Portinscale is a village in
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, close to the western shore of
Derwentwater
Derwentwater, or Derwent Water, is a lake in the Lake District in North West England, immediately south of Keswick, Cumbria, Keswick. It is in the unitary authority of Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland within the ceremonial county of ...
in the
Lake District National Park
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 ...
from
Keswick.
For administrative purposes, Portinscale lies within 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
of
Above Derwent
Above Derwent is a civil parish in Cumbria, England, to the west of Derwentwater and Keswick, Cumbria, Keswick. It lies entirely within the Lake District National Park.
At the 2011 Census the parish had a population of 1,198 in 514 households, ...
, the
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 ...
of
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 ...
, and the
ceremonial county
Ceremonial counties, formally known as ''counties for the purposes of the lieutenancies'', are areas of England to which lord-lieutenant, lord-lieutenants are appointed. A lord-lieutenant is the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarch's repres ...
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 ...
. It is within the
Penrith and Solway constituency of the
United Kingdom Parliament
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...
.
The village covers approximately . At the 2011 census the population was 560.
The name of the village means "the harlot's hut", deriving from the Old English "portcwene" (harlot) and Old Norse "skáli" (hut). The scholar
Eilert Ekwall
Bror Oscar Eilert Ekwall (8 January 1877 in Vallsjö – 23 November 1964 in Lund) was a Swedish academic, Professor of English at Sweden's Lund University from 1909 to 1942 and one of the outstanding scholars of the English language in the firs ...
cites an undated early spelling of the name as "Portquenscale".
History
The antiquary
W. G. Collingwood, commenting on an archaeological find at Portinscale, wrote that it showed that "Stone Age man was fairly at home in the Lake District". The remains of the workshop of a prehistoric tool-maker were discovered in 1901 by workmen digging out a fish-pond near the village, about from the north-west shore of
Derwentwater
Derwentwater, or Derwent Water, is a lake in the Lake District in North West England, immediately south of Keswick, Cumbria, Keswick. It is in the unitary authority of Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland within the ceremonial county of ...
. A later find was a mould dating from about 1400, used to make crucifixes for the use of religious pilgrims.
Hardwicke Rawnsley
Hardwicke Drummond Rawnsley (29 September 1851 – 28 May 1920) was an Anglican priest, poet, local politician and conservationist. He became nationally and internationally known as one of the three founders of the National Trust for Places of H ...
, co-founder of the
National Trust
The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...
and vicar of Portinscale's parish church,
Crosthwaite, theorised that the mouldings were sold to people ''en route'' to
St Herbert's Island from Nichol End, Portinscale's embarkation point on Derwentwater. From medieval times until the twentieth century, according to records at
Carlisle Castle
Carlisle Castle is a stone keep medieval fortress located in the city of Carlisle near the ruins of Hadrian's Wall. First built during the reign of William II in 1092 and rebuilt in stone under Henry I in 1122, the castle is over 930 yea ...
, a
Court leet
The court leet was a historical court baron (a type of manorial court) of England and Wales and Ireland that exercised the "view of frankpledge" and its attendant police jurisdiction, which was normally restricted to the hundred courts.
Etymo ...
met periodically and appointed constables for Portinscale. In the seventeenth century the village was a centre of
Quakerism, and for preaching without a licence several local Quakers suffered the prescribed penalty, "ye Spoiling of their goods and imprisonment of their bodys." During the
Second World War the British army's infantry driving and maintenance school was based in Portinscale.
The main road from Keswick to
Cockermouth
Cockermouth is a market town and civil parish in the Cumberland unitary authority area of Cumbria, England. The name refers to the town's position by the confluence of the River Cocker into the River Derwent. At the 2021 census, the built u ...
ran through Portinscale until a bypass was built in the 1960s. In 1911 there was controversy about the county council's proposal to demolish the medieval bridge carrying the road across the
River Derwent and replace it with a modern structure. There had been a stone bridge on the site since c. 1210–16, although the date of the structure under threat in 1911 is unknown.
