Arnside is a village and

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Westmorland and Furness Westmorland and Furness is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Cumbria, England. The economy is mainly focused on tourism around both the Lake District and Cumbria Coast, shipbuilding and the Royal Port of Barrow, Royal ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

, England. It is historically part of

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland''R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref>) is an area of North West England which was Historic counties of England, historically a county. People of the area ...

, near the border with

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, England. The

Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...

National Park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

is located a few miles north. Travelling by road, Arnside is to the south of

Kendal Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Westmorland and Furness, England. It lies within the River Kent's dale, from which its name is derived, just outside the boundary of t ...

, to the east of

Ulverston Ulverston is a market town and civil parish in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it lies a few miles south of the Lake District Lake District National Park, National Park and j ...

, to the east of

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town and civil parish (as just "Barrow") in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the county of Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borou ...

, to the north of Lancaster and to the east of

Grange-over-Sands Grange-over-Sands is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the north side of Morecambe Bay in Cumbria, England, a few miles south of the Lake District Lake District National Park, National Park. In the United Kingdom Census 201 ...

. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 2,301, increasing at the 2011 census to 2,334. It faces the estuary of the

River Kent The River Kent is a short river in the county of Cumbria in England. It originates in hills surrounding Kentmere, and flows for around 20 miles (32 km) into the north of Morecambe Bay. The upper reaches and the western bank of the estuary ...

on the north-eastern corner of

Morecambe Bay Morecambe Bay is an estuary in north-west England, just to the south of the Lake District National Park. It is the largest expanse of intertidal mudflats and sand in the United Kingdom, covering a total area of . In 1974, the second largest ga ...

, within the Arnside and Silverdale

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is one of 46 areas of countryside in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Since 2023, the areas in England an ...

and is overlooked by Arnside Knott, a

hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit, and is usually applied to peaks which are above elevation compared to the relative landmass, though not as prominent as Mountain, mountains. Hills ...

that rises out of the estuary. A detailed account of the wildlife of the Arnside and Silverdale AONB is provided by John Wilson and Peter Lennon. Mammals include red squirrel and otter, breeding birds at the time of publication included the bittern which is still found in the area. The village has been attractive to visitors since the 19th century but never developed as a traditional seaside resort. Writing in '' The Local Historian'', Caunce describes it as "an unwitting pioneer of eco-tourism", with visitors attracted by the scenery and in particular Arnside Knott. ''Will b
available online
after 53(2) is published.''

Buildings

The oldest building in the parish is Arnside Tower, a

Peel tower Peel towers (also spelt pele) are small fortified keeps or tower houses, built along the England, English and Scotland, Scottish Border country, borders in the Scottish Marches and North of England, mainly between the mid-14th century and ab ...

built in the 14th/15th century as a refuge against raids from Scots and the

Border Reivers Border Reivers were Cattle raiding, raiders along the Anglo-Scottish border. They included both Scotland, Scottish and England, English people, and they raided the entire border country without regard to their victims' nationality.Hay, D. "E ...

. The now defunct Arnside Golf Club was founded in 1906 and closed during the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The former customs house is now occupied by the Sailing Club, and many of the buildings on the promenade were built as accommodation for visitors.

Arnside viaduct

The railway line is carried over the

on a viaduct long, it was built in 1857 and rebuilt in 1915.

Governance

Arnside is part of the Morecambe and Lunesdale parliamentary constituency, for which Lizzi Collinge has been the MP since 2024, representing the Labour Party. For

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

purposes, it is administered as part of the

unitary authority. The

of Arnside includes the hamlet of Far Arnside as well as the village of Arnside. The parish is bordered by the Kent estuary to the north,

to the west, Silverdale to the south (along the historic

county boundary), and

Beetham Beetham is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England. It is situated on the border with Lancashire, north of Carnforth. It is part of the Arnside and Silverdale, Arnside and Silverdale ...

to the east ( the eastern boundary following the railway at its north and south, and extending a little further east). The parish has its own parish council, ''Arnside Parish Council''.

Transport

Arnside has its own railway station, Arnside railway station, which lies on the Furness line giving connections to , , , , and . The Furness Line passes over the

via the Arnside Viaduct.

Tides

With each high tide, the coast of Arnside is subjected to a very fast rising tide. Because of the potential danger warning notices are posted at the pier, and an audible warning is sounded before every high tide (in daylight). The sequence of warnings is:- # Eight sounds on the siren - around 2.25 h before high tide # Eight sounds on the siren - around 1.75 h before high tide # Twelve sounds on the siren - around 1.25 h before high tide, when the incoming tide is just visible from the Coastguard station (location of the siren ) The cause of this fast tide is a combination of the large area of Morecambe Bay, which narrows rapidly at Arnside, plus the second highest

tidal range Tidal range is the difference in height between high tide and low tide. Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by gravitational forces exerted by the Moon and Sun, by Earth's rotation and by centrifugal force caused by Earth's prog ...

(at

), which can be as much as on a

spring tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...

nearest the spring and autumn

equinox A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun appears directly above the equator, rather than to its north or south. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise directly east and set directly west. This occurs twice each year, arou ...

: these typically give rise to a

tidal bore A tidal bore, often simply given as bore in context, is a tidal phenomenon in which the leading edge of the incoming tide forms a wave (or waves) of water that travels up a river or narrow bay, reversing the direction of the river or bay's cu ...

, which may be as high as , and is often used by canoeists.

Notable people

* Helen Blackler (1902–1981),

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...

, botanical collector and museum curator * Robert Wilson (1922-1980), first-class cricketer and

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

officer *

Bob Braithwaite John Robert (Bob) Braithwaite Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, MBE (28 September 1925 – 26 February 2015) was a British trap shooter who represented his country at the 1964 Summer Olympics and the 1968 Summer Olymp ...

(1925 – 2015) trap shooter, gold medallist at the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...

* Barbara Rosemary Grant FRS FRSC (born 1936),

evolutionary biologist Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes such as natural selection, common descent, and speciation that produced the diversity of life on Earth. In the 1930s, the discipline of evolutionary biol ...

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

Image gallery

File:Kent viaduct Arnside.jpg, Railway viaduct over the

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

estuary near Arnside

References

External links

Arnside Village
- local on-line resources

Photos of Arnside
Cumbria County History Trust: Arnside
(nb: provisional research only – see Talk page) {{authority control Villages in Cumbria Westmorland Populated coastal places in Cumbria Civil parishes in Cumbria Westmorland and Furness Morecambe Bay Articles containing video clips