Eden is a

local government district The districts of England (also known as local authority districts or local government districts to distinguish from unofficial city districts) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the st ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. C ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, based at Penrith Town Hall in Penrith. It is named after the River Eden, which flows north through the district toward Carlisle. Its population of 49,777 at the 2001 census, increased to 52,564 at the 2011 Census. A 2019 estimate was 53,253. In July 2021 it was announced that in April 2023, Cumbria will divide into two

unitary authorities A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governme ...

. Eden District Council will cease and its functions pass to a new authority,

Westmorland and Furness Westmorland and Furness is a future unitary authority area in north-west England, which will come into being on 1 April 2023 on the abolition of Cumbria County Council, together with Cumberland. The council will cover the areas currently served ...

, covering the current districts of

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of B ...

, Eden and South Lakeland.

Extent

The Eden District area of 2,156 sq. km (832 square miles) makes it, since 2009, the eighth largest in

and the largest non- unitary district. It also has the lowest population density of any district in England and Wales, with a mean of 25 persons per square kilometre. In 2011, the population was 5 per cent above its 2001 level. The district council was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, from Penrith Urban District, Alston with Garrigill Rural District and Penrith Rural District, all in Cumberland, and Appleby Municipal Borough, part of Lakes urban district and North Westmorland Rural District, all in

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...

. The district includes parts of the Lake District and

Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales is an upland area of the Pennines in the historic county of Yorkshire, England, most of it in the Yorkshire Dales National Park created in 1954. The Dales comprise river valleys and the hills rising from the Vale of York w ...

national parks.

Communications

The West Coast Main Railway Line runs through the district, but with only one station at Penrith. Services on the line are provided by

Avanti West Coast Avanti West Coast is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%) that operates the West Coast Partnership franchise. During November 2016, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced the Inter ...

and

TransPennine Express TransPennine Express (TPE), legally First TransPennine Express Limited, is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that operates the TransPennine Express franchise. It runs regional and inter-city rail services between the major ci ...

. The Northern Settle-Carlisle Railway also runs through, with stations at

Armathwaite Armathwaite is a village in the English ceremonial county of Cumbria. Historically within the county of Cumberland, Armathwaite lies on the River Eden, forms part of Eden district and is served by Armathwaite railway station. The majority of t ...

Lazonby Lazonby is a village and civil parish in the Lower Eden Valley of Cumbria; it is located about north north-east of Penrith and 24 miles (38 km) south of the Scottish Borders. The total population of the ward of Lazonby, which also includ ...

, Langwathby, Appleby and

Kirkby Stephen Kirkby Stephen () is a market town and civil parish in Cumbria, North West England. Historically part of Westmorland, it lies on the A685, surrounded by sparsely populated hill country, about from the nearest larger towns: Kendal and Penri ...

. Roads through the district include the

M6 motorway The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over from the Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 and the western end of the A14 at ...

, the A6 and the A66.

Green space

It was shown in a national detailed Land Use Survey by the

Office for National Statistics The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament. Overview The ONS is responsible for t ...

in 2005 that Eden District has the second lowest proportion of land taken up by roads of any district in England: 0.8 per cent, fractionally greater than Craven in

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

, which also adjoins the Pennines. This compares with a maximum of over 20 per cent in four London boroughs and the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

.Key Statistics: Dwellings; Quick Statistics: Population Density; Physical Environment: Land Use Survey 2005
2011 census In that detailed survey (to the nearest square metre) it was shown that Eden District had the greatest proportion of green space (which excludes domestic gardens) of any district, 97.9 per cent, as shown by the following extract:

Wards

Below is a list of the wards that form Eden (with numbers of councillors):

Map

Amenities

Eden includes King George's Fields, named after

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

, at Appleby and

Patterdale Patterdale (Saint Patrick's Dale) is a small village and civil parish in the eastern part of the English Lake District in the Eden District of Cumbria, in the traditional county of Westmorland, and the long valley in which they are found, also ...

. The council owns the Penrith Leisure Centre, which is run by a private company under contract. The council also owns a number of playing fields and recreation grounds elsewhere in the district, notably the sports grounds at Frenchfield near Carleton on the outskirts of Penrith. It also owns and runs

Penrith and Eden Museum Penrith and Eden Museum is a museum in Penrith, Cumbria, England. The museum aims to collect, preserve and display material reflecting the history and culture of Penrith and Eden. The museum is owned and managed by Eden District Council. The ...

and the Penrith Tourist Information Centre.

References

{{coord, 54.6667, -2.7544, type:adm3rd_dim:80000_region:GB-CMA, display=title Non-metropolitan districts of Cumbria