910 at Wellington Pit, where 136 miners died. In another disaster in 1947 at William Pit, 104 men were killed. Four separate explosions over the period 1922–1931 at Haig Pit together killed 83. Haig was the last pit to operate in Whitehaven. In 1983, a major geological fault was encountered at Haig pit which increased the difficulty of operation. This, combined with the political situation, and
7503-400: The blocks were cut up into shapes like cushions and sheets to be supplied to the furniture, bedding and motor industries). In 1973 an additional factory unit was added to house the production of foam moulded car parts by high pressure injection foam machines. Machinery equipment in the factory was largely manufactured by a team of Silloth metal fitters and local electricians employed full time by
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#17330854574067626-399: The charter, the charter may be transferred to a parish council for its area. Where there is no such parish council, the district council may appoint charter trustees to whom the charter and the arms of the former borough will belong. The charter trustees (who consist of the councillor or councillors for the area of the former borough) maintain traditions such as mayoralty . An example of such
7749-546: The coal interests but did not emulate his close interest. The Lowthers' direct involvement in coal diminished, and in 1888 the mines were leased to the Whitehaven Colliery Company. By 1893 nearly all the coal was being extracted from under the sea, and William pit extended 4 miles out under the Solway. In 1900 the output of the collieries was 536,000 tons. However they became less economic; the company failed in 1933, and
7872-569: The contractor. James Pit is a pit in Whitehaven. The school "St James' Juniors" is on the site of the old pit. The earliest reference to coal mining in the Whitehaven area is in the time of Prior Langton (1256–1282) of St Bees Priory, concerning the coal mines at Arrowthwaite. St Bees Priory was dissolved in 1539, and the lands and mineral rights passed to secular owners. The first of these, Sir Thomas Chaloner , granted leases of land in 1560 for digging coal, and in 1586 he granted St Bees School liberty "to take 40 loads of coal at his coal pits in
7995-529: The council are carried out by a paid officer, typically known as a parish clerk. Councils may employ additional people (including bodies corporate, provided where necessary, by tender) to carry out specific tasks dictated by the council. Some councils have chosen to pay their elected members an allowance, as permitted under part 5 of the Local Authorities (Members' Allowances) (England) Regulations 2003. The number of councillors varies roughly in proportion to
8118-464: The council of the urban district or borough in which they were contained. Many urban parishes were coterminous (geographically identical) with the urban district or municipal borough in which they lay. Towns which included multiple urban parishes often consolidated the urban parishes into one. The urban parishes continued to be used as an electoral area for electing guardians to the poor law unions . The unions took in areas in multiple parishes and had
8241-466: The council will an election be held. However, sometimes there are fewer candidates than seats. When this happens, the vacant seats have to be filled by co-option by the council. If a vacancy arises for a seat mid-term, an election is only held if a certain number (usually ten) of parish residents request an election. Otherwise the council will co-opt someone to be the replacement councillor. The Localism Act 2011 introduced new arrangements which replaced
8364-459: The creation of a Georgian planned town in the 18th century which has left an architectural legacy of over 170 listed buildings . Whitehaven has been designated a "gem town" by the Council for British Archaeology due to the historic quality of the town environment. Whitehaven was the site of a major chemical industry after World War II, but both that and the coal industry have disappeared, and today
8487-453: The creation of town and parish councils is encouraged in unparished areas . The Local Government and Rating Act 1997 created a procedure which gave residents in unparished areas the right to demand that a new parish and parish council be created. This right was extended to London boroughs by the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 – with this, the City of London
8610-446: The deep-water port for Carlisle. The town also offered workers from the factories of Carlisle access to the seaside, and the town flourished as a destination for day trippers. The town's popularity peaked in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. 'Silloth' means "'sea barn(s)', v. 'sǣ hlaða'." (The first word is Old English , the second is Old Norse ). Silloth is part of the parliamentary constituency of Penrith and Solway , and
