Friday 13th August 1819
Friday, August 13 we left Calderbridge and breakfasted at Whitehaven a fine Seaport there is a famous Inn here which we enjoyed excessively we walked to the Coal Mines
which are very extensive my brothers descended into the mine they describe it as well worth seeing at 6 o’clock we started for Cockermouth and having taken tea we inspected the Castle supposed to have been built during the conquest part of it is now inhabited by Lord Egremont it stands on an artificial eminence and is a fine mansion then left Cockermouth for Wigton where we arrived a little before 11 o’clock it is a pretty town with a good church the Inn the (the Kings Arms) is excellent.
OBSERVATIONS & COMMENTS:
Whitehaven was settled by Irish-Norse Vikings in the 10th century. 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 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, which was a key event in the growth of the town, which rapidly grew from a small fishing village to an industrial port. His son, Sir John, (1642-1706), developed 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 it consisted 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 over 35,000 tons of coal a year. Below is the plan of Whitehaven’s development prepared by Matthias Read for Sir John Lowther in 1730.
1730: Matthias Read view of Whitehaven, Cumberland showing the planned town of Sir John Lowther, showing Flatt Hall. This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years or less. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Matthias_Read_-_Whitehaven,_Cumbria,_Showing_Flatt_Hall_-_Google_Art_Project_enhanced.jpg
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 was then sold in the domestic market or re-exported to Ireland, France and Holland, etc. However, after the Acts of Union 1707 uniting England with Scotland, and thereby abolishing excise between them, the port of Glasgow began to take over Whitehaven's tobacco trade, leading to the later creation of Glasgow's Tobacco Lords. To replace the tobacco trade Whitehaven turned to importing sugar from Barbados, cotton wool from Antigua and coffee and cocoa from St Lucia. There is little evidence to suggest that Whitehaven was involved in the slave trade. Due to the coal trade Whitehaven was, after London, the second port of England in terms of tonnage of shipping from 1750 to 1772.
1814-1825: Whitehaven - Aquatint engraving by William Daniell from his greatest artistic work as an aquatint engraver " A Voyage Round Great Britain" , which contains 308 aquatint prints. Published between 1814 and 1825. https://antique-prints-maps.com/acatalog/ref1.php?imagefile=../largeimages/Dani11Whitehaven.jpg
Even by 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.
1835: Whitehaven, Cumberland. Engraving by T. Jeavons after G. Pickering. https://antique-prints-maps.com/acatalog/ref1.php?imagefile=../largeimages/SEWhitehavenTA12.jpg
circa 1840: Whitehaven, (with St. Bees Head.) Engraving by J.C. Redway after W.H. Bartlett. https://antique-prints-maps.com/acatalog/ref1.php?imagefile=../largeimages/SEWhitehavenWHB12.jpg
During the 19th century the port of Whitehaven was overtaken by Bristol, Liverpool and Glasgow, as they had better deep water dock facilities, and were closer to large centres of population and industry. The huge development of 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. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitehaven
Which was the Famous Inn? The Inns of Whitehaven were numerous. Alan Routledge lists 131 Inns between 1831 and 1958 with 134 public houses by the end of the 18th century. Most would have been for the seafarers, the majority with seafaring names, but Routledge does claim that the George Inn was built around 1695 as the oldest purpose built hotel. Perhaps this was the Inn which Lucy enjoyed excessively as it might have been better suited to the taste of the Coplands. For the fascinating study by Alan Routledge see http://www.whitehaven.org.uk/pubs.html
Whitehaven Coalmines: The earliest reference to coal mining in the Whitehaven area is in the time of Prior Langton (1256–82) 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. 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 (1642–1706), and after him Sir James (1673–1755), 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. In 1712 Sir James’s manager John Spedding urged him to consider pumping by steam, and in 1715 he became one of 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 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). The pit was officially opened in May 1732 with great celebration. 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 (the deepest 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'. Below are the remains of the Saltom mine, to which the Coplands would have walked and into which Lucy’s brothers descended, describing it as “well worth seeing”.
2007: Saltom Pit in Whitehaven by MyWhitehaven and released into the public domain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Saltom_Pit_in_Whitehaven.jpg
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 survive. Coal excavated from Saltom Pit 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. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitehaven
Industrial history of Cumbria, in their excellent article at http://www.cumbria-industries.org.uk/a-z-of-industries/coal/, note that: “Throughout their history the coal mines of West Cumberland, and in particular those in the Whitehaven area, were plagued with firedamp (CH4), and as greated depths were reached the problem of ventilation became critical. Accumulations of gas precipitated explosions which killed or maimed the colliers and seriously damaged the underground workings. To the employer the damage done to the mines was more important than the loss of life.”
