Egremont in 1837

Egremont is a neat little town five miles from Whitehaven, and about two miles from the sea. It is said to have been an ancient borough, which was disfranchised at its own petition to avoid the expense of representation in parliament. The manufactories are of check, linen, paper, leather, and sail-cloth. There are a parish church, Methodist meeting-house, a national school, and a poor-house. Saturday is the market-day. Parish population in 1831, 1,741, which is the same number as returned by the census of 1821. It is from this place that the earl of Egremont takes his title. On the west side of the town are the ruins of an old castle, supposed to be coeval with the entry of the Normans into Britain. In the parish are some productive iron-mines. The seats of Gill-foot and Hale-hall are near to the town. Calder-abbey and Ponsonby-hall are at a short distance.

Old Towns is a resource of 19th century English historical data, extracted and digitized from articles written between 1833 and 1848 which were originally published in 'The Penny Magazine' by The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.