Mawbray

The name "Mawbray" is believed to be derived from Latin, meaning "a maiden's castle or fort". This would be consistent with Roman mile-forts known to exist nearby on the coast, especially in the Maryport area.{{Cite web |title=Mawbray |url=http://www.visitcumbria.com/wc/mawbray.htm |access-date=27 October 2013 |publisher=Visit Cumbria}} A Roman fortlet, known as Milefortlet 16, has been located at the west end of the village.[http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=9069 MILEFORTLET 16], Pastscape, retrieved 26 November 2013 Alternatively, the early forms of the first element seem to be from Old English mæge, later replaced by Maw from the variant māge. The second element is burh, which means a "fortified place, town, or manor house", and the name means "the maidens' stronghold", or, "maidens' castle".{{Cite book |last1=Armstrong |first1=A. M. |title=The place-names of Cumberland |last2=Mawer |first2=A. |last3=Stenton |first3=F. M. |last4=Dickens |first4=B. |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1950 |series=English Place-Name Society, vol.xxi |volume=Part 2 |location=Cambridge |page=296}} The early form of the name was Mayburgh, and additional variants include Mayburg, Mawbrey, Malbrough, and Malbrew. Some variants, such as Olde Malbraw and Old Mawbery add an "Old" prefix, to distinguish the village from "New Mawbray", two miles to the north, today known as Newtown.

This part of the west Cumbrian coastline has a very long history. The area that today forms Mawbray would have been uninhabitable by humans until around 11,000 BC, as it was covered in ice sheets from the last ice age. Archaeological evidence from Mawbray and the surrounding area shows clear evidence of human activity and habitation as early as 4000 BC, as a ditched enclosure with large post-holes in an 'annexe' was excavated at nearby Plasketlands, as has been identified as being from the early Neolithic period. The archaeologist in charge of the expedition, R. H. Bewley, called the find their "best evidence for permanent settlement" on the Solway Plain.Bewley, R.H. (1993). "Survey and excavation at a crop-mark enclosure, Plasketlands, Cumbria". Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society. 2 93: 1–18, quoted by Barrowclough, p.80. {{Doi|10.5284/1061526}} On the Moss at nearby Salta, a Bronze Age rapier (a kind of sword) was discovered in the 1980s, and is believed to have been crafted as early as 1100 BC, providing further evidence of pre-Roman occupation.

During the Roman period, this part of the Cumbrian coastline was fortified, as coastal defences were constructed beyond the western end of Hadrian's Wall to protect against incursions across the Solway Firth. Milefortlets 14, 15, 16, and 17 are all located nearby, with milefortlet 16 being the closest. However, centuries of coastal erosion have taken their toll, and today, only the rear eastern rampart of milefortlet 16 survives.{{Cite web |title=Pastscape – Milefortlet 16 |url=http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=9069 |access-date=29 December 2014}}

By the 1820s, the nearby "Roman camp" – which is assumed to refer to either milefortlet 16 or one of its associated towers – had fallen into a state of disrepair. The vallum had been defaced, and the site of the camp was used for growing corn. However, it was noted that "some of the old inhabitants remember part of the wall standing." By inference, the last remaining part of the Roman wall at Mawbray had collapsed or been removed during the latter part of the 18th century – over 1,600 years after it was built. An inscribed stone was also discovered in the Roman camp near Mawbray, and historians in the 19th century believed that the stone showed that it was likely that Roman soldiers from Hispania built the wall or edifice which contained it.{{Cite book |last=Parson & White |title=History, directory and gazetteer of Cumberland & Westmorland with Furness and Cartmel |publisher=Michael Moon |year=1976 |isbn=0-904131-12-2 |pages=341–342 |orig-year=1821}} However, given the term "Pannon" used in the inscription, recent analysis suggests that it is more likely that soldiers from Pannonia – modern-day Hungary – were responsible for the Mawbray stone.{{Cite web |title=Images of Cumbria – Holme Abbey parish |url=http://www.stevebulman.f9.co.uk/cumbria/abbeyholme_f.html |access-date=5 September 2015}}

The following is the text of the inscription discovered on a stone from the Roman camp near to Mawbray:

L. TA. PRAEF. COH. II. PANNON FECIT{{Cite book |last=Parson & White |title=History, directory and gazetteer of Cumberland & Westmorland with Furness and Cartmel |publisher=Michael Moon |year=1976 |isbn=0-904131-12-2 |page=342 |orig-year=1821}}

The threat of raids and attacks from Scots across the sea did not end with the departure of the Romans, however, and as late as the 1550s, Scottish raiders were still attacking Mawbray and the surrounding communities.{{Cite web |title=British History.ac.uk – Records of the Holm under Elizabeth |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/n-westmorland-records/vol7/pp167-176 |access-date=29 December 2014}} A system called the seawake – a night watch along the coast – was instituted, and Mawbray participated along with other coastal communities in the area.{{Cite book |last=Holme St. Cuthbert History Group |title=Plain People: Bygone Times on the Solway Plain |date=2004 |isbn=978-0954882310}} Defence against Scottish raids was also important to the Lord and Steward of Holm Cultram when planning the settlement of New Mawbray, today known as Newtown, in the same period.

