The Airfield at Anthorn

Before the airfield was built, this handsome villa stood on the site. Known as Solway House it was home to the Donald family for many years.

The first runway to be constructed at Anthorn was completed in 1918. In his book on the Cumbrian Airfields, Martyn Chorlton suggests it was intended for training pilots in the use of torpedoes against submarines but there is no evidence that it was ever used for this purpose and it quickly fell into disuse.

In 1938, work began on a new RAF airfield at Silloth and the runway at Anthorn was renovated to act as an emergency landing strip for the new station.

Then, in late 1943, the Admiralty moved in. They took over the old airstrip and requisitioned a large area of land between Cardurnock and Anthorn. John Laing & Son also moved in and began construction of three tarmac runways and a wide range of ancillary buildings. The Royal Naval Air Station, Anthorn was born.

It opened on 7^th September, 1944. It was the base of No. 1 Aircraft Receipt and Despatch Unit (ARDU) which had the job of receiving aircraft fresh from manufacturers, modifying them to service standards and despatching them to operational squadrons. The personnel consisted of 74 officers, seven of whom were WRNS, and 950 'other ranks' which included a further 150 WRNS.

The station was now officially known as 'HMS Nuthatch'.

This work continued through the last two years of the war. In peacetime the role of the ARDU changed. Rather than flying the planes on to operational airfields the pilots were now often flying them to other destinations to be scrapped.

The beautiful chapel on the airfield

As well as the permanent personnel on the station, it acted as a temporary host to other squadrons. 772 Second Line Squadron was based there from May 1946 until February 1947 and First Line Squadron 813 operated from Anthorn between May and October in 1948.

The first edition of the 'Anthorn Post' was published in the spring of 1949. It was a magazine written for and by the men and women stationed there. Its pages provide a fascinating glimpse of life on the air station. The striking cover of the first issue was designed by AA3 Abrams for which he received a prize of ten shillings (50p).

Capt. Bowring

In this issue, the commanding officer, Captain F.G.S. Bowring, outlines the work then being carried out on the airfield where about 940 people were currently employed; this represented a fall from the peak of 1,200 at the end of the war. Around 300 aircraft were stored there, in varying states of readiness for service, these included Barracudas, Firebrands, Seafires and Seafuries. The main work carried out involved ferrying the planes to other airfields and test flights of the aircraft before dispatch for active service.

Captain Bowring also remarked on the success of the base's first open day which had taken place in July 1948 and had attracted between 3,000 and 4,000 visitors. He also confirmed that approval had been granted for the construction of a new Married Quarters Housing Estate and it was expected work on this would begin in the summer.

Life on the airbase wasn't all work. The 'Anthorn Post' reports on the many spare-time activities available. At Easter 1949, the Amateur Dramatics group were rehearsing an extract from Noel Coward's “Hay Fever” which they planned to enter in Royal Naval Drama Festival later in the year.

Every Saturday night there was two hours of Scottish Country Dancing and the magazine includes brief reports from the Gliding Club, the Anglers and the Shooting Club. There had been a handicrafts exhibition with sections for both embroidery and perspex constructions.

However, by far the most popular leisure activity was sport. The Cricket team was having a mixed season. They had beaten 12MU (Kirkbride), Garlands, Wigton and the Carlisle Teachers team, but had lost both their matches against Hadrian's Camp, and were also beaten by British Railways. The players were complaining about a shortage of kit, especially bats which were apparently in very short supply.

The Soccer club had also had mixed results but Anthorn's sporting super-stars were undoubtedly the Rugby team. In the 1947-8 Season they had played 18 matches, won 11 and lost 7. Points for 159, against 78.

Unfortunately, only two copies of the 'Anthorn Post' have come to light so far and few details are available on the last years of the airfield's life. The Married Quarters, promised by Captain Bowring were built and these houses still form a substantial part of the village homes. The last aircraft, a Gannet, took off from there in November 1957 and the site closed completely a few months later.

