Map 1863 1891 Market Place Pubs Main Street Lanes
Map 1863 1891 Market Place Pubs
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A pub crawl along Market Place in those days would require a visit to: Spread Eagle Inn, Wheat Sheaf Inn, Plough Inn (and Hatters Arms down Market Street), Woolpack Inn, Joiners Arms, Greyhound Inn, Old Hall Inn, Three Tuns Inn, Sun Inn, Red Lion Inn, Crown & Mitre Hotel, George & Dragon Inn, Ship Inn. We must remember that beer was weak and free of bugs, or the correct fermentation would not happen. Also many/most houses did not have running water, mains water came later.
The Red Lion Inn at the junction of Kirkgate St Helens and Market Place became Routledge’s coach garage then the current owner converted the building to house antiques and their sensitivity to the history of the building resulted in them exposing part of the ceiling to show the cruik beam construction, a notable architectural feature of the area.
In Brewery Lane is Spread Eagle Inn with the footpath going through it (!) Beside the Old Brewery is Vinegar Hill, why was it so named? Those of us who garden may use vinegar to preserve various veg, and of course vinegar preserves chutneys, the use of sugar to preserve fruit was expensive in 1863, so was this area used in the production of vinegar for preservation of food?
At the bottom left of the picture above is the Hat Manufactury where 4000 hats per week were manufactured, owned by Thomas Wilson who built Grecian Villa for his own home.
To the right of the Hat Manufactury is Market Street, today a pedestrian walkway, and the buildings marked as Woolpack Inn to Joiners Arms were demolished and a new roadway put in to the Town Hall car park that was made by further demolition of buildings shown on this map.
Above the T of Market Place is Bank which is the site of the first bank to be built in Cockermouth, the Carlisle and … Bank. Note the front part of the properties still exist but most of the rear extensions have been demolished. The Castle Bar that was the Ship Inn has retained a lot of the rear buildings and even the remains of the spiral staircase and the top floor has a sensitively preserved and renovated top room.
On the right of the map the Bitter Beck flows under all buildings, and currently flows from Kirkgate Centre under the car park to exit into the Cocker. The bottom right of the map is where the Kirkgate Centre is located.
Map 1863 1891 Cocker Derwent Castle Brewery Tannery Weir Sluice
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Below Cockermouth Castle Bell Tower is a building marked Retreat, with a formal garden, but who retreated into it … please contribute information? The lower Castle walls by the Derwent are shown, they were not high, and trees grew on the slopes to the defensive walls above, the lower wall was later demolished in floods. The arrow mark of the Ordnance Survey height mark points at the Castle’s Washerwoman Cottage, seen in photos from the other side of the Derwent from the Weir Sluice which today has an explanatory photo and text nearby. There is no bridge over the Cocker at this time.
Where the castle embankment comes to the bank of the Derwent, there is a building shown, there is a photo of this building from the other side of the Derwent showing a lady hanging washing for the castle. Opposite this washer woman’s building on the other bank is the sluice gate and weir for the mill race that powered Gote Mills, the sluice gate would be opened if there was too much flow to the mills.
Note the blue shaded tannery pits of Castle Tannery by the Derwent, and the Cocker. The effluent would be poured into the rivers. Bitter Beck used to be known as “Skitter Beck” because of the tanneries and rubbish and effluent in it. Have a strong stomach if you research the things that were put into the pits to soak the animal hides to soften them for our shoes and coats and straps and tools before man-made fabrics.
On the zoomable map: https://maps.nls.uk/view/229913826 far left of the map is a building Drying Shed with seven lines below. These were the tenter hooks that the linen was hooked onto for it to dry. From which we get the saying “hanging on tenterhooks”
On the right of the zoomable map: https://maps.nls.uk/view/229913826 the road is named Castlegate Park Lane. This named road goes up what we now name Castlegate but in the late 1940s it was renamed Isel Road so that it was not confused with Parkside Avenue.
Map 1863 1891 Main Street Court House Constabulary Horse Harness Inn
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Beside Cocker Bridge is the Court House, but note that the Constabulary Station is behind the Court House and only accessible down a narrow passage between the Horse & Harness Inn and what is now the Art Shop. The Horse & Harness was demolished to make way for the new Police Station which allowed the gable end of the adjacent building to have the painted advert on the wall for Fletchers Fearless Clothing.
Map 1863 1891 Main Street High Sand Lane Waterloo Street
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In High Sand Lane in this 1863 map is the Methodist Chapel (Primitive) Sittings for 250 including 240 free which became known as the Victoria Hall and is now The Vicky shared workspace. In 1851, the Primitive Methodists Society in Cockermouth bought the High Sand Lane Chapel from the Wesleyans; a slightly vernaculous entry in the Trust account book of the Wesleyan society shows the sum of £95 being received from the sale of the old Chapel to “The Ranters.” Source: “Watchers of a Beacon” the story of the Keswick and Cockermouth Methodist Circuit 1854 – 1954 by Ernest W Griffin.
Kings Arms Inn became Luchinis Ice Cream parlour with manufacturing in the adjacent Kings Arms Lane but Luchini moved, John Cusack started his travel business in the building and renovated and developed the Kings Arms Lane shopping area with its excellent history wall about Cockermouth.
The left edge of this map shows Anderson’s Lane. To see this, to the left of the Toy Shop are double barn doors, a cobbled passage that at one time would have horses, and leads to the cobbled courtyard where Aspava restaurant used to be. On the left of the courtyard are stone steps, which, if ascended, gives a view of one of the narrow lanes with a row of houses that remain, eg Anderson’s Lane.
References & Sources:
1863 Cockermouth – Cumberland LIV.4.18 Surveyed: 1863, Published: 1866. Reprinted: 1891
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Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland visit https://maps.nls.uk/
