Muncaster is a

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 ...

in the

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

district of

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. The parish is south west of the city of

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

. The settlement of Muncaster itself consists of a small number of houses around

Muncaster Castle Muncaster Castle is a privately-owned castle in the parish of Muncaster, Cumbria, England. It stands overlooking the River Esk (Ravenglass), River Esk, about a mile east of the coastal village of Ravenglass. It is recorded in the National Herit ...

and the adjoining St Michael's Church. The main settlement in the parish is the coastal village of

Ravenglass Ravenglass is an English coastal village in west Cumbria that lies between Barrow-in-Furness and Whitehaven, on the estuary of three rivers: the Esk, Mite and Irt. It is the only coastal village in the Lake District National Park. Formerly in ...

. The parish also extends inland to include rural areas on either side of the lower reaches of the River Esk. The neighbouring parishes (clockwise from north-west) are

Drigg and Carleton Drigg is a village on the coast of the Irish Sea in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of the county of Cumbria, England. It borders the Lake District, Lake District National Park. Next to the village is the site of the UK' ...

, Irton with Santon, Eskdale,

Ulpha Ulpha is a small village and civil parish in the Duddon Valley in the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Cumberland, it forms part of the Cumberland unitary authority area. At Ulpha a ...

, Waberthwaite and

Bootle Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Bootle (UK Parliament constituency), Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449. It is pa ...

History

The place was anciently called 'Meolceastre'. The name means 'Mula's/Muli's Roman camp', which perhaps refers to the Roman fort

Glannoventa Glannoventa is a Roman fort associated with the Roman naval base at Ravenglass in Cumbria, England. Its name is derived from the Latin place-name ''Clanoventa'' as recorded in the 2nd-century Antonine Itinerary, ''Glannibanta'' in the 4th-cen ...

at Ravenglass. The name gradually evolved into 'Muncaster'. The surname Muncaster derives from the place. The small settlement of Muncaster is centred on Muncaster Castle (parts of which date back to the 13th century), which includes the parish church of St Michael (rebuilt in the 16th century) within its grounds. The castle and church stand in extensive parkland on rising ground overlooking the Esk. The castle overlooked a ford on the river, which was used by the main coast road. Around 1810, a new Muncaster Bridge was built some distance to the east of the old ford. The road (since numbered as the

A595 The A595 is a primary route in Cumbria, in Northern England that starts in Carlisle, passes through Whitehaven and goes close to Workington, Cockermouth and Wigton. It passes Sellafield and Ravenglass before ending at the Dalton-in-Furness by-p ...

) was subsequently diverted to cross the bridge, which remains the last road bridge over the river before it meets the sea at Ravenglass. The parkland also extends north-east onto the lower slopes of

Muncaster Fell Muncaster Fell is a fell at the far western edge of the Lake District National Park, in Cumbria, England. Muncaster Fell is a long, narrow ridge of land, approximately 1.2 km wide and 6 km long, lying between the River Mite to the nort ...

, an area of high ground between the Esk and the

River Mite The River Mite is a river in the county of Cumbria in northern England. The valley through which the river Mite runs is called Miterdale. The name Mite is thought to be of British origin and related to a root such as 'meigh': to urinate or dr ...

. The Whitehaven and Furness Junction Railway built a line through the parish, with the first section from

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. It is a port on the north-west coast, and lies outside the Lake District National parks of England and Wales, National Park. ...

Ravenglass railway station Ravenglass (also known as Ravenglass for Eskdale) is a railway station on the Cumbrian Coast line, Cumbrian Coast Line, which runs between and . The station, situated north-west of Barrow-in-Furness, serves the village of Ravenglass in Cumbria ...

opening in 1849. The section south of Ravenglass, which crosses the Esk on the Eskmeals Viaduct, opened the following year. At its southern end, the line connected to the

Furness Railway The Furness Railway (FR) was a railway company operating in the Furness area of Lancashire in North West England. History Formation In the early 1840s, the owners of iron ore mines in the Furness district of Lancashire became interested in a ...

at Foxfield; the Whitehaven and Furness Junction Railway was subsequently absorbed by the Furness Railway in 1866. The route through Ravenglass now forms part of the Cumbrian Coast line. The

Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway The Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway is a minimum-gauge railway, minimum-gauge heritage railway in Cumbria, England. The line runs from Ravenglass to Dalegarth for Boot railway station, Dalegarth Station near Boot, Cumbria, Boot in the valley o ...

was opened in 1875 as a

narrow-gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter cur ...

for transporting

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

from quarries in Eskdale to the main line station at Ravenglass. Since 1960, the line has operated as a

heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) ...

. It now has four stations in the parish of Muncaster.

Governance

There are two tiers of local government covering Eskdale, at

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

and

unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

level: Muncaster Parish Council and Cumberland Council. The parish council generally meets at Muncaster Parish Hall, which is on Main Street in Ravenglass. The parish is wholly within the Lake District National Park, and so some functions are administered by the Lake District National Park Authority, notably

planning Planning is the process of thinking regarding the activities required to achieve a desired goal. Planning is based on foresight, the fundamental capacity for mental time travel. Some researchers regard the evolution of forethought - the cap ...

. At a national level, the parish is within the Barrow and Furness UK parliamentary constituency.

Administrative history

Muncaster was an

ancient 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 ...

within the historic county of

. The parish was subdivided into two

townships A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

, called Birkby (generally south of the Esk) and Muncaster (generally north of the river). In 1886, a detached part of the parish of

Millom Millom is a town and civil parish on the north shore of the estuary of the River Duddon in southernmost Cumberland, Cumbria, England. It is situated just outside the Lake District National Park, about north of Barrow-in-Furness ( by road) and ...

comprising an area of high ground including Stainton Pike was transferred to Muncaster. In 1974, Muncaster became part of the

Borough of Copeland The Borough of Copeland was a local government district with borough status in western Cumbria, England. Its council was based in Whitehaven. It was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the Borough of Whitehaven, Ennerdale Rural Distri ...

in the new county of Cumbria. Copeland was abolished in 2023 when the new Cumberland Council was created, also taking over the functions of the abolished Cumbria County Council in the area.

Demography

The parish had a population of 259 at the 2021 census. The population was 290 in 2011.

Features

There are 14 listed buildings in Muncaster.

References

External links

Cumbria County History Trust: Muncaster
(nb: provisional research only – see Talk page)
Parish council
Civil parishes in Cumbria Cumberland (unitary authority) {{Cumbria-geo-stub