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Bowness-on-Solway

Village in Cumbria, England

Field	Value
country	England
static_image_name	St Michael's Church, Bowness-on-Solway.jpeg
static_image_caption	St. Michael's Church, Bowness-on-Solway
coordinates
official_name	Bowness-on-Solway
population	1,126
population_ref	(2011)
civil_parish	Bowness
unitary_england	Cumberland
lieutenancy_england	Cumbria
region	North West England
constituency_westminster	Penrith and Solway
post_town	WIGTON
postcode_district	CA7
postcode_area	CA
dial_code	01697
os_grid_reference	NY220623
pushpin_map	United Kingdom Allerdale
pushpin_map_caption	Location in Allerdale, Cumbria

Bowness-on-Solway is a village in Cumbria, England, and in the historic county of Cumberland. It is situated to the west of Carlisle on the southern side of the Solway Firth estuary separating England and Scotland. The civil parish had a population of 1,126 at the 2011 census. The western end of Hadrian's Wall is a notable tourist destination, though the Wall itself is no longer to be seen here above ground. The west end start/ finish point of the Hadrian's Wall Path - an 84 mile (135 Km) long National Trail stretching coast to coast across northern England - is marked by a pavilion on the small coastal cliff at Bowness. The village is part of the Solway Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Toponymy

'Bowness' means 'rounded', or 'bow-shaped headland', from either the Old English 'boga', 'bow', and 'næss', or, more probably, the Old Norse 'bogi' and 'nes'.

Roman era

Main article: Mais (Bowness)

The village is situated on the site of the Roman fort called Maia, the second largest on Hadrian's Wall. There was also a small civilian settlement (vicus) outside the south gate of this fort.

Governance

Bowness-on-Solway is part of the parliamentary constituency of Penrith and Solway.

For Local Government purposes it is in the Cumberland unitary authority area.

St Michael's Church

Main article: St Michael's Church, Bowness-on-Solway

The church sits atop what may have been the granary for the Roman fort in the 12th century. The two original bells were stolen by border raiders in 1626, accidentally dropping them in the Solway during their flight. In retaliation, the villagers raided Dornock and Middlebie in Scotland, making off with a new pair of bells. Traditionally, on inception, the vicar of Annan petitions the village's neighbours for the return of his bells.

Solway Viaduct

In 1869, the Solway Junction Railway was opened, connecting the Maryport and Carlisle Railway to the Scottish railway system more directly than the existing route through Carlisle, by a 1.1 mile (2.161 km) iron girder viaduct (the remains of which can still be seen) across the Solway between Bowness-on-Solway and Annan in Scotland. The construction of the viaduct prevented ships entering the upper Solway and hence destroyed the trade of Port Carlisle, which had already been largely supplanted by the construction of a wet dock at Silloth. The viaduct suffered minor frost damage in 1875; in 1881 large sections of it were destroyed by ice floes, but the viaduct was rebuilt. The railway never lived up to its promoters' expectations, and in 1914 it was restricted to carrying goods only. In 1921 the railway was closed entirely, and in 1934 the viaduct was demolished.

Gallery

File:Bowness on Solway main street - geograph.org.uk - 40490.jpg|Bowness main street File:Pavilion at the start and end of the Hadrian's Wall Path at Bowness, Cumberland - geograph-2884530.jpg|Pavilion at the west end of the Hadrian's Wall Path

File:Solway viadust remains 1.jpg|Remains of Solway viaduct - English side 2018 File:Bowness-on-Solway Station (converted) 1868182 c14d22bb.jpg|The station building in 1961

File:Lindow Hall, Bowness on Solway - geograph.org.uk - 86241.jpg|Lindow Hall, Bowness

References

"Parish population 2011".
Armstrong, A. M.. (1950). "The place-names of Cumberland". Cambridge University Press.
[http://www.roman-britain.co.uk/places/bowness/ ''Maia'' at www.Roman-Britain.co.uk]
"Solway Junction Railway - Visit Cumbria".

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

villages-in-cumbria populated-coastal-places-in-cumbria civil-parishes-in-cumbria cumberland-(unitary-authority)

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