In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Holme Abbey like this:
ABBEY-HOLME, or Abbey-Town, a township and a subdistrict in Wigton district, Cumberland. The township is in the parish of Holme-Cultram; and lies on the river Waver, and on the Carlisle and Silloth railway, near the head of Morecambe bay, 6 miles WNW of Wig ton. It has a station of the name of Abbey on the rail way, and a post office‡ of the name of Abbey-Town under Carlisle. ...
It was formerly a market town; and it still has a fair on 29 Oct. A Cistertian Abbey was founded here, in the 12th century, by Henry I.; and rose to such consequence that its abbots were frequently summoned to sit in parliament, in the reigns of Edward I. and II. It was demolished by Robert Bruce, but afterwards splendidly rebuilt. It sustained much injury in the time of Henry VIII.; but its church continued in good condition till 1600; but then the steeple fell, and destroyed great part of the chancel; and in 1604, most of the rest was ruined by an accidental fire. Pop. of the township, 982. Houses, 200. A bill was introduced in 1864 to make a railway from the Carlisle and Silloth at Abbey-Holme to the Maryport and Carlisle, in the parish of Wigton, with a branch to Bolton, and branches therefrom to the Maryport and Carlisle, and near Priestcroft.-The subdistrict comprises the greater part of Holme-Cultram, parts of two other parishes, and two entire parishes. Acres, with the rest of Holme-Cultram, 71,720. Pop., 8,024. Houses, 1,621.
Holme Abbey through time
Holme Abbey is now part of Allerdale district. Click here for graphs and data of how Allerdale has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Holme Abbey itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Holme Abbey, in Allerdale and Cumberland | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/4602
Date accessed: 26th April 2024
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