For a few years, local farmers used the land as extra grazing then, in 1962, NATO moved in and construction of a large communications centre began. It was officially handed over to the MOD in November 1964. Its array of masts became the most prominent landmark on this stretch of the Solway.

Today, the Very Low Frequency transmitter there is used for communications with submarines. A separate operation by the National Physical Laboratory operates two atomic clocks which generate the familiar Greenwich Time Signal.

CLICK ON THE PICTURES FOR A LARGER VIEW

Sources:

Martyn Chorlton: Cumbria Airfields in the Second World War (Countryside Books, 2006)

Ken Delve: The Military Airfields of Britain, Northern England (Crowood, 2006)

The Anthorn Post, Easter and Summer 1949 (Carlisle Library, Local Studies Section)

Wikipedia.org/Anthorn Radio Station.

St Paul's Church, Causewayhead

St Paul's was erected in 1845. The church cost £850 to build. The money was raised by the local parishioners (mainly the farmers) with financial assistance from the Church Building Society. The church was designed with seating accommodation for 357 worshippers. An inscription above the door within the porch tells us that all the pews are "free and unappropriated for ever".

Mannix & Whelan's Directory of Cumberland of 1847 describes the building as "a neat Gothic edifice" and tells us that the first "officiating minister" was the Reverend Isaac Bowman.  The living of St. Paul's was originally in the gift of the vicar of Holm Cultram and was worth £220 a year.

St. Paul's is built of red sandstone as in the Early English style. It has a south porch and a west facing turret containing one bell, which is used to summon people to worship. Inside, the church is beautifully simple, consisting of a chancel, nave and a small vestry.

In the period 1889-90 the church was renovated throughout and at this time a two manual organ was installed at a cost of £700 (an interesting comparison with the original cost of the church). The organ pipes are decorated in a similar fashion to those at Christ Church, Silloth.

The 1890s decor

The floor of the chancel is tiled, but the nave has a plain sandstone floor. The pews are raised up on wooden blocks. On either side, the east window is flanked by depictions of the Ten Commandments.

Bulmer's History and Directory of West Cumberland (1883) makes reference to the "many beautiful stained-glass windows, rich in scriptural symbolism". The splendid east window is in triple form and portrays at its centre St. Paul, in medallions, the symbols of the four evangelists. The window is by John Scott of Carlisle and dates from 1852. It commemorates John Messenger of East Cote, "a zealous promoter of the building of the church".

In the sanctuary, the north and south windows are lozenge quarries with various motifs (the artist is not identified). On the south wall of the nave: Christ the Sower (unsigned, but thought to be the work of John Scott); the window is in memory of Ann and George Bailiffe-Bowman. 

The second window in the nave is in memory of Dr Hugh Hutton (1911-1996) a much respected physician in Silloth for many years and a staunch supporter of St. Paul's. The window was commissioned by his widow and is the work of the artist Peter Strong.

The third window in the nave depicts - in a medallion - Christ giving sight to a blind man. It is the work of John Scott and it was created in memory of Betty Messenger, who died in June 1864. Completing the array of windows in the nave, comes the fourth which has two lights. These depict St. Mark and Christ the Light of the World. The artist is G.J. Baguely. The window was given by Canon Robert Walker and his wife Margaret Elizabeth in 1903.

In the west wall, the first window portrays St. Andrew and it is the work of Powell Bros. of Leeds, Installed in 1889 the window commemorates Henry Thomas Tandy who died in July 1894. The second depicts - in a medallion - Christ as a boy in the carpenter's shop. The window is in memory of John Albert Redford with the date June 1863 and is by John Scott.

Continuing on the north wall of the nave, the first window features - in a medallion - Christ and the daughter of Jairus, the daughter who "was not dead, but sleepeth" whose "spirit came again". The window is in memory of John Holliday, who died in January 1864, the work of John Scott. The second window from the west, also by John Scott shows - in a medallion - Christ blessing the children. The window is a memorial to J Hayton and is dated 1853. The third window portrays the Figure of Hope. It is in memory of John Henry Wise and is the work of G.J. Bagueley.

