1.
Civil parish
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In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority. It is a parish, in contrast to an ecclesiastical parish. A civil parish can range in size from a town with a population of around 80,000 to a single village with fewer than a hundred inhabitants. In a limited number of cases a parish might include a city where city status has been granted by the Monarch. Reflecting this diverse nature, a parish may be known as a town, village. Approximately 35% of the English population live in a civil parish, as of 31 December 2015 there were 10,449 parishes in England. On 1 April 2014, Queens Park became the first civil parish in Greater London, before 2008 their creation was not permitted within a London borough. The division of land into ancient parishes was linked to the system, parishes. The manor was the unit of local administration and justice in the early rural economy. Later the church replaced the court as the rural administrative centre. After the dissolution of the monasteries, the power to levy a rate to fund relief of the poor was conferred on the authorities by the Act for the Relief of the Poor 1601. Both before and after this optional social change, local charities are well-documented, the parish authorities were known as vestries and consisted of all the ratepayers of the parish. As the number of ratepayers of some parishes grew, it increasingly difficult to convene meetings as an open vestry. In some, mostly built up, areas the select vestry took over responsibility from the body of ratepayers. This innovation improved efficiency, but allowed governance by a self-perpetuating elite, by the 18th century, religious membership was becoming more fractured in some places, due for instance to the progress of Methodism. The legitimacy of the parish came into question and the perceived inefficiency. Sanitary districts covered England in 1875 and Ireland three years later, the replacement boards were each entitled to levy their own rate in the parish. The church rate ceased to be levied in many parishes and became voluntary from 1868, the ancient parishes diverged into two distinct systems of parishes during the 19th century
2.
City of Carlisle
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The City of Carlisle is a local government district of Cumbria, England, with the status of a city and non-metropolitan district. The city has a population of 107,524. and an area of 1,039.97 square kilometres, making it the largest city in England by area. The City of Carlisle shares a border with Scotland, and is bounded on the southwest by the borough of Allerdale, the county of Northumberland is to the east. Although the present boundaries date to the 20th century, the city traces its origins to a 1st-century Roman outpost associated with Hadrians Wall, the Brythonic settlement that expanded from this outpost was destroyed by the Danes in 875. Thereafter the region formed part of the Southern Uplands of Scotland, William II built Carlisle Castle, which houses a military museum. Carlisle Cathedral, founded in the 12th century, is one of the smallest in England, a border city, and the second most northerly city in England, Carlisle predominantly spans the flood plain of the River Eden. Commercially, it is linked to the rest of England via the M6 motorway, the act formally established the City of Carlisle as a local government district of the new shire county of Cumbria on 1 April 1974. The new dual local authorities of Carlisle City Council and Cumbria County Council had been running since elections in 1973 however, the residents of the City of Carlisle are represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom by Members of Parliament for two parliamentary constituencies. At the 2010 general election, Conservative Party MPs won the seats of Carlisle and Penrith and The Border, John Stevenson, the City of Carlisle is part of the North West England constituency in the European Parliament. North West England elects nine MEPs, as at 2008 made up of four Conservatives, in 1974, Carlisle City Council was created to administer the newly formed non-metropolitan district, which shares power with the strategic Cumbria County Council. The council offices are located in Carlisle, at the Civic Centre, the Labour Party controlled the council for much of the first 25 years and from 1979 to the 1999 election had an overall majority. Until 2003 the Conservative Party then controlled the council with a majority, and from the 2003 elections they ran the council with no majority, but in alliance with the Liberal Democrats. At the 2012 election Labour gained a majority of the seats, there are 52 councillors representing the electoral wards of the City of Carlisle. Together they form the Carlisle City Council, councillors are elected and accountable to the residents of their wards. Civil parishes form the tier of local government in England, parish councils are involved in planning permission, management of town and parish centres. The City of Carlisle is almost entirely parished, the exception being the central settlement of Carlisle—an unparished area and these arms are derived from more ancient designs of or relating to Carlisle and its governance. The city councils coat of arms are emblematic of the citys history, the arms incorporate a golden shield with a red cross, upon a green mount, surmounted by a mural crown, relating to Carlisles history as an ancient walled city. This is supported by two red wyverns—legendary dragons used in heraldry—their wings strewn with roses, with reference to the citys Brythonic history
3.
