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The history of Cumbria as a county of England begins with the Local Government Act 1972. Its territory and constituent parts however have a long history under various other administrative and historic units of governance.
Cumbria was created in 1974 from the historic counties of Cumberland and Westmorland, the Furness area of Lancashire, and a small part of Yorkshire. The interior of Cumbria contains large upland areas.
- Early Medieval Cumbria, 410–1066
- High Medieval Cumbria, 1066–1272
- Later Medieval Cumbria, 1272–1485
- Life in Medieval Cumbria
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After the Romans: warring tribes and the Kingdom of Rheged, c. 410–600
By the official Roman break with Britanniain 410, most of the parts of Britain which had been formerly occupied by them were already effectively independent of the empire. In Cumbria, the Roman presence had been almost entirely military rather than civil, and the withdrawal is unlikely to have caused much change. Many of the Roman forts may have continued in use as places of local government and habitation; there is evidence suggesting that Birdoswald was inhabited until at least the 6th cent...
The Angles: Northumbrian takeover and rule, c. 600–875
The 7th century saw the rise to power of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria (just as the 8th saw the rise of Mercia, and the 9th that of Wessex). The Northumbrian kingdom was based on the expansionist power of Bernicia, which, by 604, had taken over their neighbouring kingdom of Deira, along with other kingdoms of the Old North such as Rheged, although the dating of the takeover, and the extent of the Anglo-Saxon settlement that followed, are a matter of contention amongst historians.Docu...
Vikings, Strathclyde Brythons, Scots, English and 'Cumbria', 875–1066
Vikings were of three types of Scandinavians: Swedes, whose expeditions were mainly eastwards to places such as Russia; Norwegians (Norse), who concentrated on the western seaboard of what is now Scotland, on Ireland, on the Irish Sea coasts including the Dublin area, on the Isle of Man, and on what is now Cumbria; and thirdly, Danes, who were more interested in eastern England and the north-east (including the Northumbrian kingdom), and what is now Yorkshire. The activities of the Vikings in...
Norman Cumbria: William I, William 'Rufus', Henry I, and David I, 1066–1153
The Norman takeover of the Cumbria region took place in two phases: the southern district, covering what were to become the baronies of Millom, Furness, Kendale and Lonsdale, were taken over in 1066 (see below under "Domesday"); the northern sector (the "land of Carlisle") was taken over in 1092 by William Rufus.
The Scottish wars led to a hardening of the border-line as Anglo-Scottish nobles took sides with or against the English. Cross-border co-operation turned into cross-border warfare. The weakness of the English Crown's authority over the border region led to the rise of semi-independent border families, such as the Percies, the Nevilles, the Dacres a...
In general, the Cumbria region in medieval times was seen to be "poor and remote", as well as being suspect as regards the people's loyalty to the central government in the south. Neglect by the government was counterbalanced by watchfulness due to the region's proximity to Scotland and because it was effectively a war-zone from the 13th century on...
Bailey, Richard N. (1980). Viking age sculpture in Northern England. Collins archaeology. London: Collins. pp. xx, 21–288. ISBN 978-0002162289.Bailey, Richard N. (1985). "Aspects of Viking-age sculpture in Cumbria". In Baldwin, J.R; Whyte, I. D. (eds.). The Scandinavians in Cumbria. Edinburgh: Scottish Society for Northern Studies. pp. vi...Barrow, G.W.S. (1999). "King David I, Earl Henry and Cumbria". Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society. 2. 99: 118–127.Blair, Peter Hunter (1956). An introduction to Anglo-Saxon England. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. xvi, 371. ISBN 978-0521091046.The county of Cumbria is formed from the older counties of Cumberland, Westmorland, and parts of North Lancashire, and North Yorkshire. It contains The Lake District National Park, the largest national park in Britain, established in 1951 and covering 2,292 sq km (885 sq mi).
3 days ago · Cumbria, England. The county extends along the Irish Sea coast from Morecambe Bay to Solway Firth. It includes the famous scenic Lake District, where a deeply dissected dome of ancient volcanic and slate rocks forms a landscape of mountain peaks (the Cumbrian Mountains) and lake-filled valleys.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
In the 7th century the kingdom of Northumbria conquered the area, then known as Cumbria, whose people were Celtic-speaking Britons. The name Cumbria, like Cambria, is a Latinized version of the Welsh Cymry or Cymru (now applied exclusively to Wales).
Cumbria’s history is characterised by invasions, migration, and settlement, as well as battles and skirmishes between the English and Scottish, as is evident by the many castles and pele towers throughout the county.
