Welcome to myWhitehaven.net... your one-stop resource for local history, news and views about Whitehaven
Whitehaven is a gem of a town, located on the west coast of Cumbria, England (formerly Cumberland), in the borough of Copeland (the Western Lake District region). The town has a rich heritage, and celebrates the fact with a number of exciting tourist attractions. Whitehaven includes a number of former villages, estates and suburbs, such as Kells, Mirehouse and Hensingham.

Brief history
In 1633, Whitehaven was a small fishing vilage (belonging to St. Bees Priory) - the village consisted of nine thatched cottages. The land that the village sat upon was purchased by the Lowther family - it was then transformed beyond all recognition - the Lowthers opened large coal mines and built a stone quay (Old Quay) in 1634 - this is one of the oldest remaining coal wharves in England - to ship coal. During the golden years, Whitehaven became the second largest port, in terms of shipping, in the kingdom. Over this time, more than 1,000 vessels were built in local shipyards, and important trading links were established with the New World. Unfortunately, the town's fortunes as a port waned rapidly when other ports with much larger shipping capacity, such as Bristol and Liverpool, began to take over its main trade. The peak of prosperity was in the 19th century when West Cumbria experienced a brief boom because haematite that was mined locally. It was one of the few iron ores that could be used to produce steel by the original Bessemer process. Improvements to the Bessemer process and the development of the open hearth process removed this advantage.

• Daniel Defoe said of Whitehaven
  "It has grown up from a small place to be very considerable by the coal trade, that it is now the most eminent port in England for shipping off of coals, except Newcastle and Sunderland and even beyond the last. They have of late fallen into some merchandising also, occasioned by the great number of their shipping, and there are now some considerable merchants; but the town is yet but young in trade".

Rich railway history
The railway reached Whitehaven in 1847 - steam powered engines finally reached the town following an agreement between the Earl of Lonsdale and George Stephenson. Stephenson was the engineer placed in charge of the construction of the new railway line. The railway became known as the Whitehaven Junction Railway. Even before this line was built, the nearby Lowca engineering works began to produce locomotives. Over the life of the works, some 260 were produced - mainly for industrial lines - some engines still remain to this day, such as those in use on the Talyllyn Railway, Wales.

Georgian architecture
Sir John Lowther, planned (he was inspired by Sir Christopher Wren's designs for the rebuilding of London after the Great Fire of 1666) the layout of the streets, and Whitehaven became the first post-Renaissance planned town in Britain. Streets were laid in a grid pattern with St Nicholas Church sitting in the middle. The Lowther family created straight streets, stone houses with blue slate roofs, and grand public buildings. Although some of the town centre was rebuilt in the 1900's, many 17th and 18th century buildings remain. There are 250 listed buildings in Whitehaven - the best historic homes are found in the Scotch Street/Roper Street area.

Historical figures
The town has links to many notable people: Jonathan Swift, who claimed that a nurse kidnapped him and brought him to Whitehaven for three years in his infancy; Mildred Gale, grandmother of George Washington; William Wordsworth, who often came into town to visit his family; and John Paul Jones, who attacked the town during the American war of Independance.

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