For the next 400 years this was an important The Story of town and the busiest port in the old county of Cumberland. In Queen Elizabeth I's reign, the bay saw cargo ships of 80 tuns, herring boats Ravenglass and pearl fishers. As sand drifted into the channels, whisky, tobacco, salt and silk were Our Village Heritage Trail is smuggled in here from the Isle of Man. 2.5 kms (1.5 miles) long Accessible to prams and Wheelchairs, it could take an hour - or longer if you wish to linger There are few records of this old port; instead the Over the centuries,stone was robbed from the story of Ravenglass is told by its buildings, Roman fort for building the village. Walls around details like datestones and especially by its Ship House are 900mm thick, made of pebbles, dramatic situation facing the tides twice a day. sandstone and granite, rendered to keep out the weather. Meanwhile the Bath House was left People first traded from here in the Stone Age, standing alone with its Celtic legends of Lyons working flints and axes in the sand dunes. The Garde and King Arthur. Romans built a fort nearby which protected Hadrian's western frontier for 300 years. Their Bath House walls still stand full height almost two millennia after they founded Clanoventa. Later Anglian and Norse settlers left their mark in placenames all around, as this little haven grew with fishing, farming and trade. Soon after the Norman Conquest a parish church and castle were built at nearby Muncaster. The first written record of R'englas was a gift of land for a hospital 800 years ago. Then King John gave a charter in 1208 to Richard de Luci, Earl of Egremont, to hold a weekly market and a Fair here every summer on St James' Day. The buildings which enclosed Main Street up to the present day would have helped to keep animals securely penned in the market place. By 1738 Ravenglass had its own Mayor and Town Crier. Continued prosperity paid for buildings like Pennington House and the nearby Poor House. Although travellers complained about the delay when waiting to cross the fords at low tide, meanwhile they all spent money at the four inns, eight shops, three milliners, a baker, bank, blacksmith, cobbler, ironmonger, joiner, laundry, post office, slaughter house or the surgeon. A tower was built in 1823 to guide ships through the narrow sandspits. Boats came over the shingle bar on the height of the Ravenglass is now a tranquil seaside village. tide and tied up against the mooring posts. When Where the Irt and Mite join the River Esk to flow the tide went out, carts could go onto the beach into the Irish Sea, the old mooring posts and to load their cargo. fish trap are part of its heritage. Find out more as this Trail takes you back 2000 years. After the Stephensons surveyed the main line railway, which opened in 1849, Ravenglass' trade declined. Plans for a new quay or a resort came to nothing. By 1914 Arabella was the last tall ship to bring manure from South America for local farmers. Meanwhile in 1875 the station had become a junction for the narrow gauge railway into Eskdale. Opened to carry iron ore from local mines, this closed before the First World War. Rebuilt by enthusiasts as The Smallest Public Railway in the World, its tiny steam trains now attract visitors from afar. After the car, telephone, mains electricity and water brought modern times into the village, the sea influenced the most recent great changes. After bad floods in 1967 and 1978 the Green was raised against storms; new drains, seawalls and gates were built. As housing developments and a car park covered the old croft lands and Town Field, Main Street became a Conservation Area. Bath House Ravenglass Village Forum was formed as a community group 'to improve the visual, social Leaflet published by Ravenglass Village Forum and economic environment of the village' and Research by Kate Hunter, Carol Stent & Peter van Zeller Text © 2005 'to conserve and make known to the public the Drawings by Val Holmes. Printed by Printexpress. Supported by Copeland Borough Council, Bootle & Seascale Joint Neighbourhood historic and built heritage' of this special place. Forum, Lake District National Park Authority Sustainable Development, Ravenglass Charter Fair and Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway Preservation Society Start at the Village Green Go down the seaward side of Main Street When the tide is in you will see a fine natural harbour, The Green was the site of Gibraltar Row, seven cottages sheltered from most directions of the wind. If the tide is once owned by Philadelphia Bailiff, an ironmonger's out, the reasons for the decline of the port are