Harrington, Cumbria
Encyclopedia
Harrington is on the Cumbrian coast south of Workington
Workington
Workington is a town, civil parish and port on the west coast of Cumbria, England, at the mouth of the River Derwent. Lying within the Borough of Allerdale, Workington is southwest of Carlisle, west of Cockermouth, and southwest of Maryport...

 and north of Whitehaven
Whitehaven
Whitehaven is a small town and port on the coast of Cumbria, England, which lies equidistant between the county's two largest settlements, Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness, and is served by the Cumbrian Coast Line and the A595 road...

. Its industrial history, which largely ended in the late 1930s, included an iron works, coal mining, and steel making. It once had five railway stations. It still has one station
Harrington railway station
Harrington Railway Station serves the village of Harrington in Cumbria, England. It is a request stop on the scenic Cumbrian Coast Line south east of Carlisle...

, on the Cumbrian Coast Line
Cumbrian Coast Line
The Cumbrian Coast Line is a rail route in North West England, running from Carlisle to Barrow-in-Furness via Workington and Whitehaven. The line forms part of Network Rail route NW 4033, which continues via Ulverston and Grange-over-Sands to Carnforth, where it connects with the West Coast Main...

, near the harbour.

Today, with a population of about 5000, it is largely a dormitory town for the employees of the shops and offices and light industry found in Workington and Whitehaven, and also British Nuclear Fuels down the coast at Sellafield
Sellafield
Sellafield is a nuclear reprocessing site, close to the village of Seascale on the coast of the Irish Sea in Cumbria, England. The site is served by Sellafield railway station. Sellafield is an off-shoot from the original nuclear reactor site at Windscale which is currently undergoing...

.

The parish consists of Harrington itself, High Harrington, and Salterbeck
Salterbeck
Salterbeck is a council housing estate on the South side of Workington, built during the 1930s on farmland for steelworkers and their families relocating to the area. 70% is now owned by Impact Housing Association and 30% privately owned...

, which is a large housing estate on the Workington side of the parish.

History

The name Harrington, is derived from three Anglo-Saxon words; Har or Harr (a man's name), ingas (people) and ton (settlement/estate/enclosure). The original settlers were a group of people whose leader called himself Har. The original inhabitants of land would have called themselves Haringas (Har's people) and the settlement Haringa tun (estate of the Haringas). Other local place names with similar origins would be Workington, Distington and Frizington.

In 1760, Henry Curwen
Henry Curwen
Sir Henry Curwen was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1621 to 1622.Curwen was the only son of Sir Nicholas Curwen of Workington, Cumberland and his first wife Ann Musgrave. He matriculated from Pembroke College, Cambridge in about 1595. He was High Sheriff of Cumberland...

 built a quay at Harrington on the south side of the River Wyre. Coal and limestone were soon being exported from Harrington, and the increase in trade led to the development of the local shipbuilding industry. A decline in manufacturing industry saw the harbour's usage drop dramatically during the latter part of the 19th century.

Eventually the harbour was sealed off and used as a reservoir for a nearby magnesium works. The secret "Magnesite
Magnesite
Magnesite is magnesium carbonate, MgCO3. Iron substitutes for magnesium with a complete solution series with siderite, FeCO3. Calcium, manganese, cobalt, and nickel may also occur in small amounts...

" plant at Harrington was set up during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 by the Ministry of Aircraft Production to extract magnesium from seawater, for use in aircraft components and incendiary bombs. At the time it was one of only two plants in the country, making some 40000 long tons (40,642 t) per annum.

The harbour now has a new lease of life as a facility for leisure, with the scope to grow the marine sector in the Northwest.

Churches

Harrington had many churches, and four remain as churches today. At St Mary's church there are recent stained-glass windows, which show much of the industrial and maritime heritage of the area, including images of the latest industry - wind farming. Wind farms are springing up all along the coast, south and north of Workington.

Cycle network

The West Cumbria Cycle Network passes through Harrington on its way from Distington
Distington
Distington is a large village and civil parish in Cumbria, England, south of Workington and north-northeast of Whitehaven.Historically a part of Cumberland, the civil parish includes the nearby settlements of Common End, Gilgarran and Pica...

 to Workington. It uses the route of the former Cleator and Workington Junction Railway
Cleator and Workington Junction Railway
The Cleator & Workington Junction Railway was located in West Cumberland in Northern England, serving the towns of Cleator Moor and Workington and intermediate villages...

which served High Harrington Station.

External links

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