Cumbria
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Cumbria is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbrias county town is Carlisle, in the north of the county, the county of Cumbria consists of six districts, and in 2008 had a population of just under half a million. Cumbria is one of the most sparsely populated counties in the United Kingdom, a large area of the south east of the county is within the Yorkshire Dales National Park while the east of the county fringes the North Pennines AONB. Much of Cumbria is mountainous, and it contains every peak in England over 3,000 feet above sea level, with Scafell Pike at 3,209 feet being the highest point of England. An upland, coastal, and rural area, Cumbrias history is characterised by invasions, migration, notable historic sites in Cumbria include Carlisle Castle, Furness Abbey, Hardknott Roman Fort, Brough Castle and Hadrians Wall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. D. Based on inscriptional evidence from the area, the Roman civitas of the Carvetii seems to have covered portions of Cumbria, the names Cumbria, Cymru, Cambria, and Cumberland are derived from the name these people gave themselves, *kombroges in Common Brittonic, which originally meant compatriots. In the Early Middle Ages, Cumberland formed the core of the Brittonic kingdom of Rheged, for the rest of the first millennium, Cumbria was contested by several entities who warred over the area, including the Brythonic Kingdom of Strathclyde and the Anglian kingdom of Northumbria. Most of modern-day Cumbria was a principality in the Kingdom of Scotland at the time of the Norman conquest of England in 1066, in 1092 Cumberland was invaded by William II and incorporated into England. There were at least three sieges of Carlisle fought between England and Scotland, and two sieges during the Jacobite risings. In particular, the west-coast towns of Workington, Millom and Barrow-in-Furness saw large iron and steel mills develop, Kendal, Keswick and Carlisle all became mill towns, with textiles, pencils and biscuits among the products manufactured in the region. Later, the childrens writer Beatrix Potter also wrote in the region and became a major landowner and its strategic authority is Cumbria County Council. Local papers The Westmorland Gazette and Cumberland and Westmorland Herald continue to use the name of their historic county, other publications, such as local government promotional material, describe the area as Cumbria, as do the Lake District National Park Authority and most visitors. Cumbria is the most northwesterly county of England, the northernmost and southernmost points in Cumbria are just west of Deadwater, Northumberland and South Walney respectively. Kirkby Stephen and St Bees Head are the most easterly and westerly points of the county, at 978 metres Scafell Pike is the highest point in Cumbria and in England. Windermere is the largest natural lake in England, the Lancaster Canal runs from Preston into South Cumbria and is partly in use. The Ulverston Canal which once reached to Morecambe Bay is maintained although it was closed in 1945, the Solway Coast and Arnside and Silverdale AONBs lie in the lowland areas of the county, to the north and south respectively. Cumbria is bordered by the English counties of Northumberland, County Durham, North Yorkshire, Lancashire, the boundaries are along the Irish Sea to Morecambe Bay in the west, and along the Pennines to the east
4.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
5.
Longtown, Cumbria
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Longtown is a small town in northern Cumbria, England, with a population of around 3,000. It is in the parish of Arthuret and on the River Esk, nearby was the Battle of Arfderydd. Historically in Cumberland, Longtown is the location of the largest sheep market in England, Longtown has one primary school with around 190 pupils. Most secondary school travel to William Howard School, Brampton, though up until 2008 Longtown had its own secondary school. The first animal to be found to be infected with disease in the 2001 crisis had been purchased at Longtown Market. While at the market it spread the infection to other animals, the size of the Longtown Sheep Market meant that the disease had spread right across the country in a very short time. Longtown became the centre for control of the disease in south western Scotland, in April 2014 Carlisle City Council rejected a planning application for a two million gallon slurry lagoon at Scaurbank Wood, to the north east of Longtown. The planned slurry lagoon was said to be the most objected to plan in the City Councils history, a little over two miles to the north, on the west bank of the River Esk, Kirkandrews Tower is an isolated and well-preserved 16th century peel tower. Lochinvar coalfield was discovered in the 1950s by the National Coal Board and was subject to drilling, recently an Australian firm has been exploring the coalfield for coking coal to produce steel. The company is exploring as far north as Evertown near Canonbie, during the 1930s, there was a recognition of a need to provide secure storage for munitions across the United Kingdom. The proposal was to create three Central Ammunition Depots, one in the south, one in the Midlands, and one in the north. The site was chosen as it used to be part of HM Factory, Gretna, the township of Gretna was established to house the workers of this establishment. Today, DMC Longtown is the one of the three CADs to remain in operation and is among the largest defence munitions sites in Western Europe. Currently, Longtown and Eastriggs are two sites under joint management. In November 2013 the MoD announced that the capacity of MoD Longtown would be reduced. Listed buildings in Arthuret Cumbria County History Trust, Arthuret
6.
