7 - West Cumbria Coastal Plain : Description

Physical and functional links to other National Character Areas

The West Cumbria Coastal Plain National Character Area (NCA) forms an undulating band of varying width between the mountains of the Lake District to the east and the Irish Sea to the west. In the south of the area, the narrow coastal plain around the Duddon Estuary is abutted by the South Cumbria Low Fells NCA, and Morecambe Bay Limestones NCA fringes the coast around Barrow-in-Furness. To the north, the coastal plain widens into the Solway Basin NCA. The eastern boundary with the Cumbria High Fells NCA is marked by the change from enclosed pastoral lowlands to open fellside. Throughout the area, extensive views inland are set against the High Fells, while along the coast it is the influence of the Irish Sea that dominates long-distance views, and on a clear day the Isle of Man and the peninsulas of Galloway can be seen.

The NCA is crossed by a series of rivers including the Derwent, Ehen, Irt, Mite, Esk and Duddon, which descend from the Cumbria High Fells NCA and South Cumbria Low Fells NCA to discharge into the Irish Sea.

North of St Bees the coastline consists of a mix of intertidal flats, beaches and coastal defence works. Coastal processes move material northwards with erosion feeding the beaches of the Solway Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The central section of the coastline is dominated by the red sandstone cliffs of St Bees Head with shingle beaches, intertidal sands and mudflats, salt marsh and sand dunes. South of St Bees the pattern is more complicated, with a general southwards movement of material along the coast being interrupted by the estuaries. The southern parts of the NCA share sediments with the Morecambe Bay Limestones NCA in Morecambe Bay itself. The estuarine landscapes of the Esk and Duddon lead to a series of islands – Walney, Foulney and Piel – formed by material brought down predominantly from the Cumbria High Fells during past ice ages.

Coastal trade and Roman routes have been adopted today as A roads linking the area with the Solway Basin NCA. Further routes connect through the valley of the River Derwent to Keswick in the Lake District High Fells Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and beyond. The southernmost parts of the NCA were formerly reached over the sands of Morecambe Bay until Victorian trade drove improvements in road and rail access around the southern part of Cumbria through the Morecambe Bay Limestones NCA.

The West Cumbria Coastal Plain today

The West Cumbria Coastal Plain NCA is one of the most varied NCAs in England. It combines dramatic coastal landscapes and wind-swept farmland, punctuated by meandering river valleys flowing across the plain from east to west to the Irish Sea, with industrial towns all set against the backdrop of the Lake District mountains. All along the coast and elevated areas inland, there are extensive views across the Irish Sea and towards the hills of southern Scotland and the Isle of Man.

In the south there are extensive shingle and sand systems around Furness and the Duddon Estuary, and the open barrier islands of Walney and Foulney where the open expanses of Morecambe Bay grade first into beaches, dunes and marshes and then low-lying farmland. Between the mouth of the Duddon Estuary and St Bees is a coast of soft sediments and slumping cliffs, broken by the estuary system at Ravenglass, with its associated dunes.

At St Bees Head, the soft cliffs give way abruptly to 100-metre-high red sandstone cliffs, capped by a narrow band of species-rich grasslands. North of St Bees the coast consists of a mix of intertidal flats, soft cliffs of natural or industrial origin and narrow beaches. This area is also dominated by the broad flood plain of the River Derwent and its tributaries as it flows westwards from Bassenthwaite Lake through Cockermouth to the sea at Workington.

The coast from Walney to St Bees has a number of designated sites, nationally and internationally important, for their coastal sand dune, vegetated shingle and salt marsh communities as well as breeding seabirds, wintering waders and wildfowl, the natterjack toad and specialist flora. It includes national strongholds for species such as the Isle of Man cabbage, the oyster plant and the Walney geranium, an endemic form of bloody cranesbill.

