Stanwix is a district of

Carlisle, Cumbria Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril. It is the administrative centre of the City ...

in North West England. The ward population (called Stanwix Urban) had a population taken at the 2011 census of 5,934. It is located on the north side of River Eden, across from Carlisle city centre. Although long counted as a suburb it did not officially become part of the city until 1912 when part of the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

of Stanwix became part of the parish, city and

municipal borough Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in S ...

of Carlisle. Further areas were added to the city, which was by then a

county borough County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent te ...

, in 1934 and 1951. The remaining part of the parish was eventually renamed Stanwix Rural in 1966.

Etymology

'Stanwix' means " 'stone wall(s)', v. 'stǣna', 'wag' or 'veggr' 'Stǣna' is

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

and 'veggr' is

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

and cognate with

'wag'. Stanwix is built on the site of a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

fort known as

Uxelodunum Uxelodunum (with the alternative Roman name of Petriana and the modern name of Stanwix Fort) was a Roman fort. It was the largest fort on Hadrian's Wall, and is now buried beneath the suburb of Stanwix, in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. Roman ...

or Petriana, the former meaning "high fort". "

Dun A dun is an ancient or medieval fort. In Ireland and Britain it is mainly a kind of hillfort and also a kind of Atlantic roundhouse. Etymology The term comes from Irish ''dún'' or Scottish Gaelic ''dùn'' (meaning "fort"), and is cognat ...

" is a Celtic word for fort which is to be found in many place-names.

Location

The former village of Stanwix was centred on its church of St Michael's at the top of a steep bank rising from the river Eden, close to the junction of the main road north (now the A7) with the road to the east (now the B6264). The area around the church is built on the site of the fort of

(a linear earthwork at the southern end of the churchyard appears to reflect the line of the southern defences). St_Michael's_Church,_Carlisle

The fort was the largest on Hadrian's Wall, which adjoined the northwest edge of the fort. The course of Hadrian's Wall runs through the suburb. Probably most of the Roman masonry was taken to construct other buildings. However, in 2017 a

bathhouse Public baths originated when most people in population centers did not have access to private bathing facilities. Though termed "public", they have often been restricted according to gender, religious affiliation, personal membership, and other cr ...

was discovered at Carlisle Cricket Club's Edenside ground. This facility is believed to have been for the use of the fort or possibly a mansio. In the mid nineteenth century the district grew with many large houses built for Carlisle's expanding middle classes. Today Stanwix includes the areas of Edentown, Whiteclosegate, St Anne's Hill and Belah.

Notable buildings

Near the church today is a small parade of shops and other businesses.

Morrisons Wm Morrison Supermarkets, trading as Morrisons, is the fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Scotland, as well as one in Gibraltar. The company is headqu ...

and

Aldi Aldi (stylised as ALDI) is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 10,000 stores in 20 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, when ...

supermarkets and a

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company ...

Local store are located in the area as well. A little further north at Kingstown is a large

Asda Asda Stores Ltd. () (often styled as ASDA) is a British supermarket chain. It is headquartered in Leeds, England. The company was founded in 1949 when the Asquith family merged their retail business with the Associated Dairies company of Yorks ...

superstore. The

University of Cumbria The University of Cumbria is a public university in Cumbria, with its headquarters in Carlisle and other major campuses in Lancaster, Ambleside, and London. It has roots extending back to the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts, establis ...

has a campus on Brampton Road (formerly the main campus of the

Cumbria Institute of the Arts The Cumbria Institute of the Arts was a further and higher education institution in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. History Founded as the ''Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts'' in 1822, it proceeded as the ''Carlisle College of Art'', fro ...

). There is also a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

private school Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

called

Austin Friars St Monica's School Austin Friars is a coeducational Independent school (UK), independent day school located in Carlisle, Cumbria, Carlisle, England. The Senior School provides secondary education for 350 boys and girls aged 11–18. There are 150 children aged 4� ...

located at St. Anne's Hill. A single bridge, the grade I listed Eden Bridge designed by Robert Smirke, crosses the River Eden to connect Stanwix and other northern reaches of the district to Carlisle city centre. Numerous households in low-lying areas in Stanwix were badly affected by the flooding of the River Eden during the Carlisle Floods of January 2005. The main road running northwards through Stanwix is Scotland Road, and until 2012 had the dubious distinction of carrying the same daily volume of traffic as the nearby M6 motorway. In 2012 the "northern relief road" opened, around the north-west of Carlisle, which should ease congestion.

External links

Cumbria County History Trust: Stanwix
(nb: provisional research only - see Talk page)

References

{{coord, 54, 54, N, 2, 56, W, display=title, region:GB_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Areas of Carlisle, Cumbria Roman sites in Cumbria