Abbeytown, also known as Holme Abbey, is a village in Cumbria

Cumbria

Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It was built around the former Cistercian Holmcultram Abbey

Holmcultram Abbey

Holmcultram Abbey was a Cistercian monastery founded in 1150 in what is now the village of Abbeytown in Cumbria in England but at the time of foundation was in territory in the possession of David I of Scotland, who together with his son, Henry, founded it in 1150...

, the nave of the church of which now serves the parish as St. Mary's Church. On 9 June 2006 the church was set alight in an arson

Arson

Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...

 attack which totally devastated the roof of the building, parts of which had been in situ since it was erected 900 years ago, http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1795423,00.html the building has subsequently been fully restored.

The village is located on the main Wigton

Wigton

Wigton is a small market town and civil parish outside the Lake District, in the administrative county of Cumbria in England, and traditionally in Cumberland. It is the bustling and thriving centre of the Solway Plain, situated between the Caldbeck Fells and the Solway coast...

 to Silloth

Silloth

Silloth is a port town and civil parish in Cumbria, England. It sits on the shoreline of the Solway Firth, west of Carlisle. It has a population of 2,932....

 road and has a small range of local amenities including a pub, post office and two small shops.

The buildings in the village mostly date from either the medieval period, especially those associated with the former abbey, the Victorian era, where much of the village was concerned with the railway line to Silloth or more recently when a large number of houses were built at "Friars Garth".

The village is located on the edge of the Solway Coast area of outstanding natural beauty and the Cumbria Coastal Way

Cumbria Coastal Way

The Cumbria Coastal Way is a long distance footpath allowing users to travel from Cumbria's southern border to just north of the English - Scottish border. It follows some interesting scenery such as the red sandstone cliffs of St...

passes through the village.

Sources and external links

• Holme Cultram Abbey pictures (before and after the fire)
• British History Online: The Register and Records of Holm Cultram: the full text of the cartulary and other records of the abbey.