Inland, from the coast, the agriculture changes from mixed arable and improved pasture near the coast, to predominantly livestock grazing inland. Fields are irregular and anciently enclosed with some medium to large-scale rectangular fields of the late 18th to 19th centuries, especially along the coast. They are bounded mainly by hedgerows on lower-lying ground, with stone walls on higher ground, and traditionally built, stone-faced ‘kest’ banks along the coastal margin. In exposed areas, hedgerow trees are stunted and sheared by prevailing salt-laden westerly winds. Broadleaved woodland, including remnant ancient woodlands, is found along the river corridors. Small mixed and coniferous plantations, and shelterbelts, are scattered inland and on the lower fringes of the Lake District fells. They are also a feature of reclamation schemes from past coal and ore mining, open cast and degraded industrial land, especially around Workington.

Inland the area supports a number of nationally and internationally important lowland wetlands. These include lowland raised bogs, with their unique vegetation of peat-forming sphagnum mosses and dwarf shrubs, the rivers Ehen and Derwent with populations of salmonid fish, lamprey, freshwater pearl mussels and water crowfoot beds, and an assortment of basin and valley fens.

The main access routes into the area are from the southern and northern extremities of the NCA. By road, northern access routes through the Derwent Valley and along the margins of the Solway Basin date back to Roman times. In contrast, the southern route into Furness and Barrow is more recent, being 19th century in origin, with earlier routes being mainly across the sands of Morecambe Bay. The railway is also 19th century in origin, running along a single route around the coastal periphery of the NCA and linking all the main settlements.

Throughout the area there is a strong juxtaposition between industrial, or post-industrial, and rural landscapes: former mining towns sit in restored farmland; industrial towns, such as Barrow, and complexes, such as Sellafield, suddenly give way to undeveloped coasts; modern wind farms, both onshore and offshore, are set against mountains or the open sea.

The area retains a diverse economy. Energy and chemical industries, ship-building, agriculture, aquaculture, shellfisheries and tourism are all important employers whose roots lie in the area’s natural assets. The energy industry is particularly apparent in the landscape with nuclear and biomass power stations and many, onshore and offshore, wind farms being highly visible from many areas.

Remaining areas of tranquillity are associated with the undeveloped stretches of coastline and the farmland abutting the higher fells, as well as the patches of ancient woodland that are a feature of the more sheltered valleys. Popular features for visitors and locals seeking quiet recreational experiences include the coastline, coastal ports, historical assets such as Hadrian’s Wall /forts, the Lake District National Park and the St Bees Heritage Coast. The area also acts as gatekeeper to the isolated, ‘dead-end’, west-facing valleys of the western Lake District. National Trails include the Hadrian’s Wall Cycleway (part of the National Cycle Network) from Ravenglass northwards, the Coast to Coast Walk heading east from St Bees Head, and the England Coast Path National Trail.

The landscape through time

The landscape of the West Cumbria Coastal Plain NCA is geologically complex. Predominantly sedimentary, and dominated by sandstone, there is a significant presence of metamorphic and igneous rocks as a result of volcanic activity in central Cumbria. The geology can be split into two broad areas. North of St Bees Head, Carboniferous-age Coal Measures and Limestones outcrop, the latter with pockets of iron ore. These rocks are overlain in the Whitehaven area by small outliers of Permo-Triassic red sandstones (‘New Red Sandstone’). South of St Bees Head, the area is dominated by Permo-Triassic red sandstones, with some of the overlying mudstones present in the Barrow-in-Furness area. In the east of the area, between Ravenglass and Millom, older Ordovician-age mudstones, sandstones and igneous rocks outcrop as a result of volcanic activity in central Cumbria.

This landform was moulded through the ice ages by glacial processes, being covered by ice originating both from southern Scotland and from the Lake District. This affected the whole area, and the eventual retreat left a widespread mantle of till with, in places, sand and gravel and, importantly, coastal drumlin features that evolved into the barrier island of Walney and its adjacent islands. Walney itself is the largest barrier island in England and is unusual in its macrotidal location. In the post-glacial period, coastal processes on the open coast have re-worked coastal sediments, redistributing glacial material along the coast and forming extensive sand dune systems and areas of slumped soft cliffs. In the more sheltered environments of the estuaries, salt marshes have evolved and, particularly around the Duddon Estuary, peat formation in raised bogs has adapted the underlying landform.