8733-463: The desire to have a more local tier of government when new larger authorities have been created, which are felt to be remote from local concerns and identity. A number of parishes have been created in places which used to have their own borough or district council; examples include Daventry (2003), Folkestone (2004), Kidderminster (2015) and Sutton Coldfield (2016). The trend towards the creation of geographically large unitary authorities has been
8856-474: The earliest customers for the newly invented Newcomen engine . Spedding concluded that such an engine would drain a flooded pit in two-thirds the time that horse gins would take, and would do so at a quarter of the cost. Consequently, a small (17-inch diameter cylinder) Engine No. 5 , built by Thomas Newcomen and John Calley , was erected. It was so successful that in 1727 Lowther bought an additional pumping engine. With this proven method of pumping Lowther
8979-439: The ecclesiastical parishes. The Church of England parishes, which cover more than 99% of England, have become officially (and to avoid ambiguity) termed ecclesiastical parishes . The limits of many of these have diverged; most greatly through changes in population and church attendance (these factors can cause churches to be opened or closed). Since 1921, each has been the responsibility of its own parochial church council . In
9102-521: The established English Church, which for a few years after Henry VIII alternated between the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England , before settling on the latter on the accession of Elizabeth I in 1558. By the 18th century, religious membership was becoming more fractured in some places, due in part to the progress of Methodism . The legitimacy of the parish vestry came into question, and
9225-516: The factory. There was a laboratory and a fibreglass mould making unit on site as well as a garaging unit to service the fourteen container vans that the company used to ship its production all over the UK. It was a twenty four hours a day operation with production leaving the works at all hours. The logo Cheri Foam on the sides of vans was very familiar in the area. About a hundred and fifty people worked in this factory, some from Silloth and many bussed in from Maryport and surrounds each day. The business
9348-638: The gift and continued patronage (benefaction) of the lord of the manor , but not all were willing and able to provide, so residents would be expected to attend the church of the nearest manor with a church. Later, the churches and priests became to a greater extent the responsibility of the Catholic Church thus this was formalised; the grouping of manors into one parish was recorded, as was a manor-parish existing in its own right. Boundaries changed little, and for centuries after 1180 'froze', despite changes to manors' extents. However, by subinfeudation , making
9471-455: The government at the time of the Local Government Act 1972 discouraged their creation for large towns or their suburbs, but there is generally nothing to stop their establishment. For example, Birmingham has two parishes ( New Frankley and Sutton Coldfield ), Oxford has four, and the Milton Keynes urban area has 24. Parishes could not however be established in London until the law was changed in 2007. A civil parish can range in area from
9594-475: The green light for this mine to go ahead. In 2007, Copeland Council declared that it could no longer afford to maintain the remaining Saltom Pit buildings, and preserve them from damage by the sea. But after an online campaign by myWhitehaven.net, the council changed their mind. They teamed up with the National Trust to try to save Saltom Pit, and obtained the necessary funding from various sources, including
9717-437: The largest employers in the area until the late 1970s. Cheri Foam, was owned by Kurt Oppenheim, who had established his business originally in Whitehaven in 1946. He bought two of the hangars on the airfield and later joined them together to create large factory space and storage units for the manufacture of polyurethane foam blocks. This was an industrial chemical process and a foam block conversion unit ('Conversion' means that
9840-408: The last. They have of late fallen into some merchandising also, occasioned by the strange great number of their shipping, and there are now some considerable merchants; but the town is yet but young in trade. To replace the tobacco trade, Whitehaven turned to importing sugar from Barbados , cotton from Antigua and coffee and cocoa from St Lucia . Due to the coal trade Whitehaven was, after London,