The communion table in the sanctuary was provided by Molly and Jake Tomlinson, upon their retirement from farming in 1970. 

Rev Redford's observations

The oak lectern was presented by Mr C E Boyd in memory of the Reverend Francis Redford the first curate of St. Paul's in around 1850 and subsequently its rector. He was largely responsible for Silloth's reputation as a health resort. He published his observations of its meteorological features, rainfall, hours of sunshine, prevalent winds and the amount of 'ozone' in the air, claiming the area had a similar climate to the Isle of Wight.

Causewayhead rectory was built around 1851 "in the Elizabethan style". Cannon Robert Walker lived there as  rector from 1898 until 1936, he had six children. His daughter, Gladys, married the Rev. Hodges, who was vicar of Allonby between 1932 and 1946. Two of his sons were army officers and served in the first world war. 

Canon Walker with three of his sons.

For forty years, the organist at St. Paul's was "Blind Tommy" Foster. He lost his sight when he was only three months old but was a talented musician. He played all the hymns and psalms from memory and had a wide repertoire of classical pieces such as the 'Te Deum' and Mozart's 'Exulate Jubilate'.

Causewayhead Mission was built in the late 1800s as a Sunday School with a reading room and library attached. It has now been converted into two private houses.

In 1892 a large piece of land for burial purposes was donated by the Earl of Lonsdale. Consecrated in 1893 this land forms the cemetery opposite St. Paul's churchyard and is under the authority of Allerdale Borough Council. Here are many graves of young airmen who died while stationed at Silloth during the Second World War.

The churchyard is now "closed" and is also in the care of Allerdale Council.

In 1949 the parish of St. Paul's was united with Christ Church, Silloth and services at Causewayhead were finally suspended on 15 May 2016.

Reverend Canon Bryan Rothwell told the Cumberland News that over recent years, it has become more difficult to maintain two buildings in the parish, it was no longer viable because of the number of people attending and the finances involved. "It's been something that has been discussed over many years with the congregation and we have come to the decision that now was the right time to say goodbye to the church" he said.  If the Church Commissioners agree to make the church redundant then the local diocese will take over responsibility for the building and try and find alternative usage or potentially sell it.

Sources: "A Short History of St Paul's Church" by John Gray, formally available as a guide for visitors to the church. Other material and pictures from Holme St Cuthbert History Group.
Photography by Gordon Akitt, Copyright 2017.

The Allonby Smugglers

Writing about smuggling poses a particular problem for the local historian. The only contemporary accounts are of events when the smugglers were caught. The successful ones are never mentioned.

In 1731, eighteen casks of brandy were found on the shore, near Dubmill Point. Two local men, Joseph Simm and Daniel Miller reported this to the authorities. They were asked to keep watch on the contraband. While they awaited the return of the customs men, two of the smugglers, John Sharp and John Osborn, turned up and gave them a beating. The two informers brought assault charges against the smugglers. A jury of local men dismissed the charges!

In 1764, Customs Officers found ‘a very considerable gang of smugglers, armed with guns and pistols, escorting about forty horse loads of brandy and tea’ on the road between Allonby and Hayton. The smugglers managed to beat off the officials and escaped.

A smuggler's pannier or belly flask. It would hold about two gallons and could be hidden under a man's coat or disguised as a woman's pregnancy.

Such reports are quite rare in the area, although there were many, many cases on the other side of the Solway. Throughout Dumfries and Galloway there is a great deal of folklore about the trade and a large number of caves where the contraband was allegedly stored. For any more information, it is necessary to ‘read between the lines’ elsewhere.

The 1841 Census for Allonby lists twenty-six men as either sailors, mariners, fishermen or boatmen. It is difficult to imagine they could all make a living purely from catching fish. Even more telling, in a village of around three hundred souls, there were five innkeepers, two wine and spirit merchants and, most telling of all, two full-time customs officials.

The Customs Vessell 'Ferret' was stationed at Skinburness.

