Wigton
Wigton maps (2 available)
Map of Cumbria
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
Personalised maps
Create an historic map centred directly on any postcode!
Wigton books (7 available)
Kendal - A History and Celebration
Hardback
So You Think You Know? Kendal
Hardback
Penrith Photographic Memories
Hardback
Wigton memories
Read and share memories of Wigton and Cumbria inspired by Frith photos
wigton boy
I was born in wigton in 1951. We lived at 19 Brackenlands, a friendly housing estate where everyone knew everyone. My early years were spent at Saint Cuthberts school and at the age of eleven attended the secondary modern or affectionately called the whitewashed cow shed. The school has been replaced by houses now. On leaving school I went to work for Ike Wilkinson as an apprentice carpenter on Market Hill the business having been bought from Jack Hutton. I later went to work at Banks Woodyard on station hill opposite the railway station. On leaving there I went into the merchant navy. My mother still lives in Wigton at The Crofts. I can still remember collecting rose hips, brambles and ...read more here
Contributed by richard robinson
Early years!
I lived in Wigton for the first 8 years of my life, so 1955 is a mid point!
I have happy memories of the town. We lived in West Avenue when it was known as 'the avenue' - an unmade up road and for years I thought that if a road was called 'avenue' it was full of puddles when it rained and dry mud when it didn't. We played on that avenue all the time - 'dens', climbing trees, hooa hoop! I remember being bitten by a dog on my way to Sunday School when I was about 4 - just missed my eye! I remember a dentist opposite the church I think, where the smell of gas was always ...read more here
Contributed by Kath Panes
Cumbria memories
wigton boy
I was born in wigton in 1951. We lived at 19 Brackenlands, a friendly housing estate where everyone knew everyone. My early years were spent at Saint Cuthberts school and at the age of eleven attended the secondary modern or affectionately called the whitewashed cow shed. The school has been replaced by houses now. On leaving school I went to work for Ike Wilkinson as an apprentice carpenter on Market Hill the business having been bought from Jack Hutton. I later went to work at Banks Woodyard on station hill opposite the railway station. On leaving there I went into the merchant navy. My mother still lives in Wigton at The Crofts. I can still remember collecting rose hips, brambles and ...read more here
A memory of Wigton contributed by richard robinson
Early years!
I lived in Wigton for the first 8 years of my life, so 1955 is a mid point!
I have happy memories of the town. We lived in West Avenue when it was known as 'the avenue' - an unmade up road and for years I thought that if a road was called 'avenue' it was full of puddles when it rained and dry mud when it didn't. We played on that avenue all the time - 'dens', climbing trees, hooa hoop! I remember being bitten by a dog on my way to Sunday School when I was about 4 - just missed my eye! I remember a dentist opposite the church I think, where the smell of gas was always ...read more here
A memory of Wigton contributed by Kath Panes
Extracts From Wigton & Cumbria books
The union flags are out: perhaps the local people were celebrating the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth. The scene
has not changed much today, other than the inevitable increase in the volume of traffic through this delightful
Cumbrian market town.
An extract from from"Cumbria Photographic Memories".
The fountain in the centre of Wigton’s Square or Market Place has a pyramidal cross-topped spire, and depicted on
its four sides are the four Acts of Mercy. Wigton is a pleasant market town with much good Georgian architecture,
lying in the broad fertile Solway Plain.
An extract from from"Cumbria Photographic Memories".
Here a group of visitors pause to admire the view from Purse Point across the lake towards Glenridding. Ullswater, or
‘Ulph’s-water’, takes its name from the Viking settler Lyulph, whose name was popularised in the 18th century when the
Duke of Norfolk, then owner of Greystoke Castle, built the folly called Lyulph’s Tower on the north side of the lake.
An extract from from"Penrith Photographic Memories".
Penruddock is a small village on the edge of the Lake District
National Park, about five miles west of Penrith. Its name is
thought to be Celtic in origin. The slightly raised location affords
fine views of the Lake District hills to the west and south. The
view is of the east end of the village, looking towards Saddleback.
Modern buildings have since replaced some shown here.
An extract from from"Penrith Photographic Memories".
About half a mile south of the village of Blencow is the house
known as Ennim Bank. The name derives from ‘innam’, meaning
a piece of land which was enclosed or taken in. It is thought to
have been the original residence of the Blencow family before
they moved to Blencow Hall. In the mid 19th century George
Troutbeck greatly improved the mansion and ornamented it with
‘plantations’. More recently it was the home of Viscount William
Whitelaw of Penrith until his death in 1999.
An extract from from"Penrith Photographic Memories".