River Esk, Dumfries and Galloway
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The River Esk, also called the Border Esk, is a river in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, that flows into the Solway Firth. It also flows for a way through the English county of Cumbria before entering the Solway. The river rises in the hills to the east of Moffat and it flows south east through Eskdale past Langholm before merging with Liddel Water (which defines the border between Scotland and England. Before passing Longtown the river enters England and merges with the River Lyne and it was formerly one of the boundaries of the Debatable Lands as marked by the Scots Dike. The various tributaries of the Esk are described proceeding downstream and it is followed by the B709 road for much of its course. The headwaters of the Black Esk feed into the Black Esk Reservoir, from the foot of whose dam and it then turns sharply east then southeast passing Castle Oer on its way to meet with the White Esk to form the River Esk. The Meggat Water is a left tributary of the Esk which rises at the southern margin of Craik Forest and flows south. The Ewes Water is a significant left tributary of the Esk which enters the latter at Langholm. The valley of the Ewes Water is followed by the A7 road from Carlisle to Edinburgh, wauchope Water is a right bank tributary of the Esk which joins immediately downstream from the Ewes Water confluence. It arises as the Logan Water and Bigholms Burn meet 3 miles /5 km southwest of Langholm, the Tarras Water is a left bank tributary of the Esk which joins it 2.5 miles /4 km south of Langholm. The Liddel Water is a tributary which enters on the left bank between Canonbie and Longtown. It forms the boundary between Scotland and England for a while as does its tributary, the Kershope Burn, the River Lyne enters on the left bank at Lynefoot just above the normal tidal limit of the estuarial section of the Esk. The River Sark and the Kirtle Water enter the estuary of the Esk to the east and west of Gretna respectively. See main articles on each of these and some of their tributaries, photo of the Esk entering Solway Firth - Getty Images
7.
Geoffrey of Monmouth
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Geoffrey of Monmouth was a British cleric and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur. He is best known for his chronicle The History of the Kings of Britain and it was credited, uncritically, well into the 16th century, but is now considered historically unreliable. Geoffrey was probably some time between 1100 and 1110 in Wales or the Welsh Marches. He must have reached the age of majority by 1129, when he is recorded as witnessing a charter. In his Historia, Geoffrey refers to himself as Galfridus Monemutensis, Geoffrey of Monmouth, which indicates a significant connection to Monmouth, Wales, Geoffreys works attest to some acquaintance with the place-names of the region. To contemporaries, Geoffrey was known as Galfridus Artur or variants thereof, the Arthur in these versions of his name may indicate the name of his father, or a nickname based on Geoffreys scholarly interests. Earlier scholars assumed that Geoffrey was Welsh or at least spoke Welsh and it has been argued, by Frank Stenton among others, that Geoffreys parents may have been among the many Bretons who took part in William Is Conquest and settled in the southeast of Wales. Monmouth had been in the hands of Breton lords since 1075 or 1086 and he may have served for a while in a Benedictine priory in Monmouth, but most of his adult life appears to have been spent outside Wales. Between 1129 and 1151 his name appears on six charters in the Oxford area and he was probably a secular canon of St. Georges college. All the charters signed by Geoffrey are also signed by Walter, Archdeacon of Oxford, another frequent co-signatory is Ralph of Monmouth, a canon of Lincoln. On 24 February 1152, at Lambeth, Archbishop Theobald consecrated Geoffrey as Bishop of St Asaph, there is no evidence that he ever visited his see, writes Lewis Thorpe, and indeed the wars of Owain Gwynedd make this most unlikely. He appears to have died between 25 December 1154 and 24 December 1155, in 1155 according to Welsh chronicles, when his apparent successor, Richard, Geoffrey wrote several works of interest, all in Latin, the language of learning and literature in Europe during the medieval period. His major work was The History of the Kings of Britain, modern historians have dismissed this claim. The History of the Kings of Britain is now acknowledged as a work of national myth containing little reliable history. Other contemporaries were similarly unconvinced by Geoffreys History, Geoffreys major work was nevertheless widely disseminated across the whole of Medieval Western Europe, Acton Griscom listed 186 extant manuscripts in 1929, and others have been identified since. Where it was accepted as a true account. It consists of a series of obscure prophetic utterances attributed to Merlin, the Historys effect on the legend of King Arthur was so vast that Arthurian works have been categorised as pre- or post-Galfridian depending on whether or not they were influenced by him. The third work attributed to Geoffrey is another hexameter poem Vita Merlini, the story is set long after the timeframe of the Historys Merlin, but the author tries to synchronise the works with references to the mad prophets previous dealings with Vortigern and Arthur
