Cockermouth Heritage
2.1 THE SITE
2.1.1 The site of the works was approximately 100m north of the medieval church at Bridekirk (Figs 1 and 2). The village of Bridekirk lies to the north-west of Cockermouth and its location provides access to both the Lake District to the south and the Solway Plain to the north.
2.2 GEOLOGY AND SOILS
2.2.1 The underlying solid geology of the area around Bridekirk is composed of Kirkstile slates, which, as part of the Skiddaw group, are the oldest rocks exposed in the Cumbrian Mountains (Jackson 1978, 79). The Kirkstile slates are blue-grey striped, silty mudstones (ibid). The soils are from the Brickfield 3 Association, which are essentially clays (ibid).
2.3 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
2.3.1 Prehistoric period: little is known of the prehistoric period in the immediate vicinity of Bridekirk, more a reflection of the lack of organised systematic fieldwork in the area rather than any’reallack of archaeology. A late Neolithic early Bronze Age stone circle is known nearby at Elva Plain (Rollinson 1967, 16 -NGR NY 176 318) and a Bronze Age collared urn has been recovered from Papcastle (op cit, 22). This suggests burial activity in the area but this has not been formally defined.
2.3.2 By the Iron Age, the area seems to have been part of a tribal landholding, probably under the aegis of the Brigantes who dominated much of the north (Salway 1993, 36, 126; Cunliffe 1991). This tribal unit by the Roman period was known as the Carvetii (Higham and Jones 1985). There are no sites known in the Bridekirk area that can be definitely attributed to this period. As before, this is probably more of a reflection of the problem throughout the north west in identifying a distinct ‘Iron Age’ culture rather than any real lack of activity.
2.3.3 Roman period: the Roman occupation in the north west is known to have been occurring in earnest during the AD 70s (Shotter 1997, 12). By the end of the first century AD a defended frontier known as the ‘Stanegate’ had been established between the Tyne-Solway isthmus. In the early part of the second century this frontier was further developed as a continuous barrier by the Emperor Hadrian and a series of forts, road networks and other settlements became established in its hinterland.
2.3.4 By the end of the first century, a fort had been established at Papcastle, close to the development site. The site was presumably located for strategic reasons, being on a hill above the fertile surrounding land, close to a fording point on the River Derwent and with connections to various other forts in the area, such as Old Carlisle, Maryport, Moresby and Brougham, which formed an integral part of the Roman control network in the region (Quartermaine et al forthcoming) .
2.3.5 Early medieval period: the date of the removal of the garrison from Roman Papcastle is uncertain and little is known of the area in the post-Roman period. Evidence of early medieval activity in the area is, however, known in the form of church sites with pre-Norman sculpture, such as those at Bridekirk, Brigham and Isel (Bailey and Cramp 1988).
2.3.6 Medieval period: the church was dedicated ·to St. Bridget or Bride, and has given name to the village. The original structure was of Saxon origin and contains an elaborately carved stone font of ambigious antiquity. The church and manor of Bridekirk had been given by Waldeof, the first lord of Allerdale, to the monastery of Guisborough in north Yorkshire (Bulmer 1901, 675).
2.3.7 Antiquarian sources suggest that Papcastle was the centre of pre-Norman lordship for the area until the end of the eleventh century (Nicholson and Bum 1777, 69) but administrative power was subsequently moved to Cockermouth (Winchester 1986), a Norman plantation, established to encourage urban and market functions in the region.
2.3.8 Post-medieval period: following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, during Henry VIII’s reign, the manor of Bridekirk was granted to the Tolson family, who held it until the eighteenth century (Bulmer 1901). In 1801 the population of the village was 94, the vast majority involved in local agriculture (Whellan 1860, 286) in 1901 the population had fallen to 75, with agriculture still forming the only local industry. The medieval church was largely rebuilt in 1870 (Bulmer 1901, 676).
United Utilities © OA North: June 2001
Text taken from The Lake Counties Edited by Arthur Mee 1937. Please write your own observations and descriptions of the villages in present times and email to the editor of this website.