Cockermouth: The regenerated market place is now a central historical focus within the town and reflects events during its 800-year history. It has a distinctive medieval layout, of a broad main street of burgesses' houses, each with a burgage plot stretching to a "back lane": the Derwent bank on the north and Back Lane (now South Street), on the south and the layout is largely preserved, leading the British Council for Archaeology to say in 1965 that it was worthy of special care in preservation and development.
1832: Cockermouth. Engraved by R Sands after Thomas Allom and published in Westmorland, Cumberland, Durham & Northumberland Illustrated by Fisher, Son & Co. http://www.rareoldprints.com/p/12005
Wordsworth House, the birthplace of William Wordsworth, has been restored following extensive damage during the November 2009 floods, and features a working 18th-century kitchen and children's bedroom with toys and clothes of the times. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockermouth
Cockermouth Castle: The first castle on this site was built by the Normans in 1134. Some of the stone was sourced from the Roman site of Derventio. Significant additions were made in the 13th and 14th centuries. The castle played a significant role in the Wars of the Roses, and in the Civil War, when it was badly damaged. Various magnates held the castle, most prominently the Percy Earls of Northumberland from the 15th to 17th centuries.
1807: Cockermouth Castle. Drawn & Engraved by John Hassell, from the Hassell's Antiquities series. http://www.rareoldprints.com/p/13207
It passed to the Wyndham family, the current owners, in the 18th century. The castle was the home of the dowager Lady Egremont until her death in 2013. It is partly inhabited and is mainly in good condition, but some of the ruined structures are decaying, resulting in their inclusion on the Heritage at Risk register. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockermouth_Castle
2005: Cockermouth Castle by Humphrey Bolton. On a site by the junction of the Rivers Cocker and Derwent. This image was taken from the Geograph project collection. The copyright on this image is owned by Humphrey Bolton and is licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cockermouth_Castle.jpg
Lord Egremont was possibly in residence at the time, since the Coplands visited in the month of August.
George Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Wyndham,_3rd_Earl_of_Egremont
Until the beginning of the 19th century the castle was rarely visited by its owners. In 1802-5 Lord Egremont decided to live at the castle every July and August, and built some residential rooms along the north wall of the outer bailey and a stable block along the south wall. https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1013333
Wigton is an ancient settlement and evolved from a pre-medieval street plan, which can still be traced today. Although the town's layout is generally anglian or medieval, its architecture is mainly in the 18th century Georgian style which remains largely intact.
Below: Opposite the elaborate 19th Century fountain erected in 1872 by George Moore of Whitehall in Mealsgate (in memory of his wife) and to the right of the picture is the Kings Arms which Lucy heralded as “excellent”
2005: The Monument, Wigton, by Nigel Monckton. This image was taken from the Geograph project collection. The copyright on this image is owned by Nigel Monckton and is licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Monument,_Wigton_-_geograph.org.uk_-_60406.jpg
Melvyn Bragg, writer and broadcaster, was born and lived his early life in the town and, when raised to the peerage, took Lord Bragg of Wigton as his title. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wigton
St Mary’s Church dates from 1788, and is based on the design of St Michael’s Church Workington. It replaces an earlier Church, which incorporated a Pele Tower added in 1330 to a church built in 1100. https://www.visitcumbria.com/wc/wigton-st-marys-church/
Kings Arms: Listed building alongside 5 Market Place – It was boarded up at the time of the photograph below.-
2008: Kings Arms Hotel, Wigton by Alexander P Kapp. This image was taken from the Geograph project collection. The copyright on this image is owned by Alexander P Kapp and is licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kings_Arms_Hotel,_Wigton_-_geograph.org.uk_-_806983.jpg
Can you help us?
Old Regency Prints, Pictures an Coaching maps: Do you have access to any prints or pictures showing what town and country would have looked like when Lucy travelled through? Any illustrations of what she would have seen in 1819 will enliven our research.
New Pictures: Do you have any modern pictures of the streets, buildings, gardens and views that would enable us to see the changes that two centuries have wrought?