There is also a lot of circumstantial evidence suggesting that one highly respected, Quaker family were involved in the illicit trade. The Beeby’s fish yards could just have been a ‘front’ for a whisky smuggling operation.

Most of this evidence comes from Mary Beeby’s own ‘Memorandum’. In it, she gives details of two shipwrecks in which her father, Daniel, was involved. The first occurs off the coast of Islay in the Hebrides. This is not a herring fishing area but the island is world-famous for its malt whisky. After carrying out emergency repairs to the vessel, it was able to return safely to Maryport with both crew and cargo unharmed.

The second shipwreck was in Ireland. After being caught in a violent storm, the ‘Assistance’ put in for repairs at Dunfanaghy – not a million miles from the famous distillery at Bushmills.

Mary says the local people ‘behaved with great kindness . . . those of respectability deterring others who might otherwise have been disposed to have taken liberties with the property of strangers’. After a month ashore there, the crew re-shipped the cargo and returned home safely. It is difficult to imagine a cargo of fish lasting that long!

It is also rather strange that, in both these cases, Mary refers to the ‘cargo’ rather than the ‘catch’.

It is said that, on the other side of the Solway, the smugglers often used barrels with false bottoms to hide their cache. The fish yards had their own cooperage. It would have been a simple job for Richard Harker to produce such items; salted fish on top, illicit spirits below.

The Beeby family's fish yards can be seen centre left on this old postcard.

Some of the Beeby family wills also make interesting reading. John Beeby died in 1768 and an inventory of his personal possessions was compiled. They were valued at £527, about £74,000 at 2012 prices. In addition to these items he owned a lot of property in Allonby and several houses in Maryport. It is puzzling how a man listed as a timber merchant could have achieved such wealth.

When his son, another John, died in 1789 he was £321 (£42,000 today) in debt. It was around this time that Mary Beeby’s family moved into the John’s house and fish yards. We can only guess at the family dramas surrounding their move.

Around the 1860s, most of the family seem to vanish from the local records. 

This was when the government finally equalised the duty on whisky in Scotland and England. The Beeby’s property in Allonby seems to have descended to Ann Satterthwaite. There was a complex court case over the will of a William Beeby which ended when the Court of Chancery ordered the entire estate to be sold. In July 1871, the whole lot was auctioned in the Ship Hotel; it made a total of £5,405 – just over half-a-million pounds at 2012 prices.

This article was originally written for Peter Ostle's book “Allonby – A Short History and Guide” but was not included in the final version due to pressure on space.

The text of Mary Beeby's Memorandum is available at http://www.ianewilliamson.co.uk/gen/sources/memo0.html

The Cumberland Pig

During the first half of the twentieth century, the Cumberland Pig was immensely popular with local farmers. Its floppy ears, flat face and smooth silky coat distinguished it from other, lesser breeds. It was a source of the legendary Cumberland Ham and provided the distinctive flavour to Cumberland Sausage.

Almost all the farms would keep at least one pig. Slaughtered at the ‘back-end’ of the year, it would provide the farmer’s own family with a supply of good tasty ham and bacon through the winter. There might even be enough left to send a few sides of bacon to the local market!

Eamont Peter Pan

Bred by Mrs Carleton Couper, Carleton Hall, Penrith.
First Prize Winner at Royal Lancashire Show, Lancaster Show, Brampton Show, Cockermouth Show and awarded The Silver Challenge Cup for Best Cumberland Pig

The county’s biggest pig farms were around Carlisle, Penrith and along the Eden Valley but Kirkbride was also an important area for pig farming. Thomas Wills of Angerton House there was a well-known breeder.

In 1915, he attended a meeting of farmers in the King’s Arms Inn at Wigton. The meeting was convened by Mr T. B. Schofield, the government’s local livestock officer and Mr Steel, the Wigton vet. Mr Schofield told the meeting that his department were spending hundreds of pounds each year buying boars. These were then made available to small farmers for breeding purposes. However, the Cumberland Pig did not qualify for the scheme although the farmers were anxious to use it. The problem was that there was no ‘Pedigree System’ and so the breed was not officially recognised.