[Thompson, pp. 347–348.] The bridge, properly called "the Long Bridge", was unusual in having two arches; on the great coach road from
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
Cockermouth
Cockermouth is a market town and civil parish in the Cumberland unitary authority area of Cumbria, England. The name refers to the town's position by the confluence of the River Cocker into the River Derwent. At the 2021 census, the built u ...
all but two of the other bridges crossed their rivers in a single span.
[
Rawnsley and Sir Robert Hunter of the National Trust led the opposition to the council's proposal. They were supported by '']The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'', ''The Manchester Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' and the Royal Automobile Club
The Royal Automobile Club is a British private Club (organization)#Country or sports club, social and athletic club. It has two clubhouses: one in London at 89 Pall Mall, London, Pall Mall, and the other in the countryside at Woodcote Park, ne ...
, and the proposal was dropped. The old bridge survived for another 43 years, until it was damaged beyond repair by floods in December 1954. A temporary metal girder Callender-Hamilton bridge was placed across the river, to carry alternating one-way traffic, and a new permanent bridge was built downstream, allowing the diversion of the main road to by-pass the village. After the new road bridge was opened, the temporary metal structure was replaced by a new pedestrian bridge on the old site, allowing foot traffic between Portinscale and Keswick on the path across the fields known as the Howrahs.[
]
Features and attractions
The village hall was opened on 10 October 1925. The village has one pub, the Farmer's Arms; a restaurant, the Chalet; a café, the Dandelion; the Derwent Water Marina; numerous bed-and-breakfast establishments; and a substantial and long-established hotel, the Derwentwater, originally called the Black Dog, and then from about 1815 the Marshal Blücher. In 1847 the authors of a guide to Cumberland wrote, "The Blücher hotel occupies a delightful situation in the village … attached to it are neat public gardens, or pleasure grounds, and there is an interesting aviary, in which, amongst several other valuable birds are two golden eagles, – perhaps the only birds of the kind in the north of England."
Next to the hotel is Derwent Hill Outdoor Education and Training Centre. It has been owned by Sunderland City Council since 1962, and is a residential centre offering courses for children and young people, leadership and management training, conference facilities and group accommodation.
On the edge of Portinscale is Derwent Bank, a large house built as "Finkle Street House" in 1785; since 1937 it has been a centre for walking holidays. Just outside the village are two large country house
image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire
An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...
s designed by Alfred Waterhouse
Alfred Waterhouse (19 July 1830 – 22 August 1905) was an English architect, particularly associated with Gothic Revival architecture, although he designed using other architectural styles as well. He is perhaps best known for his designs ...
: Fawe Park, built in 1858, and Lingholm, built in the 1870s.[Bott, p. 63] The former is close to the Nichol End stop of the Keswick Launch Company's Derwentwater ferry service."Map of Derwentwater"
Keswick Launch. Retrieved 18 April 2014
Gallery
File:Portinscale-finkle-street.jpg, alt=view of village street with old cottages, Finkle Street in the centre of Portinscale
File:Portinscale-farmers-arms.jpg, alt=exterior of country pub, Portinscale village pub
File:Portinscale-new-road-bridge.jpg, alt=a modern, stone clad bridge over a river, New road bridge
File:Portinscale-footbridge-side.jpg, alt=a modern metal suspension brige over a river, New footbridge on site of old road bridge
File:Portinscale-footbridge-top.jpg, alt= pillars of suspension bridge, Entrance to new footbridge
File:Portinscale-derwentwater-hotel.jpg, alt=exterior of old building, Derwentwater Hotel
File:Portinscale-finkle-street-and-chalet.jpg, Finkle Street looking south
File:Portinscale-moorings-from-lake.jpg, alt=View from centre of lake towards moorings, Moorings at Portinscale seen from Derwentwater
Notes and references
;Notes
;References
Sources
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External links
Cumbria County History Trust: Above Derwent
(nb: provisional research only – see Talk page)
{{authority control
Villages in Cumbria
Cumberland (unitary authority)