9963-471: The late 19th century, most of the "ancient" (a legal term equivalent to time immemorial ) irregularities inherited by the civil parish system were cleaned up, and the majority of exclaves were abolished. The census of 1911 noted that 8,322 (58%) of "parishes" in England and Wales were not geographically identical when comparing the civil to the ecclesiastical form. In 1894, civil parishes were reformed by
10086-401: The lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes , which for centuries were the principal unit of secular and religious administration in most of England and Wales. Civil and religious parishes were formally split into two types in the 19th century and are now entirely separate. Civil parishes in their modern form came into being through
10209-544: The major industry is the nearby Sellafield nuclear complex, which is the largest local employer of labour and has a significant administrative base in the town. Whitehaven includes a number of former villages, estates and suburbs, such as Mirehouse , Woodhouse, Kells and Hensingham , and is served by the Cumbrian coast railway line and the A595 road . Although there was a Roman fort at Parton , around 1.2 miles (1.9 km) to
10332-465: The mid 19th century. Using a longer historical lens the better terms are "pre-separation (civil and ecclesiastical) parish", "original medieval parishes" and "new parishes". The Victoria County History , a landmark collaborative work mostly written in the 20th century (although incomplete), summarises the history of each English "parish", roughly meaning late medieval parish. A minority of these had exclaves , which could be: In some cases an exclave of
10455-461: The mines. In 1634 he built a stone pier providing shelter and access for shipping, enabling the export of coal from the Cumberland Coalfield , particularly to Ireland. This was a key event in the rapid growth of the town from a small fishing village to an industrial port. In 1642 the manor of St. Bees was inherited by Sir John Lowther, 2nd Baronet, of Whitehaven (1642–1706), who developed
10578-465: The new district councils (outside London) to review their parishes, and many areas left unparished in 1972 have since been made parishes, either in whole or part. For example, Hinckley , whilst entirely unparished in 1974, now has four civil parishes, which together cover part of its area, whilst the central part of the town remains unparished. Some parishes were sub-divided into smaller territories known as hamlets , tithings or townships . Nowadays
10701-421: The north east of the existing tiny hamlet. Sir John specified that the houses were "to be three storeys high, not less than 28 feet from the street level to the square of the side walls, the windows of the first and second storeys to be transomed and the same, together with the doors to be of hewn stone." Ample provision was made for gardens. One block was left vacant for a new church and in 1694 another site
10824-503: The north, there is no evidence of a Roman settlement on the site of the present town of Whitehaven. The area was settled by Irish-Norse Vikings in the 10th century. The area name of Copeland , which includes Whitehaven, indicates that the land was purchased from the Kingdom of Strathclyde , possibly with loot from Ireland. Following the arrival of the Normans , in about 1120 St Bees Priory
10947-488: The other conurbations. Civil parishes vary greatly in population: some have populations below 100 and have no settlement larger than a hamlet , while others cover towns with populations of tens of thousands. Weston-super-Mare , with a population of 71,758, is the most populous civil parish. In many cases small settlements, today popularly termed villages , localities or suburbs, are in a single parish which originally had one church. Large urban areas are mostly unparished, as
11070-421: The parish of St Bees for the use of the school". Such workings were small-scale and near the surface, using adits and bell pits . But the Lowther family later developed and dominated the coal industry in Whitehaven from the mid 17th century to the early 20th century. Sir John Lowther, 2nd Baronet (1642–1706) significantly developed the coal industry and the trade with Ireland. He spent over £11,000 in expanding
11193-401: The parish the status of a town, at which point the council becomes a town council . Around 400 parish councils are called town councils. Under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 , a civil parish may be given one of the following alternative styles: As a result, a parish council can be called a town council, a community council, a village council or occasionally