Gate Mary Bred by Mrs H.M. Boyns, Hatton Lodge, Soulby, Kirkby Stephen.Second Prize Winner at Yorkshire Agricultural Show.

The meeting resolved to form a Cumberland Pig Breeders Association and to establish a ‘Herd Book’ which would register all pure-bred Cumberlands and so make them eligible for the government’s breeding programme.

The farmers present at the meeting pledged £75 to get things going and appointed a council to oversee operations. Over the next few years, more than one hundred farms signed up for the Herd Book.

Tom Wills of Angerton House served as a council member for the new association along with his neighbour Joseph Robinson of Wampool Farm. J. Carr of Whitrigg House, The Graham brothers of Whitriglees and Greenspot, and J. Mark of Angerton were also registered breeders. The Lowthers, Liddles, Nichols and Robinsons were other families from Kirkbride who appeared regularly in the Herd Book.

From the 1929 Herd Book

John Routledge of Old Silloth Farm was a very successful breeder of Cumberland Pigs. In 1921, he showed a boar which won the Breeders’ Association Show at Penrith and was then sold for 90 guineas. In 1923, he sold a champion sow for 81 guineas. His best breeding sow was ‘Seabreeze of Old Silloth’ whose litter of eleven six-month old piglets was sold for 320 guineas. John was vice-chairman of the Holm Cultram Agricultural Society.

He died in January 1924 when he chocked, ironically on a piece of pork, while dining with friends at the Criffel Hotel. His widow, Margaret, continued to breed the pigs for many more years.

Janet II
Bred by Mrs Carleton Couper, Carleton Hall, Penrith.
Second Prize Winner at Royal Lancashire Show.

SOME OTHER LOCAL FARMERS WHO BRED CUMBERLAND PIGS.

T J Armstrong of Doucie Farm, Calvo.

P R Foster of Allonby

Thomas Hodgson of Mawbray Farm

J Hornsby of Holme Lea, Silloth

W Penrice of Park House, Silloth

John Slack, Holme Low, Silloth

A sad end to the story . . .

In 1955, the government’s Advisory Committee on Pig Production produced a report which indicated that housewives were then demanding a leaner type of meat. They recommended that farmers should concentrate on only three breeds: the Large White, the Welsh and the Landrace. The breeding stock of the Cumberland began to decline and, even before the report was published, there were only three breeding boars registered in the county.

The last individual, a sow belonging to a Mr Thirwell of Bothel Craggs died in 1960 and the breed became extinct.

In 2008, a Penrith animal conservation centre "recreated" the Cumberland pig based on DNA analysis and selective breeding. Farmers who had worked with the last surviving originals agreed that the new pig was a good match in appearance. After years of selective breeding, a sow was born with a 99.6% DNA match for the Cumberland. However, it proved infertile.

Sources:
Cumberland News & Wigton Advertiser, 16/10/1915
Wigton Advertiser 26/1/1924
Cumberland Pig Herd Books. (Local Collection, Carlisle Library)
Wikipedia  

The Reservists

Some years before the outbreak of war, a branch of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve was established at Carr’s Flour Mill in Silloth. In the late summer of 1914, the whole group were called up and posed for this picture. Theodore Carr is in the centre; the lad, third from the left in the back row is Duncan Chisholm. The names of five of the others are now inscribed on the town’s war memorial in the grounds of Christ Church.

Salt water ran in Duncan Chisholm’s veins; his father was captain of the Silloth steam tug ‘Petrel’. Like the other lads, he probably joined the reserves out of a sense of adventure and the promise of a free week’s holiday on a training ship each year. He could never have expected that, within a few months, he would be dressed in khaki and fighting in a bloody battle over a thousand miles from home.

The Silloth men were not the only ones to be called up. All over the country, reservists reported to naval dockyards and bases. There were far more of them than the navy needed and it had nowhere to accommodate them. At this point, Winston Churchill came up with one of his very worst ideas; he decided to place these surplus sailors under army command. They were to be known as the Royal Naval Division.

