Westmorland
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Westmorland (formerly also spelt Westmoreland, an even older spelling is Westmerland) is an area of north west England and one of the 39 historic counties of England. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 and now forms part of Cumbria.
[edit] Early history
At the time of the Domesday Book in 1086 the county was considered to form part of Yorkshire. The historic county boundaries are with Cumberland to the north, County Durham and Yorkshire to the east, and Lancashire to the south and west.
The highest point of the county is Helvellyn at 950m (3,117 ft). According to the 1831 census it covers an area of 485,990 acres. [1]
Appleby, the historic county town, formed a historic borough.
According to the 1971 census, Westmorland was the second least populated administrative county in England, after Rutland. The distribution of population was as follows: [2]
| District | Population |
|---|---|
| Municipal Borough of Appleby | 1,944 |
| Municipal Borough of Kendal | 21,602 |
| Lakes Urban District | 5,815 |
| Windermere Urban District | 8,065 |
| North Westmorland Rural District | 14,778 |
| South Westmorland Rural District | 20,633 |
In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, the county was abolished and its former area was combined with Cumberland and parts of Lancashire and Yorkshire to form the new county of Cumbria. The former county now forms part of the districts of South Lakeland and Eden.
[edit] References
- ↑ 1831 Census cited in Vision of Britain - Ancient county data
- ↑ 1971 Census; Small Area Statistics