11316-404: The parish. As the number of ratepayers of some parishes grew, it became increasingly difficult to convene meetings as an open vestry. In some, mostly built-up, areas the select vestry took over responsibility from the entire body of ratepayers. This innovation improved efficiency, but allowed governance by a self-perpetuating elite. The administration of the parish system relied on the monopoly of
11439-562: The parish; the church rate ceased to be levied in many parishes and became voluntary from 1868. During the 17th century it was found that the 1601 Poor Law did not work well for very large parishes, which were particularly common in northern England. Such parishes were typically subdivided into multiple townships , which levied their rates separately. The Poor Relief Act 1662 therefore directed that for poor law purposes 'parish' meant any place which maintained its own poor, thereby converting many townships into separate 'poor law parishes'. As
11562-499: The perceived inefficiency and corruption inherent in the system became a source for concern in some places. For this reason, during the early 19th century the parish progressively lost its powers to ad hoc boards and other organisations, such as the boards of guardians given responsibility for poor relief through the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 . Sanitary districts covered England in 1875 and Ireland three years later. The replacement boards were each entitled to levy their own rate in
11685-409: The pier was suffering from storm damage and by the 1670s it was considered too small for the growing number of vessels wanting to use it. In 1677 a description refers to "a little pier, in shallow water, built with some wooden piles and stones". The prospect of a rival pier being built at Parton to the north of Whitehaven galvanised Sir John Lowther into developing the harbour, and by 1679 further work
11808-638: The pits were sold to Priestman collieries. They in turn failed in 1935, and the pits were closed for 18 months. Work resumed with help from a Nuffield foundation, and the Cumberland Coal Company was formed, re-opening the pits in 1937. In 1947 the pits came under the nationalised body, the National Coal Board . In 300 years over seventy pits were sunk in the Whitehaven area. During this period some five hundred or more people were killed in pit disasters and mining accidents . The largest disaster in
11931-411: The population of the parish. Most rural parish councillors are elected to represent the entire parish, though in parishes with larger populations or those that cover larger areas, the parish can be divided into wards. Each of these wards then returns councillors to the parish council (the numbers depending on their population). Only if there are more candidates standing for election than there are seats on
12054-409: The refurbished Beacon museum at the harbour; 10,000 people attended the event. Whitehaven was, with Falmouth , the first post-medieval new planned town in England. It is the most complete example of planned Georgian architecture in Europe and there are over 170 listed buildings . Whitehaven's planned layout was with streets in a right-angled grid which it is thought was imitated by the new towns of
12177-438: The right to create civil parishes was extended to London boroughs , although only one, Queen's Park , has so far been created. Eight parishes also have city status (a status granted by the monarch ). A civil parish may be equally known as and confirmed as a town, village, neighbourhood or community by resolution of its parish council, a right not conferred on other units of English local government. The governing body of
12300-662: The seat since the 2024 United Kingdom general election . Before Brexit , it was in the North West England European Parliamentary Constituency. Prior to the introduction of Cumberland (district) , for Local Government purposes it had the following wards in the Borough of Copeland : The following divisions were included in Cumbria County Council : Whitehaven has its own Parish Council , Whitehaven Town Council . The existence of
12423-513: The second port of England in terms of tonnage of shipping from 1750 to 1772. In 1835 Whitehaven was still the fifth placed port, with 443 ships registered, but by the end of the 19th century only 68 vessels were registered. Whitehaven was involved with the transatlantic slave trade , and records show slave ships leaving Whitehaven for voyages to Africa between 1711 and 1767. In 2006, the Copeland Council (Whitehaven's local authority) issued