The site of the present village had been established by the time Norman surveyors reached the Solway Plain in the 1150s. From the Anglo-Saxon period right up to the twentieth century, the majority of Mawbray's inhabitants are believed to have been fishermen and farmers. Farming and fishing still continue in the village in the present day, with more of the former than the latter, but the inhabitants today are more diverse, including "a journalist, an artist and a television presenter".{{Cite web |title=Mawbray |url=http://www.solwayplain.co.uk/mawbray.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120311202732/http://www.solwayplain.co.uk/mawbray.htm |url-status=usurped |archive-date=11 March 2012 |access-date=27 October 2013 |publisher=Solwayplain.co.uk}}

Mawbray used to have many diverse shops and tradesmen operating in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, but in the present day, these have been lost. Trades such as "bacon and ham curer, shoemaker, blacksmith, joiner and dressmaker" have long since disappeared from the village. However, in 2018 a new cheese company was founded in the village, bringing back a cottage industry that would have existed in the past.{{Cite web |title=Cumbrian cheese company set for relaunch |url=https://www.in-cumbria.com/news/17247582.cumbrian-cheese-company-set-for-relaunch/ |access-date=31 July 2019 |website=In Cumbria|date=11 January 2018 }} The village post office and shop closed in the 1980s. The local pub, The Lowther Arms, has been in existence since 1847.{{Cite web |last=studio |first=TalkTalk web |title=TalkTalk Webspace is closing soon!! |url=http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/hstchg/mawbray.htm |website=myweb.tiscali.co.uk}} Directly opposite the pub is a small children's playground. The current play area was funded by the community and built by local woodworkers around the year 2000.

File:Mawbray fisherman.JPG

File:Lowther Arms, Mawbray - geograph.org.uk - 63958.jpg

Culterham Hall, known locally as the village hall, opened in 1951 and is the centre of activity in Mawbray today. An amateur dramatics group called the Mawbray Entertainers performed their own pantomime every year from 1988 to 2015 during the half-term break in February in Culterham Hall, and the money raised was donated to a range of local and national charities.{{Cite web |last=Mawbray Entertainers – WP |date=2009-07-24 |title=The Group |url=https://mawbrayentertainers.wordpress.com/about/ |access-date=28 February 2015}}{{Cite web |title=Mawbray Entertainers FB |url=https://www.facebook.com/Mawbray.Entertainers |access-date=28 February 2015 |publisher=Mawbray Entertainters}} The village hall also accommodates many other musical events,{{Cite web |title=Chris Aronsten |url=http://www.chrisaronsten.com/gigs.html |access-date=24 July 2012 |publisher=Chris Aronsten}} especially by performers on the Rural Touring Scheme{{Cite web |last=Andy Campbell |date=16 June 2012 |title=Promoting Professional Arts with Rural Communities – Homepage |url=http://www.nrtf.org.uk/nrtf/page.asp?idno=1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040907235445/http://www.nrtf.org.uk/nrtf/page.asp?idno=1 |archive-date=7 September 2004 |access-date=24 July 2012 |publisher=NRTF |df=dmy-all}} throughout the year. In addition to these special events, members of the community run a wide range of clubs and activities at the hall, from sports like Tai Chi and bowls to dog training classes and a weekly children's club. In addition, the hall plays host to craft sales several times a year, including in the run-up to Christmas, where local craftspeople sell a range of items.{{Cite web |title=Log In or Sign Up to View |url=https://www.facebook.com/352423119039/photos/a.10151233207794040.483708.352423119039/10152882190454040/?type=1&theater |website=www.facebook.com}}