clear. shop and a smithy demolished after the First World War. Whitburn House & Post Office with Cawood Cottage are among the oldest buildings in the village, made reputedly from masonry robbed from the Roman fort. The gardened area was The Old Buildings, where the original Ravenglass Fair was held until a century ago. Wingrove Cottage dates from the 1790s and became a clog shop. In the 1930s a lean-to formed Pharoah's Garage. Look for the price on the old petrol pump. The Old Reading Room started as a Chapel in 1863, yet by 1898 became a meeting place where the young men played billiards and darts or read in the library. The Millennium Garden was once an open cartway onto the shore, blocked off after severe flooding in 1978. The seats were designed by local children and the pebble mosaic was made by Maggy Howarth. Waterside was a boathouse with a sail loft where villagers enjoyed less sober entertainment when the travelling tinker Pot Tommy came on his annual visit. Heywood House was a bank of the Cumberland Union Banking Co and latterly a hotel annex. The Old Cross outside the cottage of that name had 'four square steps and a pillar which tapered like a cone'. The last stones were removed around 1900. Cambria was the Poor House from c1750 to 1839. Its residents wore a yellow patch on the sleeve with the You can still follow this century-old map. It shows the initials P - for Pauper and M - for Parish of Muncaster. narrow entrances to each end of the old Market Place. Find your way around the Trail by clues in the house Nuts End was tidewashed and derelict in 1900 when names, date stones and features like the old cobbles. bought and extended by William Wilson. He sold antiques, ironmongery and groceries. Behind was a stable and a carriage house for his wagonette and landau . His ten children played in the attic - spot their 'secret' window to watch happenings in the street. Ship House was an inn called The Sloop and latterly Ship Inn. Look for the anchor in the cobbles outside the front door. From the seagates, look left along the east bank of the River Esk. The scar 500m away is the site of the Roman Fort. Return up Main Street on the inland side Continue under the railway bridges The Bay Horse was built in 1764, a coaching inn The main line station dates from its rebuilding by the where travellers changed their horses. Behind here a Furness Railway in 1873. The waiting shelter and joiner made carts and coffins, and a blacksmith shod signal box now form the Railway Museum. the horses and made iron tyres for the wheelwright. Railway Terrace was built in 1881-6 by a local builder Pennington House is a Grade 2 listed building built in when a seaside resort of over 60 villas was being 1764. Victorian children were frightened by stories of a planned for development by the Furness Railway. house haunted by murdered serving maid Mary Bragg and an attic door which refused to stay closed. The Engine Shed dates from the opening of the Eskdale line in 1875. The 3ft gauge track and locos The Old Post Office was here from the days of the were bigger than those which run today. mailcoaches up to the latest telephone exchange. Beyond the first archway was The Old Bakery. Wells Cottages were estate houses built by Muncaster Castle in their Arts and Crafts style. Clifton Terrace was rebuilt by the Muncaster Estate in sandstone and granite in 1894. Town or Back Lane Walls Drive was formerly Croftshead Lane, marking under the next arch led to a row of twelve small cottages. the edge of the stripfields belonging to the small farms in Ravenglass Main Street. No 1 Clifton Terrace with its heart-shaped stone is the oldest dated house in the village, once an inn called Walls Castle is the old local name for the Roman Bath the Robin Hood and a tailor's workshop. Internal House and the adjacent fort within its defensive ditch, arches reveal links through to the building next door. 500m along Walls Drive from the Caravan Park. Herbert House behind its fence was a farm of a once Return to a small gate and follow the prominent local family. Father and sons were Customs footpath signed to Ravenglass officials and the Stewards for Muncaster Castle, until Lewis Herbert was accused of fraud in 1770. The Pennington Arms was a hotel, formerly the Kings A bustling scene in Main Street with Arms and centre of 150 acres of surrounding farmland. its open fronted shops surrounding The Pennington family 'wildcat' emblem is on the wall. the Market Cross. From a Royal Charter older than Magna Carta, the Butchers' Yard recalls the busy trade in Irish cattle Fair was proclaimed here by The carried on at Ravenglass market and slaughter house.