12546-724: The south of the town the Corkickle incline, known locally as "The Brake", was built in 1881 from the Furness Railway main line to Croft Pit. This closed in 1931 but was reopened in May 1955 to serve Marchon Products' chemical factory. The Brake closed for good on 31 October 1986, when it was the last commercial roped incline in Britain. It was 525 yards (480 m) in length with gradients of between 1 in 5.2 and 1 in 6.6. The nearby Lowca engineering works began to produce locomotives in 1843, including
12669-605: The southern side of the town, the first section of the Whitehaven and Furness Junction Railway (W&FJR) opened on 1 June 1849 from a terminus at Whitehaven (Preston Street) to Ravenglass , and thereafter gradually in stages until Barrow in Furness and ultimately Carnforth were reached. This gave access to the south onto the main West Coast line, and later became the main line of the Furness Railway . The two lines were separated by
12792-484: The tide, together with The Rum Story on Lowther Street, voted Cumbria Tourism's small visitor attraction of the year 2007. A picture of the harbour was used on the front page of the Tate Modern 's promotional material for an exhibition of Millennium Projects in 2003. In June 2008, Queen Elizabeth II visited Whitehaven as part of the 300th Anniversary Celebrations. The Queen and Prince Philip then officially re-opened
12915-514: The town centre, and a tramway was constructed through the market place allowing goods wagons to be horse-drawn from Preston Street to the harbour, but there was still no through route for passenger trains. In 1852, a tunnel 1,333 yards (1,219 m) long was built under the town, and in 1854 the W&;FJR passenger trains ran through to the Bransty station from a new station at Corkickle. Preston Street became
13038-412: The town of Whitehaven, its coal industry and the trade with Ireland. He oversaw the rise of Whitehaven from a small fishing village (at his birth consisting of some fifty houses and a population of about 250) to a planned town three times the size of Carlisle. At his death the 'port of Whitehaven' had 77 registered vessels, totalling about four thousand tons, and was exporting more than 35,000 tons of coal
13161-516: The town was 23,986 at the 2011 census . The town's growth was largely due to the exploitation of the extensive coal measures by the Lowther family , driving a growing export of coal through the harbour from the 17th century onwards. It was also a major port for trading with the American colonies , and was, after London, the second busiest port of England by tonnage from 1750 to 1772. This prosperity led to
13284-493: Was able to exploit the coal measures under the sea by sinking a pit at Saltom on land below the cliffs south of the harbour, to a depth of 456 ft (138m). Work began early in 1730, and the pit was officially opened in May 1732 with great celebration. Carlisle Spedding had charge of the design and construction, and successfully sank only the second sub-sea pit in Britain. It was reported that "A shaft twelve foot by ten had been sunk seventy-seven fathoms" (141 metres) "(the deepest
13407-476: Was acquired by the Beaver Group in 1976 and Oppenheim retired to join his family in London. The main customer Times Furnishing eventually closed and after this the business ran down and eventually closed. Local contractor D.A. Harrison are based in Silloth, employing 200 people. Tourism is a major contributor to the economy in Silloth, with dozens of large and small static and touring caravan parks located within
13530-476: Was brought by the North British Railway (and boats) from Newry , now in Northern Ireland . Much of the interior is faced with yellow brick trimmed with red. There are several churches and chapels of other denominations in the town. The Port of Silloth is owned and operated by Associated British Ports . The main cargoes are wheat, fertiliser, molasses, forest products and general cargo. An example of
13653-471: Was built in 1769 for Sir John Lowther as his private residence at the end of Lowther Street, replacing an earlier building destroyed by fire. In 1924, the Earl of Lonsdale sold Whitehaven Castle to Herbert Wilson Walker, a local industrialist. Walker donated the building to the people of West Cumberland , along with £20,000 to convert it into a hospital to replace the old Whitehaven Infirmary at Howgill Street, which
13776-411: Was converted to a pumping and winding engine. Nonetheless, the harbour and collieries eventually developed an extensive network of industrial railways within the constraints of the steep valley sides and the coast. The system had two roped inclines . The Howgill incline connected Ladysmith pit on the steep north-western side of the valley to Wellington pit at the harbour, and operated to the 1970s, and on