Eight battalions were formed, all named after famous naval commanders. Most of the Silloth reservists were assigned to the Collingwood battalion. Training took place in the south of England and was slow; the men were issued with old rifles from navy stockpiles.

Turkey was then part of the Ottoman Empire which had joined the war on the Germans’ side. When the fighting in France and Flanders reached a stalemate, the allies decided to open a new front with the idea of gaining control of the Turkish shipping lanes. In February 1915, the Navy started an attack in the Dardanelles. Landings by British, Australian and New Zealand forces took place in April on the Gallipoli peninsular.

The allied troops dug in but came under heavy attack from the Turkish artillery; very little territory was secured. Reinforcements were required and the men of the Royal Naval Division were to form part of these. The men were shipped out to Egypt to prepare for landings in early June, 1915.

Before he embarked for the Mediterranean, Duncan Chisholm must have been granted a few days leave. He came home to Silloth and his family insisted that he posed for a portrait in his new khaki uniform. 

The far-away look in his eyes has been captured perfectly by the photographer – Annie Gibb. Annie was quite remarkable. At this time, it was very unusual for a woman to be involved in photography and it was virtually unknown for one to set up in business on their own account as she had.

The Collingwood battalion of the RND came ashore at Sulva Bay on June 4^th and advanced slowly under heavy fire. Duncan was among them together with three of the other Silloth lads – Edgar Sisson Swan, Sam Borthwick and Joe Johnston.

Two were members of the Silloth Rugby team; Borthwick played at half-back and Johnston was a three-quarter. Swan had been a golfer. By the end of the day, Borthwick had been wounded and Duncan and Joe were posted as ‘Missing’. Duncan must have turned-up later but the other three all died from their injuries.

The war memorial bears the name of two other RND men: Gordon Brown and Petty Officer John Jefferson Underwood who both died later in what became known as the third battle of Krihia. The allies never gained control of the Gallipoli peninsular and all their troops had been withdrawn by Christmas.

Duncan survived to fight another day. In 1918, he was in action on the front line in France where he was gassed in a German attack. He was brought back to England and spent some time in hospital near Wigan. While he was there, his father died suddenly, working on his allotment, but Duncan was too ill to attend the funeral.

Another of the Silloth reservists who survived the Gallipoli landings was Thomas Stanwix, a farmer’s son from Blitterlees, just outside the town. Years later, his family turned their farm into a holiday camp.

He made it through the early stages of the Gallipoli landings but, in August 1915, suffered “severe, multiple shell wounds in the forearm, nose and thigh”. He was taken to hospital in Malta and, eventually, back to the Royal Naval Hospital in Portland.

After recovering from his wounds, he saw action on the western front and was again wounded in May 1918. He was then promoted and became involved in the logistics of supplying the front-line troops.

He was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal but never talked much about his experiences. He used to say that, when he returned home, he had to undress and bath in the byre to get rid of the lice and mud before he went into the house.

After the war, Thomas Stanwix joined the police and moved to the North-East. Duncan Chisholm became second engineer on the S.S. ‘Asseroe’, which sailed regularly between Silloth and Dublin. When this service was suspended, in 1940, he went to work at Carr’s Mill.

They were lucky. Over 34,000 British troops died during the ten months of the Gallipoli campaign; 78,500 were wounded. The Australian and New Zealand forces lost around 11,500 men with a further 24,000 badly injured. Total casualties for the Turkish forces have been estimated at 175,000. The song ‘and the band played Waltzing Matilda’ calls them the forgotten heroes of a forgotten war. They won’t be forgotten in Silloth.

Holm Cultram Abbey

In 1150 Holm Cultram Abbey was founded by Prince Henry of Scotland who gave the land to monks from Melrose Abbey to settle.

These Cistercian monks organized the clearing of forests and draining of large tracts of the Solway marshes, making the land of the Holm district habitable and profitable. By 1200 the Abbey was well under construction. When finished the Abbey and associated buildings covered ten acres of land.

