Cumbria County History Trust: Your Online Resource for the History of Cumbria
TRAGIC NEWS: SIR ROLAND JACKSON, CHAIR OF CCHT
It is with immense sadness that we announce the sudden passing of our valued and respected Chair, Sir Roland Jackson. Roland passed away on Saturday, 10th January, whilst climbing a snow gully on Helvellyn.
Despite the concerted efforts of the rescue teams and medical professionals at the scene, Roland tragically could not be revived.
The Trust extends its deepest and most sincere sympathy to Roland’s wife, Lady Nicola, and to his family at this devastating time. Roland was a dedicated leader and a friend to many; he will be greatly missed by all of us at CCHT.
We wish to express our profound gratitude to the Keswick Mountain Rescue Team and Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team and the emergency services, for the dedicated care, professionalism, and dignity they showed to both Nicola and Roland during the recovery.
Details regarding funeral arrangements will be announced once they have been finalised.
Messages of Condolence Messages of condolence may be sent to cchistorytrust@gmail.com , which will be shared with the family in due course.
This site contains a page for every one of the 348 parishes and townships within Cumbria. You can access the place you are interested in via our Interactive Map. But there's much more to the county than that - scroll down this page to see one of more than 100 Interesting Facts we have posted to the site - or click here to find out more about different aspects of the history of the county: or here to look at some of the old maps, old prints and other images in our Gallery
If you would like to help our work with a donation, there's a Donate button, below. Or go to our Support Us page to learn more about Membership or becoming a Friend of CCHT, or a Volunteer
NEW! "The Farming Year". Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the link for an eye-witness account of farming in the current month in the late 18th Century.
VCH NEWS Our long awaited first Red Book, Lonsdale Ward, was published in August 2025, the first instalment in the Victoria County History of Westmorland, covering the 13 townships of Lonsdale Ward. You can purchase a copy here: Victoria County History of Westmorland I - Boydell and Brewer
The Cumbria County History Trust (CCHT) was set up in May 2010 with the aim of producing a permanent, detailed record of the history of Cumbria, as part of the Victoria County History project, founded in 1899, which aims to write the definitive history of every place in every county in England. Learn more about VCH Cumbria here.
From the start, our work has been co-ordinated and overseen by Lancaster University's Regional Heritage Centre, and has been supported by generous grants from the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society
This site contains more than 7000 pages! If you would like to learn more about how to navigate this wesbite and all that it has to offer, you can download this powerpoint presentation. It contains slides showing each page and how to move through them. You might like to use it to demonstrate available online resources to your local history group.
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The Farming Year
What was like on a Cumbrian farm in the late 18th century?
"The frost got into the houses. Froze the piss in the pots under the beds" 12 Jan 1780
Kirkby Stephen Church contains a 10th century carved stone block depicting the Norse God Loki, often referred to as The Bound Devil.
