Skinburness - 1

The village, around 1920

 Skinburness lies about a mile (1.5Km) north of Silloth. The original village has been extended by an area of modern housing and is a popular spot for retirement.

Before the harbours at Silloth and Port Carlisle were built, it was an important anchorage for ships. Goods were landed there to be taken by horse and cart to Carlisle or transferred to smaller boats for a journey up the River Eden to the city.

It became a naval base during the time of Edward I’s campaigns against Scotland. In 1300, Edward ordered 27 ships from the Cinque Ports, on the south coast of England, to assemble there. They were joined by others from Ireland, Whitehaven, Allonby and many other ports in England. The king established English garrisons in Dumfries and Lochmaben on the Scottish side of the Solway. All their supplies were shipped through Skinburness.

In 1301, Edward granted a Royal Charter to the Abbot of Holm Cultram to hold a weekly market in Skinburness with a fair to be held for fifteen days during June. It had a very short life. The winter of 1305/6 must have been a stormy one. In March 1306, the King received a petition from the Abbot to move the market as “a great part of the road leading to the borough, and much of the borough itself, by divers invasions and storms were wasted and that the inlets of the sea were become so deep that people could not resort hither or inhabit the place as before”. The Abbot was granted leave to move the market to ‘Kirkby Joan’ which some writers identify as Newton Arlosh.

Local historian, Dennis Perriham, has recently suggested that it was after this disaster that the monks of Holm Cultram began construction of the Sea Dyke which ran right around the coast to Dubmill. Today, the dyke, seen below, still protects the village from high tides.

After the excitement of the fourteenth century, Skinburness became again a quiet fishing village although ships were still being beached there for unloading in the mid 1800s.

One of the most interesting buildings in the village is the Longhouse which stands directly above the shingle beach where the boats would come ashore. It may have been built, around 1770, as a base for fishing boats and for salting and preserving the catch.

It was supposed to be the model for Joe Crakenthorpe’s tavern in “Redgauntlet”by Sir Walter Scott. In the novel, it is here that Bonnie Prince Charlie bids farewell to his supporters before boarding the ship which will take him into exile.

The prince's departure. From a 19th century edition
of 'Redgauntlet'

The building has had a chequered history. In the late 1700s it was home to a pub, known as The Greyhound. By 1900, it was a private hotel.

Guests at the Longhouse hotel, 1920s

The hotel's proprietor cashed-in on the literary connection and issued these souvenir postcards for visitors.

The Longhouse also seems to have been the base for a regular ferry service over the Solway to Scotland. This was operated by a relative of Lucy Carrick who was landlady of The Greyhound Inn.

Today it has been converted to attractive private residences.