Bowness-on-Solway

Bowness-on-Solway
Bowness-on-Solway
	St. Michael's Church, Bowness-on-Solway
	Bowness-on-Solway Location in Allerdale, Cumbria Bowness-on-Solway Location within Cumbria
Population	1,126 (2011)
OS grid reference	NY220623
Civil parish	Bowness;
Unitary authority	Cumberland;
Ceremonial county	Cumbria;
Region	North West;
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	WIGTON
Postcode district	CA7
Dialling code	01697
Police	Cumbria
Fire	Cumbria
Ambulance	North West
UK Parliament	Workington;
	List of places UK England Cumbria 54°57′00″N 3°12′58″W / 54.950°N 3.216°W

Bowness-on-Solway is a village in

2011 census.^[1] The western end of Hadrian's Wall is a notable tourist destination, though the Wall itself is no longer to be seen here above ground. The west end of the Hadrian's Wall Path is marked by a pavilion on the small coastal cliff at Bowness. The village is part of the Solway Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

.

Etymology

'Bowness' means 'rounded', or bow-shaped headland', from either the Old English 'boga', 'bow', and 'næss', or, more probably, the Old Norse 'bogi' and 'nes'.^[2]

Roman era

The village is situated on the site of the Roman fort called Maia, the second largest on Hadrian's Wall.^[3] There was also a small civilian settlement (vicus) outside the south gate of this fort.^[3]

Governance

Bowness-on-Solway is part of the

MP, overturning a 9.4 per cent Labour majority from the 2017 election to eject shadow environment secretary Sue Hayman by a margin of 4,136 votes.^[4] Until the December 2019 general election the Labour Party had won the seat in the constituency in every general election since 1979, while the Conservative Party had only been elected once in Workington since World War II, at the 1976 by-election.^[5]

Before Brexit, it was in the North West England European Parliamentary Constituency.

For

Local Government purposes it is in the Cumberland unitary authority area

.

St Michael's Church

The church sits atop what may have been the granary for the Roman fort in the 12th century. The two original bells were stolen by border raiders in 1626, accidentally dropping them in the Solway during their flight. In retaliation, the villagers raided Dornock and Middlebie in Scotland, making off with a new pair of bells. Traditionally, on inception, the vicar of Annan petitions the village's neighbours for the return of his bells.

Solway Viaduct

In 1869, the

Carlisle, by a 1.1 mile (2.161 km) iron girder viaduct (the remains of which can still be seen) across the Solway between Bowness-on-Solway and Annan in Scotland.^[6]

The construction of the viaduct prevented ships entering the upper Solway and hence destroyed the trade of Port Carlisle, which had already been largely supplanted by the construction of a wet dock at Silloth. The viaduct suffered minor frost damage in 1875; in 1881 large sections of it were destroyed by ice floes, but the viaduct was rebuilt. The railway never lived up to its promoters' expectations, and in 1914 it was restricted to carrying goods only. In 1921 the railway was closed entirely, and in 1934 the viaduct was demolished.