Mawbray is served by a local bus service, running every couple of hours between Silloth and Maryport.{{Cite web |title=Archived copy |url=http://www.docs.reays.co.uk/PDF/60ServiceTimetable060514.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141214124646/http://www.docs.reays.co.uk/PDF/60ServiceTimetable060514.pdf |archive-date=14 December 2014 |access-date=2014-12-14 |df=dmy-all}} This service has replaced an earlier bus service which ran between Silloth and Workington. Smaller roads besides the B5300 run northeast towards Abbeytown, and southwest towards Hailforth, Salta, and Dubmill. With the village hall, Mawbray serves as the centre of the community for these outlying settlements. However, Mawbray itself is not home to the local primary school, which is instead located at Holme St Cuthbert, as is the local church.{{Cite web |title=VisitCumbria.com |url=http://www.visitcumbria.com/wc/chw21.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315133931/http://www.visitcumbria.com/wc/chw21.htm |archive-date=15 March 2012 |access-date=24 July 2012 |publisher=VisitCumbria.com}} The Lowther Arms pub closed in May 2018 and reopened in June 2021 after being purchased via a community partnership.{{Cite web |title=Mawbray's Lowther Arms reopens after villagers raise £250,000 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-57612402.amp |access-date=2 July 2021|website=BBC|date=26 June 2021 }}

One of the famous red telephone boxes is located in the village, and it has been converted to hold a defibrillator.{{Cite web |title=January 2017 |url=http://www.holmestcuthbertparish.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Minutes-January-2017.pdf |access-date=28 July 2019 |website=Holme St. Cuthbert parish council minutes}} Mawbray also retains a post box, and in the village hall there is a preserved example of a Victorian-era post box (though it is no longer in use).{{Cite web |date=2011-03-05 |title=A photo of the Victorian post box inside Culterham Hall |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/allybeag/5503920179/ |access-date=15 February 2015}}

Mawbray is part of the Penrith and Solway constituency of the UK Parliament.

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

Regarding its Parish Council, Mawbray is part of Holme St Cuthbert Parish Council.{{Cite web |title=Holme St Cuthbert Parish Council |url=http://www.holmestcuthbertparish.com/}}

Mawbray, like the rest of Cumbria, has an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb), with warm summers and cool winters which generally avoid extremes of temperature. Compared with the mountainous Lake District and the southern part of the county, Mawbray, as is the case with the rest of the Solway Plain, tends to have milder winters with snowfall being relatively uncommon thanks to its coastal location. Rainfall is heavier in the autumn and winter months, but still occurs during spring and summer.

Extremes of weather are almost unheard of; even during the 2009 Cumbria floods, Mawbray escaped unscathed. The biggest weather-related dangers come from the sea and predominantly effect Mawbray Yard rather than the main village. Thunderstorms accompanied by high winds can whip up large waves which risk flooding outlying houses nearer to the beach, and as this part of the beach lacks any serious coastal defences, a storm surge or even an unusually high tide has the potential to cause flooding.

{{Weather box

|location=Mawbray

|metric first=Yes

|single line=Yes

|Jan high C = 7

|Feb high C = 7

|Mar high C = 9

|Apr high C = 12

|May high C = 15

|Jun high C = 17

|Jul high C = 19

|Aug high C = 19

|Sep high C = 17

|Oct high C = 13

|Nov high C = 9

|Dec high C = 6

|year high C = 12.5

|Jan low C= 2

|Feb low C= 2

|Mar low C= 3

|Apr low C= 4

|May low C= 7

|Jun low C= 9

|Jul low C= 12

|Aug low C= 12

|Sep low C= 9

|Oct low C= 7

|Nov low C= 4

|Dec low C= 2

|year low C= 6

|Jan precipitation mm=93.6

|Feb precipitation mm=105.1

|Mar precipitation mm=72.0

|Apr precipitation mm=63.5

|May precipitation mm=60.1

|Jun precipitation mm=70.3

|Jul precipitation mm=58.4

|Aug precipitation mm=76.2

|Sep precipitation mm=73.4

|Oct precipitation mm=109.4

|Nov precipitation mm=93.2

|Dec precipitation mm=102.5

|year precipitation mm=977.7

|source 1=World Weather Online[http://www.worldweatheronline.com/Mawbray-weather-averages/Cumbria/GB.aspx], World Weather Online, retrieved 1 December 2014;

}}

The following grid shows Mawbray's location in relation to other nearby places:

{{NSEW|Beckfoot|Salta|Holme St. Cuthbert|Solway Firth|Solway Firth|Newtown|Hailforth|Edderside|}}

{{portal|Cumbria}}

• Listed buildings in Holme St Cuthbert

{{Reflist}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Mawbray}}
• [http://www.cumbriacountyhistory.org.uk/township/holme-st-cuthbert Cumbria County History Trust: Holme St. Cuthbert] (nb: provisional research only – see Talk page)

{{Cumbria}}

{{authority control}}

Category:Villages in Cumbria

Category:Populated coastal places in Cumbria

Category:Holme St Cuthbert