Throughout the thirteenth century benefactors on both sides of the Solway lavished gifts on the Abbey, the main motivation being a hope that they could buy their way into heaven.

This plan shows the outline of the original abbey church with the present building indicated by the thick black lines. It is claimed that the original church was larger than Carlisle cathedral.


The monks were very successful sheep farmers and became the largest supplies of wool in the Northwest of England with an estimated flock of over 6,000 sheep. The Abbey became immensely wealthy and was raided and plundered by the Scots on many occasions. Robert the Bruce caused the worst devastation in 1319, despite the fact that his father was buried there.

These photographs of the abbey church date from around 1900. Note the plaster ceiling on the interior view.

In 1538 the Act dissolving the Greater Monasteries was passed. Holm Cultram Abbey along with 1,600 acres of land and all its possessions was surrendered to Henry VIII.

The Abbey Church was not destroyed, as many were, because it served as a parish church and as a refuge against the Scots. Over time the Abbey church fell into disrepair due to lack of local authority and money.

In 1703, when Bishop Nicholson visited Holm Cultram he was shocked at the state the Abbey was in. He appointed Trustees to organise its restoration. The nave was reduced in size and the side aisles were removed. Between 1833 and 1973 further remodelling has taken place.

Over eight hundred years, the Abbey had a troubled existence but survived all attempts to destroy it. It became a parish church somewhat reduced in size and circumstances but still a place of great beauty, peace and serenity.

All this changed on Friday, June 9, 2006, a very hot day, when the abbey church was badly damaged by fire. Crews from Maryport, Silloth, Wigton and Aspatria were called to the scene.

They entered the church wearing breathing apparatus but were unable to prevent the fire spreading to the roof which collapsed completely around 7pm. Although the damage to the interior was extensive, all but one of the stained glass windows were saved.

Following the fire, six teenagers were arrested, five were released but one, 17-year-old Shane Walker of Solway Street, Silloth, was charged with arson and the theft of £5 from the church. He appeared at Carlisle Crown Court on November 7 and was sentenced to four years detention. Judge John Phillips told him “Not only have you destroyed a national treasure – you have also severely damaged an entire community.”

Restoration work on the church began in 2007 and was completed in 2014 at a cost of several million pounds.

The Lost Pubs of Allonby

By the late 1800s, Allonby had ten pubs - serving a population of about 400!

The locations of seven of the pubs are shown on this aerial view. The other three were up the lane behind The Ship. Their positions are indicated on the enlarged section below.

The Sloop was located at the south end of the village and seems to have closed in the 1870s. It was the building on the right of this postcard view from the 1950s and is now a private house.

The Grapes (left) and the Solway Hotel stood close to each other on the green.

The Queen's Head was located at the other side of the bridge. It closed as a pub around 1850 and became a Temperance Hotel.

The Ship was always Allonby's premier hostelry. Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins stayed there in 1857. This view dates from the early 1900s and shows a magnificent collection of horse-drawn vehicles which were probably waiting to take the members of the local Band of Hope on their annual trip.

The Swan and the Sun stood in the narrow lane behind The Ship.

The Greyhound was also located in this area, in Temple Square, named after the family which owned it.

The Globe, originally known as The London Apprentice, was nearby on the road leading to Westnewton and Aspatria. In both cases, the buildings have been much altered and it is difficult to pin-point the pubs' exact location.

The Spirit Vaults was located somewhere in the block of buildings seen in the postcard view above. Again, many changes to the structure have occurred since the pub closed.

The Vaults was a traditional 'grog shop' run by the Costins who had family links with the West Indies.

It is thought they imported their rum directly from there. It was sold in the stoneware bottles seen in the picture on the above. These are now highly prized by bottle collectors.

The last landlord, Alfred Costin, lost his licence in 1903 when its renewal was opposed by both the police and the local Temperance Movement led by Sir Wilfred Lawson, MP, of Aspatria.

The pub was described as a 'darksome place' with a large rum barrel which had been constructed in the premises. There were only rudimentary furnishings and most customers had to stand.

A 'Merry Neet' at The Vaults.