Place:


Eden  Cumberland

 

In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Eden like this:

EDEN (The), a river of Westmoreland and Cumberland. It rises on the backbone of England, at the southern extremity of Westmoreland, adjacent to Yorkshire; runs past Kirkby-Stephen, Appleby, Edenhall, Kirkoswald, and Carlisle; and enters the head of the Solway frith in the neighbourhood of the Rockcliffe marshes. ...


Its prevailing direction is north-north-west-ward; its length of course is about 35 miles; and its chief affluents are the Eamont above Edenhall, the Croglin below Kirkoswald, and the Peterill and the Caldew at Carlisle. Much of its channel is belted with meadowland, and flanked with picturesque high ground; much, in the lower part, above and below Carlisle, lies through fertile plain; and the terminal part, to the length of about 2 miles, widens into estuary, of the same flat sandy character as the Solway frith. Its waters yield prime salmon, and abound with fine trout. Wordsworth, in one of his sonnets, regrets having only once before written "its sweet name, " and adds;-

Yet fetched from Paradise that honour came,
Rightfully borne: for Nature gives thee flowers
That have no rivals among British bowers;
And thy bold rocks are worthy of their fame.
Measuring thy course, fair stream ! at length
To my life's neighbour dues of neighbourhood I pay.
But I have traced thee on thy winding way
With pleasure, sometimes by this thought restrained, -
For things far off we toil, while many a good
Not sought, because too near, is never gained.

Eden through time

Click here for graphs and data of how Eden has changed over two centuries. For statistics for historical units named after Eden go to Units and Statistics.

How to reference this page:

GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Eden in Cumberland | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.

URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/17216

Date accessed: 28th March 2024


Not where you were looking for?

Click here for more detailed advice on finding places within A Vision of Britain through Time, and maybe some references to other places called "Eden".