13899-642: Was established in 1830. Whitehaven is on the Cumbrian Coast Line which runs from Carlisle to Barrow-in-Furness . The town has two railway stations: Whitehaven (Bransty) and Corkickle , joined by a tunnel underneath the town. The first railway to reach Whitehaven was the Whitehaven Junction Railway (WJR) in 1847 from Maryport , which terminated at the Bransty Row station and allowed rail access to Carlisle and Newcastle upon Tyne . On
14022-553: Was eventually quashed in 1827, with compensation of over £13,000 paid to the school. Sir John, and after him Sir James, had concerns that there were few reserves of economically retrievable coal under dry land. They felt that exploration under the sea was necessary, but this carried the risk of flooding. However, Sir James had two very able managers, the brothers Carlisle and John Spedding, who were willing to explore new technology and techniques. In 1712 John Spedding urged Lowther to consider pumping by steam, and in 1715 he became one of
14145-470: Was founded by William de Meschin, which was granted a large tract of land from the coast at Whitehaven to the river Keekle, and then south down the River Ehen to the sea. This included the small fishing village of Whitehaven. Following Henry VIII 's dissolution of the priory in 1539, ownership of this estate passed through a number of secular landlords until it passed into the hands of the Lowther family in
14268-401: Was given for a Presbyterian chapel. Most of the streets were relatively narrow, about ten yards, but the principal thoroughfare, Lowther Street, which ran through the town centre from the Lowther family residence to the waterfront, was 16 yards wide. The old St Nicholas chapel was demolished in 1693 to make way for Lowther Street, and its materials used to build a new school. Whitehaven Castle
14391-449: Was in the 19th century when West Cumberland experienced a brief boom because haematite found locally was one of the few iron ores that could be used to produce steel by the original Bessemer process . Improvements to the Bessemer process and the development of the open hearth process removed this advantage. In the 20th century, as in most mining communities, the inter-war Great Depression
14514-461: Was planned into the original town design. It is on a commanding site at Criffel Street and the body of the church was completed in 1870. The porch tower and large broach spire were completed later in 1878, and house a ring of 8 bells which are chimed. It was designed by Carlisle architect Charles John Ferguson in the Gothic style, and is built with an interesting mix of local sandstone, and granite which
14637-405: Was raised by horse gin to the surface, then transported by tramway through a tunnel to Ravenhill Pit for lifting to the cliff top. Saltom Pit was used as a central pumping station, draining many of the other local mines via a drift driven in the 1790s, and continued in use long after it had ceased to work coal. To counter the considerable danger of methane gas explosion, Carlisle Spedding invented
14760-420: Was severe; this was exacerbated for West Cumbria by Irish independence which suddenly placed tariff barriers on its principal export market. The harbour lost its last commercial cargo handling operation in 1992 when Marchon ceased their phosphate rock import operations. Drivers Jonas and marine consulting engineers Beckett Rankine drew up a new master plan to impound the inner basins of the harbour to create
14883-594: Was the dominant exporter at every harbour in the Cumberland coalfield and from the late 17th to the mid-19th centuries this coal represented 6%-7% of all English exports to Ireland; most of the coal burnt in Dublin came from here. However, Lowther was noted for his unscrupulous business practices, and a lease of the coal royalties owned by St Bees School was obtained in 1742 on manifestly unfair terms: an annual rent of £3.50, with no payment per ton raised, for 867 years. The lease
15006-563: Was then sold on the domestic market or re-exported, e.g. to Ireland, France and the Netherlands. However, after the Acts of Union 1707 united England with Scotland, thereby abolishing excise duties between them, the port of Glasgow began to take over Whitehaven's tobacco trade, leading to the later creation of Glasgow's Tobacco Lords . By the second half of the 18th century there was a marked decline in shipping of tobacco via Whitehaven, and by 1820
15129-584: Was under way. In the late 17th and 18th century the harbour was extended by ballast walls, moles and piers to become one of the most complex pier harbours in Britain. April 1778 saw the harbour as the first site of an American attack on the British Isles during the American War of Independence . The port's trade waned rapidly when ports with much larger shipping capacity, such as Bristol and Liverpool , began to take over its main trade. Its peak of prosperity
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