Bewcastle is a large civil parish

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

 in the City of Carlisle

City of Carlisle

The City of Carlisle is a local government district of Cumbria, England, with the status of a city and non-metropolitan district. It is named after its largest settlement, Carlisle, but covers a far larger area which includes the towns of Brampton and Longtown, as well as outlying villages...

 district of 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...

.

According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 411. The parish is large and includes the settlements of Roadhead, Shopford, Blackpool Gate

Blackpool Gate

Blackpool Gate is a settlement in the civil parish of Bewcastle, which is in the district of the City of Carlisle in the county of Cumbria, England.Blackpool Gate lies some five miles south of the border with Scotland and has existed since Roman occupation....

, Roughsike and The Flatt. To the north the parish extends to the border with Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. As well as Bewcastle Castle this border area includes Askerton Castle

Askerton Castle

-History:Askerton Castle was built in the village of Askerton in Cumbria around 1300. Originally the castle was an unfortified manor, but in the late-15th century William Dacre to build two crenellated towers on either end of the hall range, probably with the aim of increasing the living space in...

.
The local churchyard contains the famous 7th Century Bewcastle Cross

Bewcastle Cross

The Bewcastle Cross is an Anglo-Saxon high cross still in its original position in the churchyard of Bewcastle, near Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The cross probably dates from the 7th or early 8th century and features reliefs and inscriptions in the runic alphabet...

. The sundial on its surface is the oldest in Britain , divided into the four 'tides' which governed the working day in medieval times. A perfect copy of the whole cross is located in the churchyard of the Wreay Romanesque

Romanesque architecture

Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...

 Church near Carlisle.

The area is also known for its unusual hexagonal Roman fort

Bewcastle Roman Fort

Bewcastle Roman Fort was a Roman fort, built to the north of Hadrian's Wall as an outpost fort and intended for scouting and intelligence. The Roman name for the fort was Fanum Cocidi , and means 'The Shrine of Cocidius', a deity worshipped in northern Britain...

, which has been identified as Fanum Cocidi.

The origin of the name Bewcastle can be traced accurately from its spelling in ancient documents. These show that it was originally "bothy/booth caster", which translates as "the roman fort where there were bothies or shielings". Antiquarians, who did not have our access to well-catalogued and studied ancient documents, leapt at the chance to link the place name with a semi-mythological figure named Bueth, due to his romantic links with the prestigious Barony of Gilsland. Unfortunately, Bewcastle is outside the Barony, and the well-respected book "Place-names of Cumberland" states that it is impossible for Bewcastle to be named after Bueth.

Two brothers born in Bewcastle, Joseph Armstrong

Joseph Armstrong (engineer)

Joseph Armstrong was a British locomotive engineer and the second locomotive superintendent of the Great Western Railway...

 (1816–1877) and George Armstrong

George Armstrong (engineer)

George Armstrong was in charge of standard gauge steam locomotives for the Great Western Railway at Stafford Road Works, Wolverhampton from 1864 to 1897...

 (1822–1901), became steam locomotive engineers; their careers were spent mainly on the Great Western Railway

Great Western Railway

The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...

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External links

• Bewcastle website, description, history, Bewcastle Cross, what's on
• Brief description
• The Cumbria Directory - Bewcastle
• GENUKI page
• Derivation of place-name
• FANVM COCIDI Roman Fort

Village