Westmorland - Modern history, Legacy

Former county of NW England, UK; part of Cumbria since 1974.

The historic county boundaries formed by the 12th Century were with Cumberland to the north, County Durham and Yorkshire to the east, and Lancashire to the south and west.

The baronies were further subdivided into two wards each:

Westmorland East ward - Appleby, Brough, Kirkby Stephen, Orton, Tebay, Troutbeck West ward - Askham, Bampton, Barton, Patterdale, Shap, Yanwath Kendal Kendal ward - Ambleside, Burton-in-Kendal, Grasmere, Grayrigg, Kentmere, Kendal, Windermere Lonsdale ward - Kirkby Lonsdale

Modern history

In 1889, under the Local Government Act 1888, a county council was created for Westmorland, taking functions from the Quarter Sessions. Westmorland did not contain any county boroughs throughout its history so the administrative county, or area under the control of the county council, was coterminous with the geographic county.

Aside from the two municipal boroughs of Kendal and Appleby, the Local Government Act 1894 divided the county into urban districts and rural districts. The distribution of population was as follows:

District	Population
Municipal Borough of Appleby	1,944
Municipal Borough of Kendal	21,602
Lakes Urban District	5,815
Windermere Urban District	8,065
North Westmorland Rural District	14,778
South Westmorland Rural District	20,633

In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, the county was abolished and its former area was combined with Cumberland and parts of Lancashire and Yorkshire to form the new county of Cumbria.

Legacy

Westmorland is still used as a place name by organisations such as the Westmorland Gazette, the Westmorland County Agricultural Society Show and the Westmorland Shopping Centre.

The southern part of the county, the former Barony of Kendal or that part of Westmorland that is part of South Lakeland, is included in the Westmorland and Lonsdale parliamentary constituency.