Beckfoot, Cumberland
| Beckfoot | |
| Cumberland | |
|---|---|
 North end of Beckfoot. | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | NY093497 |
| Location: | 54°50’3"N, 3°24’44"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Wigton |
| Postcode: | CA7 |
| Dialling code: | 016973 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Cumberland |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Workington |
Beckfoot is a hamlet in the north-west of in Cumberland in the parish of Holme St Cuthbert. It is located on the B5300 coast road, three miles south of Silloth-on-Solway and two miles north of the village of Mawbray. The county town, Carlisle is twenty-five miles away to the east.
History
The name "Beckfoot" means exactly what it appears to be; the foot of a beck, as the village stream here enters the Solway Firth at the southern end of the hamlet. There are two known recorded variant spellings: Beck and Beckfoote.
The area around Beckfoot was fortified during Roman times, as a series of milefortlets were constructed to guard the coast beyond the western end of Hadrian's Wall. The remains of milefortlets 14 and 15 are located nearby.[1] In 2010 a broken pottery vessel containing 308 Roman coins was discovered by a local archaeologist using a metal detector.
During the 14th century, a castle was built at Wolsty, approximately a miel and a half to the north, to guard the vulnerable Holmcultram Abbey at Abbeytown from raids across the Solway Firth. The castle had been demolished by the year 1700, and not much remains today, but an archaeological survey was carried out in July 2013.[2]
In the 16th century, shifting sands and severe storms on the Solway Firth saw many houses in the hamlet destroyed or severely damaged. Many people lost their homes, and it was this event which prompted the Lord and Steward of Holme Culterham to construct the town of New Mawbray, today known as Newtown, three-quarters of a mile inland from Beckfoot.[3] Also during this era, Scots continued to raid this section of the Solway coast. A system called the "seawake" - a night watch along the coast - was created, and residents of coastal communities including Beckfoot would have participated in guarding against such raids.
A Quaker meeting house was built in Beckfoot in the year 1745, exactly 100 years before the parish church at Holme St Cuthbert was built.[4] A mill and dam were built at the end of the eighteenth century to aid in local wool production, but the mill was not a financial success and closed a few years later.
In 1925, Beckfoot had two council houses constructed - the only council houses in the whole parish.[5]
The hamlet today
There are two attractions in the vicinity - Bank Mill Nursery and Visitor Centre, which includes a garden, nature reserve, play area, and restaurant,[6] and the Gincase near Newtown, a farm park with a gift shop and tea room.[7]
Beckfoot is within the 'Solway Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty',[8] and its sand dunes, together with those at Mawbray and Wolsty, form a 'Site of Special Scientific Interest'.
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Beckfoot, Cumberland) |
References
- ↑ National Monuments Record: No. 9098 – Milefortlet 14
- ↑ "Holme Low Parish Council - Wolsty Castle". http://www.holmelow-pc.org.uk/page27.html. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ↑ Records of the Holme Under Elizabeth - British History On-Line
- ↑ Diocese of Carlisle: Holme St Cuthbert
- ↑ "Holme St. Cuthbert History Group - Beckfoot". http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/hstchg/beckfoot.htm. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ↑ "Bank Mill". http://www.bankmillnurseries.co.uk. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
- ↑ "The Gincase". http://www.gincase.co.uk. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
- ↑ Solway Coast AONB - Location