Extensive evidence for land use and settlement from the Neolithic period onwards includes bronze-age clearances, stone circles and one of the most important settlement sites in northern England, at Ehenside Tarn, where there is evidence of some of the earliest arable cultivation in the country. The Romans formalised trade and established ports at Ravenglass, Workington and Maryport at the edge of the Empire for trade and to support the frontier defences of Hadrian’s Wall and its numerous associated forts, now afforded World Heritage Site status.

The area of Copeland to the south of Whitehaven was important in Norman times as the seat of the barony which was located at Egremont. Between the 12th and mid-16th centuries the area was dominated by monasteries, with Calder Abbey, Furness Abbey and St Bees Priory having major urban and coastal landholdings. The monks had considerable regional influence in the establishment of improved agricultural systems and in the management of the woodlands for the production of fuel and timber for building purposes. A number of castles and other fortified buildings evidence the need for defence and the development of estate centres during the medieval period.

The discovery of coal and iron ore deposits stimulated early industrial development with mines and processing industries, and adjacent mining communities were established around Whitehaven, Workington and Maryport. Trade grew in importance and led to the development of the ports acting as the gateway for the export of the area’s natural resources, in particular mined materials such as coal, alabaster, sandstone and iron ore, as well as slate from the adjoining fells.

Growth in the coastal ports was dramatic with the development of a number of planned ‘civic’ central areas and buildings usually constructed in local red sandstone. Whitehaven was planned on a formal grid pattern by Lord Lonsdale in the 1640s. Maryport was developed by Humphrey Senhouse in 1749 and the town’s prosperity was based on the local coal and iron ore mines and the extensive port facilities. Barrow-in-Furness, originally a small fishing village, was influenced by the iron and steel industry and transformed into a major ship-building centre with extensive dockyards during the Victorian period that were strategically significant during the Second World War.

The development of the railway network from the 1850s led to the prosperous development of further mining communities based on the extraction of iron ore, coal, alabaster, gypsum and sandstone. Villages with rows of terrace houses of red brick were built adjacent to the mines, but subsequent industrial decline – as a result of the introduction of new technologies, depletion of mineral resources and recession – has meant that many towns have been through boom and bust periods of rapid growth then decline, social deprivation and depopulation as mines have closed or demand for industrial products has dwindled. This has led in many places to a juxtaposition of rural landscapes with post-industrial urban landscapes, including spoil heaps, waste tips, mineral railways, semi-derelict land and abandoned houses. The 1950s saw the construction of Calder Hall to generate nuclear power and has become a major source of employment. Subsequent decades have seen the establishment of nuclear waste reprocessing plants and underground storage at Windscale, now Sellafield. These industrial complexes dominate the coastline between St Bees and Ravenglass, and views from the surrounding uplands. The end of the 20th century saw re-working of mineral spoil heaps, open cast coal mining and subsequent land restoration/reclamation schemes.

Away from the coast, the settlement pattern is dispersed, with farmsteads and hamlets interspersed with some villages: housing for industrial workers is a prominent feature, although agriculture remains the predominant land use. Isolated farmsteads are scattered over the upland fringes where sheep/cattle grazing predominates. Agriculture intensified through the 20th century, with arable cropping increasing on the coast. In some areas of marginal land, more extensive low-intensity pastoral systems have survived for livestock rearing/ grazing. As well as the upland fringes, this includes the sand dune systems flanking the Ravenglass and Duddon estuaries, and areas on the urban fringes of larger towns such as Barrow-in-Furness, and on Walney Island.

The decline of industry and changes in agriculture have led the area’s economy to turn more to the tourist industry centred around the quiet coastline, long-distance trails – such as Wainwright’s Coast to Coast walk – and the re-use of former mineral railways as cycle ways. Recreational facilities are paramount to the Lake District National Park ‘brand’ and the role of the area as gatekeeper to the western Lake District fells and valleys.